Unknown predator - Help Please!

[nelson10]

Today my husband noticed that there were dig marks around the large chicken run our laying hens are in, but said nothing got in. I was relieved until I went out to make sure all was well before bed and discovered 4 of my 2 month old chicks had been snatched out of the baby pen somehow, it is a wire run with a top and a solid bottom, there was a dismembered wing in the pen like it got ripped off as the poor chick was pulled through the wire side of the cage. Our cats and dog are all really chill with the chickens and have never been guilty of causing trouble with them. We had problems losing the big girls while free ranging earlier this spring, so they are in a run with a wire roof attached to their coop now. What could this be, and how can I protect them? The fencing has a board along the bottom all around so I am going to build up dirt around the outer edge all around. Is there a companion animal I can keep in there to help protect them? Should I move the chick pen inside the coop? I can't afford the electric fencing around it right now. We live in Kansas near the Oklahoma border if that helps narrow down ideas at all.

Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Raccoons can reach in and pull birds to them or through the wire. Using hardware cloth around the bottom 2-3 feet should prevent it.