Something stole 11 of our chicks. Any ideas of what it could be?

[All4Eggz]

Its not a raccoon either because they would have killed all of your birds even if they weren't going to eat them. so it has to be a weasel or a rat.

A weasel would have killed all the birds too.

I think some (or one) of the chicks were/was just too quick.
The rest of the birds were roosting up high, the lowest perch is only 2 feet off the the ground, but those are the full grown chickens.

 

[All4Eggz]

I have seen some replies to my thread.

I wanted to update any and all who are interested.

After the incident, we have secured the coop even more and started closing the coop door (small) that leads into the coop every night. Concerning the camera, we did not get any footage of predators since.

We are working on finding a solar powered automatic coop door so it relieves us from the hassle of going all the way around to the back of the coop to close the door (stepping into all their feces is not fun )

For now, no more chickens have suffered.

We decided to hatch a new batch since we lost almost all of our other chicks.

This time around, we hatched 10 successfully, renewing almost all that we lost.
They came out beautiful!

Some are cochin/easter egger crosses, and some are barnyard mix.

 

[All4Eggz]

I know this is late, but I forgot that I could link the video of the racoon that was trapped near our coop (likely to have no part in the death of the 11 chicks)
Just some interesting footage:
It was a big one!

edit: dont mind the mess one the ground! that was a broken waterer, it's all cleaned up now

 

[Swbertrand1]

Weasels and rats can squeeze through impossibly small openings and do the kind of destruction you've been seeing.

My first thought too!

 

[Swbertrand1]

We've never spotted any weasels or rats near the coop ever.

You usually won't see rats (don't know about weasels since we don't have any) until after dark. Take a chair outside at dusk and watch around your feeders for movement, then put a light on them. This sounds like rats to me too. Weasel? Could be, but I have no point of reference for them...

 

[All4Eggz]

You usually won't see rats (don't know about weasels since we don't have any) until after dark. Take a chair outside at dusk and watch around your feeders for movement, then put a light on them. This sounds like rats to me too. Weasel? Could be, but I have no point of reference for them...

Not sure why, but I highly doubt it was rats.
Again, a possibility, but something's telling me it was not.

Well, it's all over and done with for now. Luckily no more drastic deaths like that, except the disappearance of a single chick. Other than that, I'm happy to announce that my flock is doing great!

 

[Swbertrand1]

Not sure why, but I highly doubt it was rats.
Again, a possibility, but something's telling me it was not.

Well, it's all over and done with for now. Luckily no more drastic deaths like that, except the disappearance of a single chick. Other than that, I'm happy to announce that my flock is doing great!

Glad to hear that! I realized after posting above that I was late to the discussion, but oh well.
Always be on guard for pests and predators from below, beside, and above. Everyone and everything seems to like the taste of chicken... :-\

 

[aart]

I know this is late, but I forgot that I could link the video of the racoon that was trapped near our coop (likely to have no part in the death of the 11 chicks)
Just some interesting footage:
It was a big one!

edit: dont mind the mess one the ground! that was a broken waterer, it's all cleaned up now

Say video is unavailable.

 

[All4Eggz]

Say video is unavailable.

Oh. not sure why??

 

[All4Eggz]

try this link