Predator chewing through wood and stall mats?

[Sara Ranch]

It's possible that the pest is already living inside the coop.

I doubt that it's insects eating the peanut butter. But if they are, it's giving me quite the smile imagining it.

It sounds like you have put a lot of effort into securing the coop for your chickens.

Have you thought about adding hardware cloth INSIDE the coop?

A full grown mouse can get through a hole the size of the tip of a pencil eraser & a rat can get through a hole the size of a dime. The babies of both can get through smaller holes. A vole (field mouse) can too.

I hope you solve the mystery of the unwanted coop guest and share the update with us.

 

[pkarkos]

It's possible that the pest is already living inside the coop.

I doubt that it's insects eating the peanut butter. But if they are, it's giving me quite the smile imagining it.

It sounds like you have put a lot of effort into securing the coop for your chickens.

Have you thought about adding hardware cloth INSIDE the coop?

A full grown mouse can get through a hole the size of the tip of a pencil eraser & a rat can get through a hole the size of a dime. The babies of both can get through smaller holes. A vole (field mouse) can too.

I hope you solve the mystery of the unwanted coop guest and share the update with us.

Yeah, the insect idea was a rather desperate idea. I have been adding the hardware wire mesh inside the coup. So even if anything was able to get through the holes they would be blocked by the mesh. Do you think anything small enough to get in there would be able to harm 7 chickens that almost two months old?

 

[Sara Ranch]

*sigh* Yes

Although the harm may not be direct (as in eating part of your babies, bringing in lice/mites, etc), it can be indirect (like disease, poop, them making more babies, etc).

Mice have been reputed to eat on chickens, even full grown ones. Same with rats. Diseases can be carried in and left as an unwanted gift for your babies. There's extra clean up. Even flies leave poop that needs to be cleaned up. Same with roaches.

Please remember, any living thing can bring in hitchhikers, like lice/mites & disease.

***

If you asked me if I thought it was ok to leave the baby chicks in there at night...I'd say maybe while you continue to fix the problems.

Can you leave bait in the morning before going to work and then check on it when you get home from work in the evening?

Can you leave bait in there in the morning and check it periodically during the day to see *when* it's eaten?

Best option yet - camera. Can you install a battery operated camera to record what's in there?

 

[pkarkos]

*sigh* Yes

Although the harm may not be direct (as in eating part of your babies, bringing in lice/mites, etc), it can be indirect (like disease, poop, them making more babies, etc).

Mice have been reputed to eat on chickens, even full grown ones. Same with rats. Diseases can be carried in and left as an unwanted gift for your babies. There's extra clean up. Even flies leave poop that needs to be cleaned up. Same with roaches.

Please remember, any living thing can bring in hitchhikers, like lice/mites & disease.

***

If you asked me if I thought it was ok to leave the baby chicks in there at night...I'd say maybe while you continue to fix the problems.

Can you leave bait in the morning before going to work and then check on it when you get home from work in the evening?

Can you leave bait in there in the morning and check it periodically during the day to see *when* it's eaten?

Best option yet - camera. Can you install a battery operated camera to record what's in there?

Yeah I'm mostly worried about them attacking the chicks. I clean the coups very frequently so I am not too worried about increased mess.
I have put the bait in at different times and it seems that they mostly eat it at night. But that might be because during the day when I have tested them with the bait I have been near by doing other barn chores and my presence may have scared them off?
We did have three chicks that I think were killed during the day. I had work early so my grandmother let the older chickens a bit after Dawn and she thought the chicks were okay then but when I came back in the afternoon, I found them dead. That's the only daytime activity I've noticed.
I have thought of using a camera but it rains most nights here and I don't have a water proof camera and the best way to include the most of the coup in the shot is to rest the camera in one of the vents.

 

[Taylorbrood]

Hello All,
Thank you for your suggestions and I apologize for my inactivity; work suddenly got very busy!
I moved the one remaining hen into the larger of my two coups with the other birds. We have a new batch of seven chicks that are now seven weeks old and very much ready to go outside. I was planning on putting them in the coup that was previously attacked. I have added heavy wire netting with small openings over the chewed spaces. I placed some bait (peanut butter and cheese) in the coup to see if something could still get in and something did with no new chewed holes and no openings that would allow anything larger than a field mouse in. I have since covered the vents (that were covered in rather wide wire mesh) with the same heavy-duty, fine holed wire mesh and screwed wood over the wire over the chewed holes. I thought this would be enough to keep anything out so I added more peanut butter bait and found it gone again in the morning. I am about 95% sure I have covered every opening greater than a quarter inch, but something is still getting in. I did see a very small mole near the coup the other day. Is it possible that this tiny mole is getting in and eating my bait? Could it be insects?
The most important thing here is if you all think it is safe for my batch of seven chicks that are almost two months old to go into this coup?

can you put hardcloth on the floor. mine are almost 8 weeks and we are keeping them inside

Yeah I'm mostly worried about them attacking the chicks. I clean the coups very frequently so I am not too worried about increased mess.
I have put the bait in at different times and it seems that they mostly eat it at night. But that might be because during the day when I have tested them with the bait I have been near by doing other barn chores and my presence may have scared them off?
We did have three chicks that I think were killed during the day. I had work early so my grandmother let the older chickens a bit after Dawn and she thought the chicks were okay then but when I came back in the afternoon, I found them dead. That's the only daytime activity I've noticed.
I have thought of using a camera but it rains most nights here and I don't have a water proof camera and the best way to include the most of the coup in the shot is to rest the camera in one of the vents.

Good thing is your trying I would go for the camera idea at this point. or maybe LED motion sensor lights lower then your girls roosting area, or maybe baby monitors placed down by the bait so if you hear it, you can get out there. there are also camera ones

 

[pkarkos]

Thank you all! I think I will try the camera idea. I will try to find a suitable this afternoon after work and use it tonight. I'll update you all when I have new information

 

[Sara Ranch]

If you mount the camera INSIDE the coop, moisture should not be a problem.

There are trail cams that run on batteries. Some that are "started" by motion. Lots of options.

Rodents (mice, rats) are mostly nocturnal, but there is often quite a bit of daytime activity. Since they are shy around humans, it's very possible that your nearby presence intimidated them to stay away. They know you aren't around at night.

Are you sure the babies died daytime? It could have been a night time/super early morning thing. I check to make sure everyone goes out in the mornings and do a head count each night.

If you can put hardware cloth INSIDE the coop area, that will help. It's possible something (mice, rats) are already living inside the coop or under the coop. It's easy to miss a tiny hole or crack.

Those guys (mice/rats) spend their entire lives trying to figure out how to get IN and we spend about 15 minutes (at a time) trying to figure out how to keep them OUT.

Are there places in the barn and in the coop you could put out mice and rat snap traps OR electric zappers to see if there are rodents running around? Something that your chickens could not get to? There have been a lot of suggestions from members on the forum about how they make the snap traps and poison inaccessible to their chickens. For example, cutting a hole in a box or a container and putting a snap trap in that. Mice/rat could get in, but chicken can't.

I haven't gone back to the beginning of the thread to reread. Do you keep food or water in the coop? Do you feed/water your chickens near the coop? Near the barn?

 

[pkarkos]

If you mount the camera INSIDE the coop, moisture should not be a problem.

There are trail cams that run on batteries. Some that are "started" by motion. Lots of options.

Rodents (mice, rats) are mostly nocturnal, but there is often quite a bit of daytime activity. Since they are shy around humans, it's very possible that your nearby presence intimidated them to stay away. They know you aren't around at night.

Are you sure the babies died daytime? It could have been a night time/super early morning thing. I check to make sure everyone goes out in the mornings and do a head count each night.

If you can put hardware cloth INSIDE the coop area, that will help. It's possible something (mice, rats) are already living inside the coop or under the coop. It's easy to miss a tiny hole or crack.

Those guys (mice/rats) spend their entire lives trying to figure out how to get IN and we spend about 15 minutes (at a time) trying to figure out how to keep them OUT.

Are there places in the barn and in the coop you could put out mice and rat snap traps OR electric zappers to see if there are rodents running around? Something that your chickens could not get to? There have been a lot of suggestions from members on the forum about how they make the snap traps and poison inaccessible to their chickens. For example, cutting a hole in a box or a container and putting a snap trap in that. Mice/rat could get in, but chicken can't.

I haven't gone back to the beginning of the thread to reread. Do you keep food or water in the coop? Do you feed/water your chickens near the coop? Near the barn?

I'm not completely sure that they were killed during the day. That morning I had to work very early and I left before the sun came up so I asked me grandmother to let them out when the sun came up and she told that they seemed okay but it is possible that she missed some (she is 70 something years old and not a chicken person).
We do have snap traps and electric traps in our tack room where the rats and mice are active but the chickens never go in there. But we haven't caught anything. And we have a barn cat. We seem to have super rats.
I think I will try a camera tonight.
Has anyone had any luck with sticky traps? I might try one of those because if it is the vole that I think it is, it should get caught by a sticky trap.

 

[Taylorbrood]

I'm not completely sure that they were killed during the day. That morning I had to work very early and I left before the sun came up so I asked me grandmother to let them out when the sun came up and she told that they seemed okay but it is possible that she missed some (she is 70 something years old and not a chicken person).
We do have snap traps and electric traps in our tack room where the rats and mice are active but the chickens never go in there. But we haven't caught anything. And we have a barn cat. We seem to have super rats.
I think I will try a camera tonight.
Has anyone had any luck with sticky traps? I might try one of those because if it is the vole that I think it is, it should get caught by a sticky trap.

i have in my room where I keep the babies got it the next day, nothing since, but it drug the trap around till it got covered in dust

 

[Howard E]

I think the OP's original thought of fisher cat (a weasel cousin) could have been on the right track. That or an actual weasel or one of the other cousins. Those fit the pattern of the original kill. The rest of the stolen bait is probably rats and/or mice, which may be what attracted the other predator in the first place.

So this barn enclosure that was chewed in to, does it have a ceiling or covering to keep predators from climbing in from the top?