RANT!!

[aart]

Sorry for your loss.
Pics of hole, with quarter in shot, and coop run might help ID it...and offer ways to secure further.

 

[Melly-Mae]

I already filled the hole ( just big enough to stick a corn cob Into) and sat bricks all along the fence. I am at my in laws currently but will post pics tomorrow morning of my set up. I would definitely appreciate any thoughts and ideas you all may have to share with me!!

 

[aart]

Weasel, rat...raccoon reach-thru.
Regardless of what it was, you'll need to bolster the fortress.

 

[Cayuga momma]

I am so sorry for your loss!

 

[Silkie_Mama]

Omg I am so sorry I have lost 3 and I know it’s tough but just know they are watching you in birb heaven

 

[featherhead007]

It's hard to lose a favorite, as you said, its always the best ones that die!

 

[April’s Zoo]

I already filled the hole ( just big enough to stick a corn cob Into) and sat bricks all along the fence. I am at my in laws currently but will post pics tomorrow morning of my set up. I would definitely appreciate any thoughts and ideas you all may have to share with me!!

If it’s a weasel, the bricks aren’t a wide enough barrier. They’ll just start their hole at the edge of the brick. I’m not sure they’re really enough for a raccoon either.
I do know that most predatory mammals can fit their body through any hole that is large enough for their head to squeeze thru. And they can get their heads into some *really* tiny spaces. A hole just 1.5—2 inches across can let in more predators than you could ever imagine, including a fair-sized raccoon.

To create an effective barrier to digging, you need to use 1/2 inch hardware cloth (welded wire mesh) around the bottom 2-3 feet of your fence, and then continue it either out 8-12 inches horizontally, as an “apron”.... or dig a trench vertically down from the fence ‘walls’ and continue the mesh 6 inches or deeper underground. It’s important to cover an apron of mesh with at least 1/2–1 inch of dirt or sand or to lay sandbags or pavers or something continuously over top so that it can’t be lifted/bent upwards and tunneled under anyway.
Some people prefer to run the mesh completely around their pen/run— top, sides, bottom... making it so they are surrounded on all sides instead. I guess it depends how deep the chix will scratch. I don’t think I’ve heard of anyone who’s done it that way having a problem. But I worry that they’ll end up hurting themselves on the wire ‘floor’ or that they’ll try to scratch, find the wire barrier and will get stressed even if they don’t actually hurt their feet on it.
I’m a worrier, though.

As you can see, there’s lots of “variations on a theme”.... what they have in common, is blocking access and discouraging ‘probing’ by predators. Because they will come back to keep looking for a way to get to the birds. And if there’s a way in, they’ll eventually find it. As far as the preds are concerned, you’ve opened a free restaurant— all Chicken, all the time.... if you were hungry and could have your fave food for free... but only if you could get through the door, you’d figure out how to get inside.....

I hope you can find a solution to keep the rest of the flock safe. Good luck!

 

[Alabama Fly]

I already filled the hole ( just big enough to stick a corn cob Into) and sat bricks all along the fence. I am at my in laws currently but will post pics tomorrow morning of my set up. I would definitely appreciate any thoughts and ideas you all may have to share with me!!

I'm so sorry for your loss. I just went through something similar . 5, 3 week old chicks eaten completely ,2 dead with obvious teeth marks . No discernible entrance. Next night eggs eaten with very small scratched out hole found under door. On third night almost had a bad encounter with a skunk in a nest box. Two nights later skunk caught in live trap and despatched and coops fortified. I have had experience with raccoons and possums but didn't realize how much destruction a skunk could cause and also how hard they are to get rid of when you finally do trap one. I've never feared walking up on a raccoon or opossum but a skunk will really make you back pedal, they can't see well and don't have a lot of fear.

 

[Howard E]

99% chance a coon. 1% chance something else.

I've seen coons go under a chain link fence and through a woven wire livestock fence.......so fast it was like they were not even there.

Those guys will come back and keep coming back until you run out of birds, and several times after that.

To keep them from going under, your best bet is an apron that affixes to the bottom part of the coop or run wall with a small upright L (about 4 inches or so), then lays out flat on the ground. I like a 2' wide piece of 1' x 2" welded wire. All around the coop. They can't dig through that.

To get it flat on the ground, take a lawnmower or weedeater and whack the grass down tight to the surface so the wire lays as close to flat on the ground as you can get it. Then pin it down with landscape pins, tent stakes (Walmart style.....large nail with orange plastic head), etc. In short order, grass will grow up through it and you will never know it's there. Mow right over it.

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry! I had rats kill (behead) three nice bantam pullets last year, in my coop at night. Definitely rats! Weasels also will be a possibility.
As everyone said, reinforce your coop and run before adding any more birds!
Bait stations carefully placed will get rats, because they are very smart, and you'll never get all of them with traps only.
Good luck.
Mary