What animal is tunneling under our coop? Photos

[Thechezman]

its a RAT.... I have them too ...

 

[ChickAbuddies]

I got some photos of foot prints this morning. Not the best, but you can barely see them in the dirt. Looks like 5 toes on some of the clearer tracks. For size reference, each print was no bigger than the tip of my pinky.

That looks like a rat to me. I did find out that peppermint oil mixed with white vinegar in a spray bottle seems to work. Spray in the holes and around the coop, it won't hurt your chickens. You could also add a bit of cyan to it and put it in a sprayer and attach it to a water hose. That made raccoons not want anything to do with my coop

 

[ChickAbuddies]

Update: We set a live trap last night with some cheese and a cracker and placed it inside the run, right next to the main hole. But no luck...the trap and bait inside was untouched. But there were more signs of digging, so they were definitely in the run again last night, and totally ignored the trap.
Either they’re too smart or just picky eaters. I’m gonna try another time tonight but with a piece of meat.
One thing to mention is that the leftover cracked corn in the run doesn’t disappear overnight. In fact it appears to remain largely untouched, along with any other scrap food pieces left behind by the chickens. So it seems like they’re not really eating the food that’s left in the run, which is odd...

Try something like hot dogs or lunch meat. I use liver worst in mine for the coons it seems to work the best cause they can't just reach through the trap and drag it out. You don't need very much of it for it to work

 

[SMRules]

Hi folks,
I have a coop sitting on top of a cement slab. It has an attached, enclosed run (made with mesh wire, not chicken wire). Along the edges of the run, the mesh wire runs underground about a foot to prevent burrowing animals, like weasels, from digging under.
Yesterday morning I went outside to let the chickens out of the coop and into the run. I noticed a pile of dirt/pebbles on the INSIDE of the run, right next to the edge of the cement slab. The dirt pile was about 1/2 to 1 foot wide. Upon further inspection I realized that it was displaced from a tunnel that was dug under the cement pad and went to the OUTSIDE of the run, right where it connects to the coop and the extra foot of mesh wire that runs underground ends. The tunnel was about the width of a baseball all the way through.
I took a hose and sprayed water all throughout the tunnel to make sure nothing was still inside.
My first thought was chipmunks. We have TONS of them around, along with gray squirrels. I sprinkle cracked corn inside the run for the chickens to eat, but a lot gets left behind that they don’t eat, so I assumed a chipmunk was trying to get after that. But I’m also worried that it might be a weasel or mink. I live in Maine so we have lots around here. About 12 years ago I lost an entire flock to a weasel.
I buried the tunnel and put a cinder block over the main hole. I’m not worried about anything getting to my flock at night if it’s a nocturnal animal because the coop is very solid (the run, apparently not so much).
This morning I went back out and found a new tunnel dug around the cinder block. Again, it would’ve happened during the early morning hours (between 5am-8am) if it was a chipmunk. Otherwise, it would have to be nocturnal. This time, there were multiple signs of small digging spots inside the run, where it appeared to get out (unsuccessfully due to the underground wire).
I’ve since filled in the tunnels again with gravel and put larger rocks and cinder blocks over the holes. I also put rags soaked in peppermint and tea tree oil in between the rocks where the tunnels used to be as another potential deterrent. This is just a temporary deterrent until I’m able to get some more mesh wire to completely seal off the weak spot where it ends...I’m going to connect it over the cement pad and have it go underground a foot, just as it is around the base of the run.
In the meantime, does anyone have any guesses as to whether this is a weasel or just a chipmunk? Seems like a lot of damage for a chipmunk to do, especially given the size of the initial pile of displaced dirt I found. But we also have SO many chipmunks around, wouldn’t the large population size point to a lack of their natural predators (like minks and weasels) too?
I’ve attached photos of the ‘damage’ for reference. These photos were taken the second time I found the tunnels.
Any input is appreciated!

Photo 1: from outside the run, you can see the main hole leading into the run. It almost looks like the cinder block was also chewed at the corner??
Photo 2: from inside the run, where the hole seen in photo 1 leads to.
Photos 3-5: small holes found along the edge of the INSIDE of the run (but don’t make it to the outside because of the underground wire).
Photo 6/7: our whole coop set-up.

Hi folks,
I have a coop sitting on top of a cement slab. It has an attached, enclosed run (made with mesh wire, not chicken wire). Along the edges of the run, the mesh wire runs underground about a foot to prevent burrowing animals, like weasels, from digging under.
Yesterday morning I went outside to let the chickens out of the coop and into the run. I noticed a pile of dirt/pebbles on the INSIDE of the run, right next to the edge of the cement slab. The dirt pile was about 1/2 to 1 foot wide. Upon further inspection I realized that it was displaced from a tunnel that was dug under the cement pad and went to the OUTSIDE of the run, right where it connects to the coop and the extra foot of mesh wire that runs underground ends. The tunnel was about the width of a baseball all the way through.
I took a hose and sprayed water all throughout the tunnel to make sure nothing was still inside.
My first thought was chipmunks. We have TONS of them around, along with gray squirrels. I sprinkle cracked corn inside the run for the chickens to eat, but a lot gets left behind that they don’t eat, so I assumed a chipmunk was trying to get after that. But I’m also worried that it might be a weasel or mink. I live in Maine so we have lots around here. About 12 years ago I lost an entire flock to a weasel.
I buried the tunnel and put a cinder block over the main hole. I’m not worried about anything getting to my flock at night if it’s a nocturnal animal because the coop is very solid (the run, apparently not so much).
This morning I went back out and found a new tunnel dug around the cinder block. Again, it would’ve happened during the early morning hours (between 5am-8am) if it was a chipmunk. Otherwise, it would have to be nocturnal. This time, there were multiple signs of small digging spots inside the run, where it appeared to get out (unsuccessfully due to the underground wire).
I’ve since filled in the tunnels again with gravel and put larger rocks and cinder blocks over the holes. I also put rags soaked in peppermint and tea tree oil in between the rocks where the tunnels used to be as another potential deterrent. This is just a temporary deterrent until I’m able to get some more mesh wire to completely seal off the weak spot where it ends...I’m going to connect it over the cement pad and have it go underground a foot, just as it is around the base of the run.
In the meantime, does anyone have any guesses as to whether this is a weasel or just a chipmunk? Seems like a lot of damage for a chipmunk to do, especially given the size of the initial pile of displaced dirt I found. But we also have SO many chipmunks around, wouldn’t the large population size point to a lack of their natural predators (like minks and weasels) too?
I’ve attached photos of the ‘damage’ for reference. These photos were taken the second time I found the tunnels.
Any input is appreciated!

Photo 1: from outside the run, you can see the main hole leading into the run. It almost looks like the cinder block was also chewed at the corner??
Photo 2: from inside the run, where the hole seen in photo 1 leads to.
Photos 3-5: small holes found along the edge of the INSIDE of the run (but don’t make it to the outside because of the underground wire).
Photo 6/7: our whole coop set-up.

You have a very nice setup for your girls. I don't really have an answer to what/who your mystery invaders are.

But, if they are only coming in for the corn, perhaps if you feed your chickens the corn earlier in the day, so none is left on the ground at dusk, perhaps it will deter the critters that are breaking in to steal the corn? I use bucket feeders hanging from the rafters, and I feed scraps and snacks earlier in the day, so none is left in the evening for night time lurkers. I hope this might help and that you solve your mystery.