What type of predator could have caused this? :(

[shbouton]

I just didn't think a coon would bite through hardware cloth. Whatever it was basically used it like dental floss... And coons will drag them off scattered like that, with no visible injuries?

 

[pennyJo1960]

That is a dog and it will be back I am so sorry get the hardware cloth at least 2 stings of electric fence

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I still don't think that is hardware cloth. It looks like chicken wire or poultry netting.
Like I said, a raccoon only needs a little gap to get in. A dog would need a big opening like that. The only things that kill and don't eat are dogs and mink/weasels. Mink and weasels wouldn't/couldn't do that damage.
This is hardware cloth.
https://redbrandstore.com/collections/welded-hardware-cloth
Real hardware cloth can't get destroyed like that.

 

[centrarchid]

Dog, move remaining chickens to secure location until repairs / upgrades made.

 

[shbouton]

I believe it was the dogs. A raccoon wouldn't need a hole that big to get inside.
When the dogs broke in, the chickens flew the coop. The dogs didn't have to go in and out with a chicken each time. Dogs love to chase those flappy feathered toys.
After raccoons and mink, dogs have been my worst predator. A neighbor's huskies have attacked multiple times and killed lots of my birds. That looks like husky fur.
I went out one day and a husky was lunging at the hardware cloth covered window but it was 1/2" hardware cloth well secured he couldn't break through. If I hadn't secured it like I did, he would have done the same kind of damage you had and he would have been inside killing.
What makes you want to blame a fox or coyote rather than a dog?
That doesn't look like any hardware cloth I've used. It looks more like chicken wire.
If it happened here, those dogs would be at animal control right now or shot.

Thank you for your comments. It was in the dead of night so I wouldn't think they would fly the coop but hey, it's a thought I never considered.

The reason I want to blame a fox or coyote is because of the size of the hole. The husky certainly would not have fit in it. The smaller dog might have but would have had to have a leg up to chew that hardware cloth. And the height of the where I found the bite marks on the big coop door seems to have been too high for either of them to reach.

And yes, you are correct, the actual pen is surrounded by chicken wire, which was never meant to be protective only used as an enclosure during the day but I can assure you, the opening it tore through was hardware cloth that was bolted to the coop so it had to be something very strong to chew through it and then pull. Another reason I am not thinking dog, it's like whatever it was had a pair of tin snips and systematically cut each intersection in a line. If it were a dog, I would think the breach would be more of a mess, certainly not a straight line and there would have been some dog blood somewhere from the jagged edges. All guesses of course.

And I don't want to accuse since I really don't have any hard proof. I love dogs too.

 

[shbouton]

That is a dog and it will be back I am so sorry get the hardware cloth at least 2 stings of electric fence

Thank you for your comments.

 

[shbouton]

Dog, move remaining chickens to secure location until repairs / upgrades made.

Thank you for your comments.

 

[Conan]

My vote is also for those dogs you saw. They are the worst predators I've had to deal with. I've personally dealt with dogs ripping into my bird runs from above! Agree with @ChickenCanoe — dogs and mink/weasels are the only things that kill in high numbers for fun.

 

[Jandsloch]

Well if it was snipped could it have been a human? Along with the dogs?

 

[shbouton]

I still don't think that is hardware cloth. It looks like chicken wire or poultry netting.
Like I said, a raccoon only needs a little gap to get in. A dog would need a big opening like that. The only things that kill and don't eat are dogs and mink/weasels. Mink and weasels wouldn't/couldn't do that damage.
This is hardware cloth.
https://redbrandstore.com/collections/welded-hardware-cloth
Real hardware cloth can't get destroyed like that.

Thank you for your comments. I agree with you in that I don't think it's a raccoon. So a fox won't kill and come back to get them one at a time? And you are correct in that the pen is surrounded by chicken wire but I can assure you that both the entrance breach and the door to the big coop are covered in hardware cloth. And that's what I thought...that nothing can get through it...apparently it can... And we don't have minks and weasels but we certainly have raccoons, dogs and foxes.