Predator ripped hole in hardware cloth and is making a nest?

[Ted Brown]

I have heard others on BYC indicate that the thinner gauge 1/4” HWC can be chewed through or breached by some animals, but I do not know this for sure. But, 1/4” will exclude pretty much everything. But, 1/2” should be a thicker gauge, so more durable, and will exclude pretty much everything except juvenile mice ...not sure about juvenile rats.

I posted this a few days back it may help. Raccoons are able to penetrate 1/4" HC, they visited and will be back. You need to significantly upgrade your coop.

"There is a significant difference in size/strength between 1/4" 23 gauge vs 1/2" 19 gauge HC. 19 gauge is .036 inches diameter, 23 gauge is .023 inches diameter so ~64.% of 19 gauge. As a practical example a racoon is able to break through 23 gauge but not 19.

In choosing HC one should define the predators/pest they want to deter. Obviously 1/4" will deter some smaller pests that 1/2" will not; while there is some debate research says the 1/2" (12.7mm) will deter adult mice.

Also remember that thinner wire will deteriorate more quickly so replacement will be required soon.

Most references on BYC seem to use 1/2" HC."

 

[cmom]

That sounds like classic weasel kill.
Also, everybody has raccoon problems, even if the neighbors keep pristine property.
Sorry about your chickens.
You must build a better coop. The coop I have today is the result of many years of preditors showing me my mistakes.
Everything eats chicken.

True. I also learned the hard way. I see plenty of predators on my cameras. I do have electric wires around my coops and pens, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering my pens.

 

[cmom]

I did have a couple of snakes get electrocuted by the wires.

 

[Chickenmama59]

Sorry about the loss of your chicken and guinea!

Plastic can easily be chewed through by most anything, so metal HWC is what needs to be used. I have heard others on BYC indicate that the thinner gauge 1/4” HWC can be chewed through or breached by some animals, but I do not know this for sure. But, 1/4” will exclude pretty much everything. But, 1/2” should be a thicker gauge, so more durable, and will exclude pretty much everything except juvenile mice ...not sure about juvenile rats.

weasels can cause a lot of damage too. Do you have those in the area?

 

[sassychickens76]

Did you ever find out what did it?

 

[Miniflock]

I lost one chicken and one guinea last night sometime. Heads ripped off. Husband went to check and refill water container this morning and found them. Only the heads were gone. There was a 3” hole made in the hardware cloth by predator. The 3 gal heated water bucket has been either completely empty or knocked over almost every day for the last 2weeks (odd bc they have never knocked it over before and never drank 3 gal of water in a 12 hour span)
There is a straw bale on the nesting box side of the coop and the chickens can’t get under the nesting boxes. Upon inspection, it looks like something was in the area under the nesting boxes pulling the straw through the hardware cloth and making a “home”.
The coop is built inside a camp. Last summer we had 3/4 chickens killed by a raccoon that pried open a window in the camp and got inside. We have since built a second floor inside the coop and bought hardware cloth to cover every inch of walls to the coop. We also inspected the camp and covered all gaps. Husband could not find any entry point. The windows have sticks holding them shut so they cannot be opened. Usually a coon will leave droppings and we found none.
I live in Nova Scotia, Canada and we have coons, foxes (there is a den across the street from me and my neighbour frequently goes over and feeds them ), coyotes, rats, hawks, and eagles. I am unsure if we have weasels but I am leaning towards thinking it is something like a weasel or a rat. I’ve never seen one, but last summer my neighbour told me to watch the dogs around our shared property line because they had rats living there and had put poison out for them. Again .
My neighbours yard is very unsightly, hence the rats - I could make a whole post about this - so there are old vehicles that coons will live in and they often feed the wildlife. I’ve called the city on them since last August and nothing has really been cleaned. I will be very angry if I find out it’s a rat that has rehomed in my coop.
I am confused as to what could rip a hole in hardware cloth though? It is plastic, not metal hardware cloth. It was all there was at the time I built the coop and I’ve not had any issues with it since August. And if the predator was in the coop the whole time, making a nest for itself and able to get in and eat the food and water, why all of a sudden rip through the hardware cloth and kill??

Our dog (a maremma) put a rip in the metal hardware cloth on our chicken run, so I'm sure a lot of predators could rip the plastic cloth.