What could be doing this?

[aart]

I would say definitely claw marks. I stained over the original marks which covered about 50% of the front, 30% of the back and over 60% of the coop that was enclosed by the chain link fence. It was scratched down to bare wood. The attached picture is their most recent attempt and no, not too bad yet.

Spacing of claw marks should have given you an idea of critter involved.
Doesn't take much to claw thru stain.
Wish you had better pics.
Game cam is probably the only way to know for sure what you might be dealing with.

 

[leec]

Spacing of claw marks should have given you an idea of critter involved.
Doesn't take much to claw thru stain.
Wish you had better pics.
Game cam is probably the only way to know for sure what you might be dealing with.

I agree. I wish I would have taken a picture 3 weeks ago. There weren't any distinct claw marks because it was just one whole area of bare wood and in two places a 4 or 5 inch square was actually clawed or bitten off down to what I felt was a thin layer. I didn't notice any marks that would look like a bigger cat raking claws down the siding. The siding material is rough sawed and not even a year old. An expensive coop which makes matters a little worse.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I thought that too but the scratches don't seem deep enough. The bears around here gouge out pieces of wood

Agreed. T11.. Bear will gouge, same with canine. It appears that something is just nibbling at the surface wood, not far off the ground, and not beyond a certain height. Think about rabbit, opposum, porcupine, although porcupine is very unlikely to get through a dog fence.
Got a game camera you can use?

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Check your wooded area near the coop for similar nibbling on saplings at a similar height to the damage on the coop.
If your flock was in the barn rather than this coop then it makes less sense that a predator was trying to get in. My money is on vermin. To me this looks similar to rabbit damage that I see in spring on my property. I have LOTS of snowshoe hare, but SW MI, prob cottontail, of which sml adults and juviniles may squeeze through chain link fence.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

100% also saying get yourself a game camera and/or another type of recording seecurity camera if you can hook up to power. They make some very cheap ones that run of electricity, and you can get alerts to your phone if triggered.

 

[leec]

Agreed. T11.. Bear will gouge, same with canine. It appears that something is just nibbling at the surface wood, not far off the ground, and not beyond a certain height. Think about rabbit, opposum, porcupine, although porcupine is very unlikely to get through a dog fence.
Got a game camera you can use?

Game camera is my next step. Thanks so much for the response. And, there are a couple of spots where the wood is gauged out but only about 4 or 5 inch chunks and pretty low on the coop. The best stuff was stained over. The most puzzling part is that are scratches that are at the very tips of my fingertips while standing flat on the ground, I'm 5'5". There's no way anything could have hung from the roof or fence to make those marks. So confusing and frustrating.

 

[addctd2plnts]

Wondering from the height if you have Bobcats? We don't see them often, but they are around.

 

[leec]

We did think about that but my husband said he doesn't think so. The sightings are few and far between and the DNR isn't buying into bobcat in our area. But, with that said, I wonder what could drag a deer carcass up a tree...? And a scream I heard in the middle of the night that woke me up from a dead sleep. Hopefully, a game camera will answer my question. Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

 

[aart]

in SW Michigan

Here's how to add your general geographical location to your profile.
It's easy to do, and then it's always there!

 

[leec]

Mystery solved, it's either a group of black squirrels or a few persistent squirrels that either love the stain on the coop or want to chew their way inside. Saw one hanging on the wall of the coop this morning. I can't believe that they want the food inside the coop because we have cattle and a lot of feed available for them to eat. So much more recent damage to the coop too.