What predator ripped through the chicken wire?

[silkiechicken]

Yeah, chicken wire is meant to keep chickens contained. Kind of how goat fencing is for goats and rabbit fencing is for rabbits.

 

[Prettiest Frog]

Quote:
I use chicken wire for creating separations within the pen, and welded wire to secure the pen itself. I also am using chicken wire around the garden to keep certain chickens from investigating the seedlings.

 

[Chickielady]

Look around the hole in the poultry netting for hair, you can get some kind of idea there, if it is white or tan it is not a racoon, and I think coon hair is gray with black tips.
I have seen coyotes go through netting like that, but they take the birds and eat them, leaving a string of feathers.
Racoons typically eat the birds they kill as well.
I have never seen a racoon kill for fun, that would be a dog.
I would bet money on it being a dog that killed, not a wild HUNGRY animal.
I have a hav-a-hart trap out by my pens, and have caught lots of big housecats, even though we are way out in the woods !
A house cat could never go through wire like that, and if any wild animal was hungry enough to bite through the wire, they would have eaten the bird they kill, not killed them all and left them.
I bet dogs !

 

[arch_cpj]

besides why not to use chicken wire that is a great illustration of why I use 3 strands of electric fence wire would have stopped 99 percent of the 4 legged predaters and if the hole is there then you have a pretty good clue its the 2 legged type go to TSC and get some 17 gage wire a 20 dollar fencer and a 5 dollar bag of insulators and sleep well at nite...

 

[MaggieRae]

Now I want to know what it is...

I would also check for hair, or prints.

 

[azygous]

Okay, as long as you're taking guesses as to what type critter could rip through wire like that, my money would be on a black bear. I've seen them go right through a travel trailer just like that.

This is why I've reinforced my pen with hog panels. Even hardware cloth, which everyone seems to swear by, isn't bear-proof.

 

[twentynine]

Almost any predator is strong enough to go through chicken wire.

In this case I think you got a coon.

 

[annie3001]

wow!
sad. question , as i see on one asked after flipping thru the replies. were there chickens locked up at night? did this happen during the day? if this was asked and i missed it. sorry.
again, sorry for your loss.

we used the chicken wire on our runs.
however we did put the 12 inch hardwire cloth fencing on the bottom. all my chickens get locked up at night....sad to see such a hole! makes me want to cover the whole run with hardwire.


p.s.
this is a few months old post.
havent seen a response to any new from the original poster.
also, this should be a warning on the dangers of chicken fencing vs hardwire

 

[SAORSA]

I am so sorry for the loss. First let me say that a coon, in my neck of the woods, would have eaten the prime parts right where it killed the bird, and killed them all, but eaten the prime parts of each right where they killed the chicken. The birds would be all over the place. If it were dogs, I agree with PineappleMoma, they would have made several attempts to dig, and have damaged several places. A bear would have destroyed the coup and at the very least left some discernible tracks and lots of hair on the wire. Is that hole big enough for a bear ? There is one predator I know that would do that exact thing. A coyote would kill every one of them and stack them in neat piles mangled but not eaten. Probably taking a couple when he left if he was actually hungry. I don't know what a bobcat would have done but I did have a house cat who was fond of catching weasels and stacking them uneaten behind some bushes, always in the same place no matter when he caught them. I didn't find the stack for quite a long time ant they were in various states of decay all the way up to fresh. I am thinking that a feline, unless it was very hungry would not risk injury ripping open chicken wire, or, maybe it is a common thing. I'm sticking with coyote only because I've seen it for myself with baby lambs. Get a trap big enough for a coyote. They may be too smart to go in, but if he does, it will hopefully hold up.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

I see it is an old post. But I am disappointed I read through the whole post and still do not know what made that hole. You are right this should be the poster for reasons not to use ck wire.