PLEASE HELP: What killed almost my whole flock? 17 dead.. :( (WARNING: GRAPHIC)

[TSB531]

This morning I went out to let my ladies out of their coop and found almost my entire flock dead. I had 10 Speckled Sussex hens that were 12 weeks old, 5 White Leghorns that were about 6 weeks old, 2 Bantams that were 9 weeks old, 4 Buff Orpingtons at 9 weeks old. The only survivors are 3 white leghorns and 1 Sussex - they were hiding in a bush.

The coop they were staying in is pretty well secured with no openings anywhere on the roof, sides or underneath. There is 1/2 hardware cloth everywhere. Whatever got into it seemed to open the door on the side of the coop after climbing several feet and opening a Barrel Slider Lock. The lock is hard enough for us to open since the coop is weathered and the lock kinda jams.

We have seen raccoons and possums, but i haven't seen any coyotes or foxes lately. Whatever killed them was able to climb the roof, hang down and open the tight lock, get inside and kill a bunch of them. There were several of them just dead inside the coop with wounds to their necks and bodies left intact. And a lot of them were eaten up almost entirely with only the heard, head and some feathers remaining. There were "kill zones" spread out over about a 50 foot radius with a dead chicken mauled entirely. I am thinking it was a pack of animals and not just 1 - total of 17 dead. I cant find the bodies of at least 4-5 of them but found most of what's left of the others. They were torn apart pretty savagely. I cant imagine that a pack of raccoons did this, but what else can open a barrel slider lock that's pretty tight? This is our first loss ever and its a major one . I will be getting a camera today to put in the area and keep an eye out.

What did this?
Will it come back again most likely to finish off the rest?
How do i kill/trap the predator in this instance?

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

The only predators that I know of that can open locks are raccoons and humans. It would be really horrific for a human to do something like that so I would say raccoons. So sorry for your loss!! Raccoons can be really gruesome and kill entire flocks for fun. I had a neighbor who lost 50 chickens in 2 nights to raccoons.

 

[TSB531]

Thank you everyone for the support and kind messages. As a small update, the raccoons tried to get in the coop again last night. My wife was able to buy latch locks with padlocks and secure the entire coop so no casualties fortunately! I appreciate all the suggestions you all have provided and in my area (Ohio) we are allowed to trap and humanely euthanize raccoons. Considering that i will be investing in some traps and making good use of my gun .

On the positive side, i was able to find an Amish farmer about 2 hours away from me who had 600 Speckled Sussex laying hens for sale @ $5 each so i restocked my flock. I know it isnt the same but it certainly eases the pain somewhat.

I am also considering an electric fence around my new coop thats currently under construction. Amazon has been really bad with getting me my hardware cloth on time, over 2 weeks and still waiting for a 4' x 100ft roll (Coop is large at 24' x 12' and 10' tall). Any suggestions on good places to get hardware cloth? Ive tried Rural King, TSC, Home Depot, Lowes and all of those are either pricey or don't carry the size i need (4 feet wide by 100ft long).

 

[BastyPutt]

Oh my. This is probably so heartbreaking for you I am terribly sorry.

I would wager it was a raccoon. Not only are they able to operate mechanical locks, they kill for sport.

It is likely they had been working on getting in for quite awhile - like days or weeks. When re-securing, consider devices that need to work in tandem. Two spring loaded locks.

 

[Krazikatlady64]

I am so sorry for your loss! I would say raccoons. I use a locked pad lock on my coop. It's a pain, but worth the little bit of trouble.

 

[BurbMum]

Ouch. I really don’t know (unless it was raccoon opening the door and another predator taking advantage?) but I’m so sorry for your losses.

 

[BastyPutt]

Will it come back again most likely to finish off the rest?

Without a doubt, yes.

For tonight, I would physically screw the door closed while you watch the cameras to see what you are dealing with.

 

[TSB531]

Oh my. This is probably so heartbreaking for you I am terribly sorry.

I would wager it was a raccoon. Not only are they able to operate mechanical locks, they kill for sport.

It is likely they had been working on getting in for quite awhile - like days or weeks. When re-securing, consider devices that need to work in tandem. Two spring loaded locks.

You have no idea . I never thought i would cry over chickens

 

[gimmie birdies]

Raccoons take heads, do you have running water near by? Streams?

 

[DLA]

Suggestions on how to get rid of the raccoons? And any specific cameras that i should consider?

I am so sad for you. That's awful. Probably raccoons if they opened the latch. Cheap trail cam should work to see what's lurking at night. Motion sensor activated lights for future deterrent and those seem to work quite well for me. Don't leave any food out overnight to draw attention of predators, make chickens are in the coop and secured before dark. Big wire mesh pressure plate activated trap with peanut butter or some other tasty morsels, then if you have a gun shoot it and bury it, wash the trap and repeat till you've gotten them all. If you don't want to/not possible for your area to catch and shoot them then you may want to look into electric fencing as deterrent. In fact electric fencing may be a good idea either way. I used to have bird feeders for wild birds out that was really drawing in the raccoons, I stopped filling those.