what keeps getting in to my coop.!!?

[chickenmama109]

hi fellow chicken lovers i have a flock of 13 and not to long ago i found a snake in my coop the first snake ive seen in the coop for a year of having my chickens so we killed the snake and i have not seen one since but there is something that keeps diging holes into my run there was one small hole going under the coop so i covered it with dirt i thought it was the chickens undiging the hole over and over so to make sure nothing got in i put a brick there so know theres the some sized hole next to the brick so i covered that hole with a brick know theres a hole at the back of the coop what is going on how do i catch this thing going in to my coop and why is it going in. thanks

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

critters only get into places for one thing, food. If it is digging holes it isn't a snake, it could be rodents, mink, weasel, etc. Most likely it is rodents though if the hole is small.
Your best defense would be to extend small 1/4" galvanized mesh into the soil about a foot deep. A liner row of brick or concrete pavers might work as a secondary barrier inside and next to the below ground wire barrier.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

Sounds like a rodent to me. You could also 'skirt' wire around the coop/run. That's what I did with one of mine and it works great. I used hardware cloth and cheap plastic tent posts. Hammered them into the ground periodically to hold the wire down snug to the ground. The wire extends about a foot away from the coop and run and no digging required. Grass grew through it and you can't even tell it's there, I mow right over it.

 

[chickenmama109]

here is the home that it dug last night

 

[Bryant Redhawk]

You might want to set up a game camera, that will show you exactly what and when it shows up. It looks like a rodent could be the culprit, but the size can't rule out some of the other possible perpetrators.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Sounds like a rodent to me. You could also 'skirt' wire around the coop/run. That's what I did with one of mine and it works great. I used hardware cloth and cheap plastic tent posts. Hammered them into the ground periodically to hold the wire down snug to the ground. The wire extends about a foot away from the coop and run and no digging required. Grass grew through it and you can't even tell it's there, I mow right over it.

YES!. This is the quickest and easiest way to prevent tunneling. A simple hardwire cloth skirt around the perimeter will do the trick. Anchor it down with tent pegs, cover with some dirt or just let the grass grow through.

 

[cmom]

If you have a game camera put it up so you can see what is digging. It could be most any predator. I have had critters get in to mine too so I put game cameras up and there it was. I have had owls, coyotes, fox, possum, coons. Recently I went to collect eggs and in one of the coops wrapped around the nest box was a snake. That was the first one I had ever seen in the coops. I got it out but was unable to catch it.
This is one just like the one that I found in my coop.

This is a snake a friend killed that was looking for a way into the chick coop.

 

[cmom]