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

[McChooky]

Yup. I know. It's most likely a weasel because our cousins who own chickens in the same area as us have spotted some weasels

One of the easiest ways to make a good temporary brooder is to set 2 pallets up on cinder block to make them about 8 ft long and lay a piece of plywood over both and secure.Tractor supply sells cattle panels you can make an arch with(or pvc pipe)Attach hardware cloth over it and a tarp and make a wood door on one end .

 

[McChooky]

The lower 4' of our coop/ run walls are hardware cloth and 2"x 4" woven wire, stapled and then with boards screwed into the framing. We too worry about large dogs, and so far don't have bears. Occasional cougar sightings though...
View attachment 2713843

Mary
And those staples are the fence staples, not the little ones!

That's what I call being built secure!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Hey everyone.
Thanks in advance for reading my post.

Sunday of last week, we were putting the chickens to bed, and forgot about 1 of the broods. They were outside in the chicken run inside an enclosed cage area.
Apparently there was a little opening on top and next morning we come to see that all of them are dead - except for one.
The sebright hen was half eaten and all other chicks were missing except for some legs and feathers.
There was one chick that survived, untouched, and it was always chirping trying to find its mother. We took it in the house and it started getting attached to humans and following us around (The chick is almost a month old).
Unfortunately, I was not able to get photos of the incident,

Almost a week later, (last night) the second brood of chicks (8 chicks) with the other sebright mother were in the coop, like usual, and everything was closed off. We have netting all around both run areas and the coop is all secure. We're not sure how, but something got in the coop (probably the same thing that got the other one) and took all of the chicks (who were 1.5 months or so) except for one. The sebright hen survived with her one chick.
This morning we checked and there were some dead chick bodies laying around, and some were completely gone, but the broody was untouched.

So all in all, we lost 11 chicks in less than a week.

We're not sure what this could be. A fox would have been way too big, and we haven't really seen other predators except for possums and hawks, but hawks hunt during the day.

Today, we are getting a trap from a fellow chicken owner and we are wondering what we should use as the "bait". Cooked chicken maybe?


Thanks for any help and suggestions.

Sounds like rats!

 

[McChooky]

Sounds like rats!

When we moved here 6 yrs ago the place was covered in rats but I kept throwing instant mashed potatoes down in their tunnels.(Pest control gave me that tip)It took years to get the population down but I can honestly say Its been at least a year since I saw one.I read a post earlier today where something ate the wings off this ladies babies chicks.Makes me think its rats too.

 

[jewelg]

So sorry to hear about your loss
It could definitely be a rat or weasel, but I‘m thinking it could be snakes.
They fit through any gap! Could you take a photo of the coop?
Then I could suggest what you could use to fix the gap, like another layer of mesh or some tape.

The photo below is an idea for a brooder box, simply a plastic box, with a rectangular hole cut on the lid, fixed with mesh put on top and woof nailed/screwed on top of the mesh to keep it supported.
If you make this for your chicks they will be a lot safer. You could also keep the brooder box (with your chicks inside it) on your porch so they are close by.

I was wondering about snakes, too, but with little chickie legs left around, thought maybe not. I’m assuming snakes swallow them whole and don’t leave much evidence behind, but I don’t have personal experience with them.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Hey everyone.
Thanks in advance for reading my post.

Sunday of last week, we were putting the chickens to bed, and forgot about 1 of the broods. They were outside in the chicken run inside an enclosed cage area.
Apparently there was a little opening on top and next morning we come to see that all of them are dead - except for one.
The sebright hen was half eaten and all other chicks were missing except for some legs and feathers.
There was one chick that survived, untouched, and it was always chirping trying to find its mother. We took it in the house and it started getting attached to humans and following us around (The chick is almost a month old).
Unfortunately, I was not able to get photos of the incident,

Almost a week later, (last night) the second brood of chicks (8 chicks) with the other sebright mother were in the coop, like usual, and everything was closed off. We have netting all around both run areas and the coop is all secure. We're not sure how, but something got in the coop (probably the same thing that got the other one) and took all of the chicks (who were 1.5 months or so) except for one. The sebright hen survived with her one chick.
This morning we checked and there were some dead chick bodies laying around, and some were completely gone, but the broody was untouched.

So all in all, we lost 11 chicks in less than a week.

We're not sure what this could be. A fox would have been way too big, and we haven't really seen other predators except for possums and hawks, but hawks hunt during the day.

Today, we are getting a trap from a fellow chicken owner and we are wondering what we should use as the "bait". Cooked chicken maybe?


Thanks for any help and suggestions.

I would guess that you have a bunch of rats lurking around.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

You mentioned possums earlier. Like rats and mice, possums can squeeze through extremely small spaces. While it may well be rats, don't rule out possums. I have caught a grown male with a full grown, large breed chicken in it's mouth.
Thank God I heard the girls screaming in the middle of the night and got there in time to save my hen. We still don't know how he got in.
The conundrum is that possums also eat rats and mice.
Good luck solving your problem, I am so sorry for your loss.

 

[_Moon_]

Hey everyone.
Thanks in advance for reading my post.

Sunday of last week, we were putting the chickens to bed, and forgot about 1 of the broods. They were outside in the chicken run inside an enclosed cage area.
Apparently there was a little opening on top and next morning we come to see that all of them are dead - except for one.
The sebright hen was half eaten and all other chicks were missing except for some legs and feathers.
There was one chick that survived, untouched, and it was always chirping trying to find its mother. We took it in the house and it started getting attached to humans and following us around (The chick is almost a month old).
Unfortunately, I was not able to get photos of the incident,

Almost a week later, (last night) the second brood of chicks (8 chicks) with the other sebright mother were in the coop, like usual, and everything was closed off. We have netting all around both run areas and the coop is all secure. We're not sure how, but something got in the coop (probably the same thing that got the other one) and took all of the chicks (who were 1.5 months or so) except for one. The sebright hen survived with her one chick.
This morning we checked and there were some dead chick bodies laying around, and some were completely gone, but the broody was untouched.

So all in all, we lost 11 chicks in less than a week.

We're not sure what this could be. A fox would have been way too big, and we haven't really seen other predators except for possums and hawks, but hawks hunt during the day.

Today, we are getting a trap from a fellow chicken owner and we are wondering what we should use as the "bait". Cooked chicken maybe?


Thanks for any help and suggestions.

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.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

A weasel would have killed all the birds too.

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.

 

[McChooky]

That's what I call being built secure!

Yes it's built tough! One of the best I've ever seen .