What predators are known for digging under coops?

[HeatherEmme]

I've just assumed that pretty much all predators will dig if they are determined enough to get in. Some people bury their hardware cloth underneath the coop.

 

[kynewbchickie]

Rats.

They do kill chickens. They knock them off the roost and gang up on them on the floor, I have read.

I've read about that, too. Not ever seen it or heard of it in my area, but I have read about it happening.
Another reason I'm thankful I have a tomcat who's happy to munch on the rats and mice and ignore the chickens.

 

[kynewbchickie]

I've just assumed that pretty much all predators will dig if they are determined enough to get in. Some people bury their hardware cloth underneath the coop.

I have a few friends that raise chickens. They've added a 2' wide section of hardware cloth to the bottoms of their fencing, tied it on very well with strong-gauge wire, and laid it out on the ground surrounding the fence on the exterior of the run/pasture area and secured it with cinder blocks, very heavy rocks, etc - they swear by it. I'm thinking of incorporating that when we do more work on their coop/run in a couple of weeks. So far, nothing has tried to dig IN to the pasture (and they have a solid, raised floor on their coop)...but those little boogers sure do love to try to dig OUT of their pasture, even though there's a TON of lush vegetation, safe flowers and plantain inside their area they've not even touched yet! Inquisitive, curious little minds...

 

[BunnyMomma]

Hi, Possums are one of the worst predators on my farm. I was losing chickens in one of my coops but I could not figure out how. Every night I locked up my birds in the coop. One day I went out to check the nest boxes and I let the girls out into the run. I stepped into a tunnel, up to my knees inside the coop.
I had wire, on the ground 2 feet out on every side of the coop. The possums had found a weak spot in the wire and were killing my birds and dragging them underground inside the coop. They had a network of tunnels full of my poor little birds. I caught several of them and relocated them, but I think they were finding their way back. I can't stand for them to eat my chickens.
DH, dug a trench around the entire coop and we added welded wire and concrete around all of the perimeter. That night I waited outside with a 4-10 and a flashlight and I killed a HUGE possum. All in all I got rid of an entire family of them. So far there were 4 since last November. I had no idea that they could dig so well. They are very destructive and will wipe out your flock.
I just got another one last week.
Here is the photo of the one I killed last year. He was not the largest one, I had another one that was about 11 pounds.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Hi, Possums are one of the worst predators on my farm. I was losing chickens in one of my coops but I could not figure out how. Every night I locked up my birds in the coop. One day I went out to check the nest boxes and I let the girls out into the run. I stepped into a tunnel, up to my knees inside the coop.
I had wire, on the ground 2 feet out on every side of the coop. The possums had found a weak spot in the wire and were killing my birds and dragging them underground inside the coop. They had a network of tunnels full of my poor little birds. I caught several of them and relocated them, but I think they were finding their way back. I can't stand for them to eat my chickens.
DH, dug a trench around the entire coop and we added welded wire and concrete around all of the perimeter. That night I waited outside with a 4-10 and a flashlight and I killed a HUGE possum. All in all I got rid of an entire family of them. So far there were 4 since last November. I had no idea that they could dig so well. They are very destructive and will wipe out your flock.
I just got another one last week.
Here is the photo of the one I killed last year. He was not the largest one, I had another one that was about 11 pounds.

That is one big possum. My Australian Shepherd killed one inside her large lot, and she came out of it to kill another one....still don't know how she got out, unless she climbed over the gate. Found her laying outside the fence with her kill. She sleeps quite a bit during the day, and she keeps watch at night, along with our Great Pyrenees. What part of North Carolina?

 

[mdnees]

Possums and coons aren't prone to digging, they'd rather work with their hands. Coyotes are diggers(we lost an entire flock to a coyote that dug under the buried fence).
Fox are burrow animals. They live in underground dens and are master diggers. I had a problem with a fox digging near my fence so I buried large rocks around the perimeter of the fence and stacked more large rocks around the fence about a foot high and I haven't had a problem since.

That's a good idea - burying the rocks. We might have to do that one... but with cinder blocks.
We have a stack in the woods that could be put to some use!

 

[shmccarthy]

That's a good idea - burying the rocks.  We might have to do that one... but with cinder blocks. 

We have a stack in the woods that could be put to some use! 

That's a good idea!

 

[kynewbchickie]

Holy cats, that's a heck of a possum story! I've yet to catch any further down in our yard/property than the garbage can at the side of the road. I'm hoping it stays that way.