What's Killing my Chickens

[OrganicFarmWife]

I read... on this very forum...   what I consider to be an excellent idea in identifying predators and that is to scatter some fine sand or something so that whatever-it-is has to step on the sand (or whatever you use) so you can see the foot prints. Even if it is rats, they will leave foot prints. Then at least you will know.

With rat/mouse eradication, my experience is there will always be some, no matter what you do. I leave out live traps that can catch multiple animals. For mice it's a small steel box that they walk through and end up in the holding area instead of being able to go through. I just saw a nifty live rat trap in the Stromberg's catalog that is made of cage wire, they can get in but not out. For me it's just all part of having a barn that I have to check my traps every other day or so. No matter how many mice I kill, more will come. 

The cement slab is a fantastic idea and one that I'll be using in my new coop. In the past though I've wired up welded wire mesh all across the bottom of the coop.

Hungry cats help with the barn too. I just give the cats free rein in the outbuilding. I feed them enough that they stay, more over winter. The saying I have always heard is in you live in the country you either fill your out buildings with cats and dogs or you fill them with rats and raccoons.

 

[hayley3]

I know nothing about rats and whether they can kill a chicken. Seems odd to me but I've never had rats so not an expert on such things. Wouldn't a rat make a hole like a mouse but bigger?
Otherwise you are dealing with a raccoon or weasel, in my opinion. I had raccoons tunnel from below to reach inside my chicken coop. Weasels are small but I believe a raccoon can compact itself to go through small openings as well.

 

[Macis Papa]

Sounds like rats to me, if they're tunneling in like you say. When you pour your new concrete dig down around the outside edge 10 or 12 inches deep, it doesn't have to be very wide 3 or 4 inches is all. It's called a rat footing, if you don't you might have a bunch of rats living under your new Cement