What is digging into my coop???

[Barredrocker99]

Help!!! I went out to get my chickens all stocked up with food and water before I go to my family’s house a few hours away for three days… when I went in the coop I noticed a hole had been dug in from the outside. Honestly, I feel like a moron for not noticing this sooner… my dog has been sniffing around the edge of the chicken coop A TON and she she doesn’t normally, but I figured she was just into the smell of the coop or something. I’m pretty nervous, I live in the absolute middle of the woods in central Massachusetts, and we have just about every predator known to go for chickens, and we lost an entire flock to predators about 15 years ago. The hole can’t be more than 2 1/2 inches wide, but there’s a lot of them. I’m hoping they’re too narrow to possibly be a fishercat. I took a picture of one of the holes from the inside and out, and when I found the others (about four other entry points all around the coop, however none of the other make it all the way inside) I just quickly started barricading. Does anyone have any idea what it might be? Rats? The paths seem to all gravitate towards where the girls lay their eggs.

 

[Bird fanatic]

Could be racoons making an attempt to get in.

 

[Barredrocker99]

Could be racoons making an attempt to get in.

You think? How would it look like that from the inside though? The first pic is inside the coop.

 

[Bird fanatic]

You think? How would it look like that from the inside though? The first pic is inside the coop.

Ohh the first pic is inside then I'm not sure

 

[Bird fanatic]

Could be rats

 

[Barredrocker99]

Ohh the first pic is inside then I'm not sure

Like I mean if it’s a rat or mouse trying to take eggs my chickens will either kill them or I can deal with them when I get home.. if it’s something bigger that’s looking for more than eggs end I’m not going to be home to stop it that’s terrifying.

 

[JCL]

Help!!! I went out to get my chickens all stocked up with food and water before I go to my family’s house a few hours away for three days… when I went in the coop I noticed a hole had been dug in from the outside. Honestly, I feel like a moron for not noticing this sooner… my dog has been sniffing around the edge of the chicken coop A TON and she she doesn’t normally, but I figured she was just into the smell of the coop or something. I’m pretty nervous, I live in the absolute middle of the woods in central Massachusetts, and we have just about every predator known to go for chickens, and we lost an entire flock to predators about 15 years ago. The hole can’t be more than 2 1/2 inches wide, but there’s a lot of them. I’m hoping they’re too narrow to possibly be a fishercat. I took a picture of one of the holes from the inside and out, and when I found the others (about four other entry points all around the coop, however none of the other make it all the way inside) I just quickly started barricading. Does anyone have any idea what it might be? Rats? The paths seem to all gravitate towards where the girls lay their eggs.

 

[JCL]

Help!!! I went out to get my chickens all stocked up with food and water before I go to my family’s house a few hours away for three days… when I went in the coop I noticed a hole had been dug in from the outside. Honestly, I feel like a moron for not noticing this sooner… my dog has been sniffing around the edge of the chicken coop A TON and she she doesn’t normally, but I figured she was just into the smell of the coop or something. I’m pretty nervous, I live in the absolute middle of the woods in central Massachusetts, and we have just about every predator known to go for chickens, and we lost an entire flock to predators about 15 years ago. The hole can’t be more than 2 1/2 inches wide, but there’s a lot of them. I’m hoping they’re too narrow to possibly be a fishercat. I took a picture of one of the holes from the inside and out, and when I found the others (about four other entry points all around the coop, however none of the other make it all the way inside) I just quickly started barricading. Does anyone have any idea what it might be? Rats? The paths seem to all gravitate towards where the girls lay their eggs.

That could be from mice or a snake? I had a snake come into my coop last year. I had my husband (not me..yuck) relocate it to another field and it hasn’t be back, thankfully! I get mice also, I think that’s what the snake was going for, but since I added chickens to my duck coop, I have less of a mouse problem. We live by a lot of fields so it’s hard to control. I have found the 1/4” square chicken wire around the ground and up the side help.

 

[Barredrocker99]

That could be from mice or a snake? I had a snake come into my coop last year. I had my husband (not me..yuck) relocate it to another field and it hasn’t be back, thankfully! I get mice also, I think that’s what the snake was going for, but since I added chickens to my duck coop, I have less of a mouse problem. We live by a lot of fields so it’s hard to control. I have found the 1/4” square chicken wire around the ground and up the side help.

So it doesn’t look like a big predator that’s going to be trying to eat them but more like something that’s trying to nab some eggs? I can live with missing a few eggs… I don’t really think it’s a snake because there’s a lot of tossed up dirt around the other ones like something’s been digging with little hands. I think when I get home if they all make it okay my first course of action will be digging some chicken wire in the ground!