Please help me understand what could of done this!

[Bantam Babes]

We live in an urban area and I built a chicken tractor for our 6, 8 week old chicks. Had the square chicken wire stapled good to the insides of the triangle and on the bottom so predators could not dig under. I would cover the chicken tractor at night with a tarp. Last night we didn't get home till late so one side of the tractor was not totally covered and that one side was busted in and all the chickens were gone. We found one carcass in the yard, could barely tell it was ever a chicken. And some feathers around the place but no other bodies. What could of done this? A big stray dog? I pressed on the other side that wasn't busted in and It would take some mighty strength to just totally bust that in and clean like it was. I just find it strange that no other bodies were around. I looked and looked to see if they were hiding but no sign. We live in the city - I've never seen foxes or anything but there are stray dogs sometimes. I'm stumped at how one or 2 big dogs could clear out 6 chickens with only one body found. These were my first chickens and I'm just heartbroken and feel really guilty. I have 10 more 2 week old chicks that I have in the house and now I'm intimidated to continue with the chicken thing even though I loved it and was so excited. I'm just sick to my stomach. Since the other bodies were not found I keep hoping that we will find stray chickens running around the neighborhood but it hasn't happened yet. Should I accept that they all are probably dead or should I keep looking?

If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I need some clarity on the situation. Thanks

 

[birdicus7]

It sounds like a dog attack to me. When you do this again you will have to make sure everything is very secure, if it is a dog it will surely return. Once a dog tastes blood it will kill again. They will kill everything they can and leave most behind though. You can try a game camera to find out for sure.

 

[aprophet]

A coon will tear up things just like a Lil' bear would I trap in and around the city of Va beach most people who live here do not know there are bobcats in their backyards that I trap as well as red fox grey fox coon etc

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/news/local_news/norfolk/dead-bobcat-found-on-interstate-264-norfolk

 

[lady feathers]

Dogs generally leave a messy scene, not always but generally. They kill for sport and often leave the lifeless bodies. More likely you had a coon or family of coons come through the neighborhood. Or some fox, they will come back until there are none left! Chicken wire alone won't keep them out need to reinforce it with electric, or instead use hardware cloth or welded wire (like for rabbits) that comes in a large variety of sizes. Use something prett small for the side of your tractor (not sure where you are located but weasels and such can get through as little as 2 inches), on the bottom you can go larger so the chickens can still access the grass that grows up through it and scratch. Good luck!

 

[BrattishTaz]

There are a lot of predators that can get through chicken wire. It sounds like you have a dog or raccoon. Get a cam or set a trap to catch the killer and upgrade to rabbit wire (hardware cloth) for better protection. I'm sorry this happened.