Predator??? suggestions

[feedman77]

I'm used to losing a few chickens to predators. I've lost to owls, coons, opossum, and totes.

I know what most of these attack leave sign wise.

But last night I lost 5 hens from dog kennel panel pen. What ever it was climbed the 6ft panel tore off a piece of wire along the top and left with all 5 hens.

Lots of feathers in the pen and a small trail into a fencerow.

These birds have been in the pen since spring without issue.

Now the puzzling part. There were no body parts in the pen. Generally coons leave the head or body. Possums eat the innards and leave the rest.

The pen is covered with tin so I can rule out hawks and owls. No dug under holes so wouldn't think it would be a fox or coyote. Especially since whatever it was had to climb.

Could I be dealing with a bobcat, weasel, mink or maybe an otter now? Don't know about the kill patterns on these.

 

[Freeman Farms]

Where do you live?

 

[feedman77]

Missouri

 

[Freeman Farms]

Have you seen any fox activity around you? Any carcasss' further out away from the pen? I want to say that a bobcat wouldn't make repeated trips and would be flying solo. Coons would hit you in groups but probably wouldn't have the muscle to rip wiring apart. Whats the common predator you've been fighting?

 

[feedman77]

No on fox activity generally because of the abundance of coyote.

Coons were the biggest last year killed 11 coon and 9 possum. Been light this year.

Didn't find carcasses away from pen it's about a 30 yards wide fencerow that goes into miles of soybean fields that have not been cut yet.

That's the part that gets me is no body parts and it had to make multiple trips to get them out.

I set 4 live traps baited with tuna and 6 duke coon traps this evening so maybe I'll get something

 

[Freeman Farms]

Foxes are excellent climbers btw and coyotes can jump a 6ft fence and barely need to put a paw down to get over.​

 

[Freeman Farms]

You could drop some sand or fresh dirt around the pen as well. You might get a track mark and identify it that way. I have a night vision camera inside of my 70ft run as well as 2 cameras that record all activity on both sides of the exterior.

 

[17 chickens]

Mink and weasels would dig under the fence otters wouldn't climb and take the wire off. How big is the hole on the top? Coons will pull the wire apart but it sounds like bob cat.

 

[feedman77]

The hole is about 2 foot long and 10 inches deep. Had a limb fall on the panel.
Covered it with 2x4 welded wire nailed to a 2x4 that ran along the edge for the roof. And wired to chain link.

The pen was a breeder pen it's in the middle of a set of pens that are 20x50 feet. Each pen is a 10x20. My run is 80x120..

Guess it could have walked on roof. But getting back out would have been a feat.

I have several spare game cams I can deploy if traps turn up with nothing.

 

[Freeman Farms]

I've asked myself that same question. I could see how they got in,but how in the hell did they get out with a bird? Never figured that one out. That's when I bought my cameras.