Whats killing my Chickens?

[budda]

I have lost over half my flock in the last two weeks to something. I have covered the run. ran chicken wire along the bottom two feet of the run and buried a foot of it. There are no holes or areas which have been dug out. I am at wits end here. I have raised birds for many years in the past and never had issues like this. I also mention i live in Downtown Atlanta???

Whatever is killing these chickens is also eating all the meat off of them and moving them out of sight, but killing them in the runway. They strip the feathers from the breast area and vent area and eat the bird there.

So, is this a weasel or rats?? This is the only thing i could come up with that could get through the chain link.

 

[fried green eggs]

I would guess you are dealing with rats.

 

[zazouse]

what kind of chickens did you loose and how old were they?
Do you have photos of your coop?

 

[budda]

 what kind of chickens did you loose and how old were they?
Do you have photos of  your coop?

The chickens were all full grown standards. I lost an Ameracauna, a giant blue splash maran that weighed 9 pounds, a black Orpington, two Cochins, a jersey giant and a very well loved tolbunt polish that my little 3 year old girl goes out to say hello to every morning. No pics of the coop but it is 4x6x5 feet tall. It's solid with no unsealed cracks except for the door. Cleaned out every month.

I had rat traps out there previously but never caught anything except a speckled Sussex that was upset and a neighborhood cat. Found a tunnel going out into the brush behind the pen a few ago and blocked it but would like to kill the critter before it strikes again.

 

[Oregon Blues]

The dead birds are till inside the run? If the run is tight, then probably rats. It could be weasels, but weasels will often go on a rampage and you might find all of your birds dead at one time.

If the dead birds are dragged outside the run, then your run is not tight. It has a hole large enough for a chicken to go through, which means that almost every predator can get inside.

The way they are eaten sounds like crows, but if the run is tight, I don't know how crows could get inside.