What could have ripped up chain link fence like this?

[WriterofWords]

Coyote could do that in a heart-beat, I've seen them do it.

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
hubby is asking WHERE you are located , might give him and others and idea of what this predator could be .

 

[Cara]

The animal wouldn't need to fit through the hole, just be able to grab a bird through it. My money's on a dog. You could lay wet sand around the perimeter and wait for tracks.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Dog, my labs could get through that. I didn't think it was possible until I watched them doing it.

 

[Mahonri]

If you were close to the woods I'd say perhaps a wolverine.

 

[birdy_num_nums]

I didn't see any fur or tracks. Nothing to give me any clues. We live on a big, flat, open valley with brush, no woods. Lots of coyotes. Plenty of loose dogs.

This did happen several years back, but putting some wet sand down when I get my new chooks out there (different set-up) to catch any tracks is a great idea. Until I get my game cam.

Another reason I am leaning toward dog is that we had been out here for 7+ months without so much as a sniff from any predators. And now that I'm on BYC and know better, I am ashamed to say that for several months I had my hens in a dog crate inside the chain link cube, thinking they were safe. No fencing anywhere on the property, coyotes passing by night and day, and no attacks. So when this happened, I figured it was stray dogs. Although... don't dogs usually just kill for the thrill and leave the bodies? I never found any trace of my hens other than feathers, one part of a leg inside the hen house, and a skull months later that a packrat had hidden away in its nest that we found and destroyed (the nest).

The thought did cross my mind that human animals had bent the fencing and let their dogs in for sport.

Thanks for all the ideas. It was a horrible and hard lesson, but I learned it very well and my new chicks will benefit. I basically view any potential predator as a Tasmanian devil with uber strength and cunning with a side dressing of tenacity.

 

[birdy_num_nums]

I forgot to ask-

Is there any way to reinforce chain link so this can be avoided or at least significantly slow down a predator intent on doing this?

 

[ivan3]

A very cheap, but very effective method is to use metal hose clamps (those used in cars) to attach frame to sizing bar at the corners (not the cutest, but nothing will be able to bend the bars). I'd probably attach sheets of 4' hardware cloth to the outside of the entire pen, as well.
Good luck!

 

[Chirpy]

birdy_num_nums asked:

don't dogs usually just kill for the thrill and leave the bodies?

Not always... My own dog killed and ate an entire chicken ... I watched him. Nothing left but a couple of feathers and I wouldn't have found them if I didn't watch where he took the chicken to eat it.

I don't know about the metal hose clamps, they sound good but I've never seen them in use for this particular situation. I would say that wrapping either hardware cloth or 2x4 welded wire around the bottom 2 feet and burying that into the ground at least 15 inches would be a good solution.​

 

[AussieSharon]

I'm so sorry for your loss. My bet is with dog also. I once had a dog that ate through a chain link fence and got out in less than 20 minutes of putting her in the pen. We'd no sooner put her in, walked inside and a few minutes later a neighbor was calling to say our dog was at their place, we assured them NO way could she be, she was in a chain link enclosure. I looked out the window and no dog, she had eaten her way out!