Bobbyee Johanna
In the Brooder
- Aug 1, 2020
- 19
- 40
- 33
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??
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??
