What got my Sylkie?

[aquafuzz]

Hello everyone. Just getting started with chickens and we brought home 3 two month old black sylkie chicks and placed them in their coop for their first night. Then next morning one was in the yard and one was still in the coop and one was missing. After checking the coop I found two holes in the chicken wire at ground level, one leading in and the other leading out. The sizes of the holes were about 6" long and 3" tall, flat on the bottom and domed on top. There was no sign of a struggle, no feathers or anything. So my question is what the heck got in? I since wrapped the lower half with hardware mesh and nothing has been back. I was told raccoon or possum or even fox but without a sign of a kill I’m stumped.

 

[stellacat]

Not sure, maybe a rat? P.S. sylkie is spelled silkie, even though I like how you spelled it!

 

[MysticScorpio82]

I am sorry for your loss

Honestly it could be a number of things. First of all chicken wire is designed to keep chickens in, not keep predators out, so any number of animals could have ripped it open and made off with a chicken. At first I was thinking coon - but they normally leave their kill. Were their any tracks nearby?