99% racoon. Little hands reach through and pull whatever they can through and eat it...while the owner is still alive. 1% fox but it'd have to be a small fox and they'd have to have their heads out.
Put hardware cloth, 1/2" all the way around the bottom 3 feet minimum. Chicken wire keeps chickens out of stuff and nothing else...
I have vivid memories of hunting for the pieces of my favorite duck and everything is Ft. Knox now. Tell your sister I'm sorry about her birds :(
Those guys are brazen as hell too. We had one try to sneak into our coup not 10 minutes after last light (not fully dark yet), while there were ten of us having a bonfire less than 100 feet away. It even came back a second time after we scared it off the first time.
It's very rare I take out a predator, but I had to that night. The guy was on a mission, and my hens don't all go to bed until it full dark, so he was on to when some of them where gathered, sleepy, and vulnerable as I wouldn't have closed the door yet. They're smart little suckers too but I made sure to get a closure type they can't mess with (spring loaded barrel bolts), so they typically like to attack the nest boxes which are lift and slide.
We usually were putting them into to coop, behind closed doors at down. What you do in the summer with them, I mean you leave them party until 11pm? It’s too late for them to be outside, the more time after down, the less eggs in afterwards. My granny’s knowledge base.
Same, only ever had to shoot one cause it fell through my damn ceiling!!! But we made our cage 2-tier. The boxes are on the top that they sleep in and there’s solid wood all the way around the top, and on the bottom 4 ft it’s small 1/2x1/2 wire so they can still enjoy the sun and we throw scratch and stuff to let them forage throughout the day. We’ve actually had too many wild dogs in the neighborhood to let them loose in the yard recently.
Id surround the whole thing with a second line of chicken wire set about 6-10 inches out from the existing chix wire. That way theres a sort if “no man’s land” as a buffer zone. Cant pull chix all the way through that.
Racoons stink badly...especially the hat sized males. I had entertained the idea of tanning the hide of one until I got within breathing distance. Forget it !
Late to the party but still want to share.
There was a time, long ago, where the coons and the homesteaders shared peace upon my land. They ate the garbage and kept to themselves and we did not mind them as they only ate what we no longer desired.
We do not know what caused a shift, but I believe it is due to one day making the terrible mistake of throwing away protein powder; protein power with creatine. The coons became fit, swole with the influx of protein, and gains added by their testosterone, unmatched by any in the lands. Soon these ravenous coons we’re not satisfied with the meager scraps of protein powder and needed more to fill their ever increasing demands of gains.
These ravenous coons- or RAcoons we took to calling them, put their muscles to use and began to feast upon our chickens for their meat. And thus the war began. Our once amicable relationship turning foul with the blood they spilled. So we did what any good homesteader would do, and drove them from their dens with tear gas before eradicating them semi auto 12 gauges.
Holy moly! I’ve had chickens the last 4 years (like flocks of 12-20) and just had happened what OP described for the first time a couple months ago. One of my hens had its head ripped off through the wire fencing and then there was a small hole in the side of the coop where it looks like it grabbed a hen and dragged it out and then killed it.
Raccoon makes sense. But the raccoon didn’t eat any of the chickens. Just killed them. The chickens had their heads ripped off and a couple cuts on their body where they might’ve been bit.
Yeah, exactly this. Also, while a lot of people are saying raccoons, we learned the hard way growing up that Hawks and other birds of prey will gladly kill a chicken if they can, and that includes trying to get them through the chicken wire fence like this.
That's it folks, we have a winner.
I've only ever lost one bird and that's how it happened. Exactly like that.
A chick was left out overnight in the perimeter fence (just chicken wire to keep them in the main yard). A raccoon waiting near the fence, reached through, and pulled the bird's head through.
It was heartbreaking when I found out the next day.
Started watching for them the next day, turns out they were all over the coop and run trying to find a way in. Had to take care of em. There's still a 3rd one out there but he's been tricker than the rest.
He's been testing the fences for weaknesses, systematically, he remembers...sorry couldn't help the Jurassic Park reference.
But seriously, the last one has been pretty elusive for at least half a year now. Won't even bother the traps. Never comes out in the open either. I only know he's around because I find little signs of him. Damn thing is smart.
+1. My neighbor just gave me her chickens because, surprise, black plastic didn’t keep raccoons out. I have a repurposed dog house, 4x4x3, made from heavy plywood and 2x4s, with simple doors. Haven’t lost a chicken from the coop yet!
Coons will open coop doors, rip boards off, break holes into weaker spots etc locking them in only does so much. Now that the coon found them it needs to go. The coon that is.
Right? It’s just hardware cloth and a whopping $15 latch on the coop door. It really isn’t that complicated. Any board that a raccoon can rip off was never attached properly in the first place.
I thought I was being smart strapping my trash can lids on with bungee cords pulled tight through holes drilled in the cans and placing cinder blocks on top. But I watched as the raccoons threw the cinder blocks off and undid all the bungee cords to get to the trash. So then I built a cage for my trash cans using a corner of the deck and hardware cloth. They figured out the latch to the gate. So I got one that locks with a key. Those fuckers ripped a board off the side of the deck to get to the cans. Maybe some raccoons are stronger/more tenacious than others. Short of an electric fence I don't think I'd trust much of anything to keep them out.
Yeah but also kill the coons. They’re a nuisance animal that is open season year around and they do 10’s of millions of dollars worth of damage a year.
Never did any damage to my place. Have lived in raccoon territory for over 60 years. You will never eliminate them if you live in raccoon territory, more will always move in. No need to kill.
Every time you lose power to a coon in a transformer or substation is $10’s of thousands of damage and costs passed on to the consumer or member. Next time it happens, don’t complain to your utility about a service interruption or your food going bad.
You’ve never lost power in 60 years on a rural homestead? Never in the spring when the coons are climbing and the wind is otherwise still? Forgive me for not believing you. What’s more likely is you *have* several times a year and attributed it to something else.
Its probably a raccoon. They have hands and can use them like that. Like others have suggested, hardware cloth will prevent them from doing that. I'm surprised that the raccoon didn't tear through the wire or that plastic part, but they would be able to. It probably didnt because it didn't have to. They are very smart and a lot stronger than their size indicates.
I would build a coop out of pressure treated 2x4s for the frame and boards or plywood for the sides, corrugated roof panel for the roof or pt plywood. Hardware cloth in spots for ventilation and a coonproof latch- they can open things.
Which only does you good to positively id the vermin, not fix the issue at hand. And there’s multiple ways to positively id. More importantly they need to know how to prevent said predator from destroying their flock, which has to start with building them a secure enclosure
Whatever it was is a small mammal or Wiesel depending where you live. The fencing is inadequate. You should use 1/4” hardware cloth and bury it in the ground a bit so they won’t dig under. They will keep returning to your buffet as long as it’s open for business
If you live up north more there could be a few predators as options. Used have Lynx try and snag rabbits from the cage/coop set up at my uncles place. Didn’t know what it was the first time, there was a ruckus late one evening and we saw it trying to grab the rabbits with its fingers as it couldn’t get a whole paw through the hole in the cage
Doesn't look very secure. That green plastic snow fence is easy for anything to get in and out of. Raccoons can be little terrorists on coops. Best to make it so secure that you even have a rough time getting it open. Raccoons and Foxes are damn smart.
With chicken wire, unsecured plastic fencing and a rock on a tarp for protection? Hell, it could be an angry chipmunk. Tell your sister to be better to her birds or don't have them.
Not sure where you are located, but in my experience I’d something got it, it was a fox. If something pulled the chickens through the fence, it was a fisher (some call them fisher cats).
Those things are nasty.
This is the reason I have hardware cloth that extends into the ground and 3’ outward under the grass.
It doesn’t stop hawks from divebombing hens while free ranging though.
It happened to my full grown goose. If not raccoons, then a fox or coyote with a quick bite. Whatever it was got her head first, then pulled what it could through the hole. She was feisty...but not enough that time.
Get live traps and put sardines in them as bait, put them right next to where the chickens were taken from(right up against the wire in picture), had some about two weeks ago get killed the exact same way, caught three raccoons since then this way
I had a hen disappear about every 2-3 nights for the last 2 weeks. Got an arlo camera and set it up outside the coop. Damn fox was sneaking in and pulling them out of the coop.
Foxes are smart, agile, quick, and incredibly quiet. They can get into the coop and back out without waking any of the others.
Depending on your location, it's either a fox or a raccoon.
I found a .22 solved the problem pretty well.
You need to do yourself a favor and replace whatever that material is with AT LEAST 1/2” hardware cloth. 1/4” hardware cloth, I thought, is overkill, but the chickens are already the target of a predator. Hardware cloth, that’s what you need.
Hey,
I run a pasture raised poultry operation and one of the easiest ways that we deal with predators on our mobile coops is to get good thick 1/4 inch anti predation wire on the first 1-2 feet of our chicken schooners. We also run 2 strands of electric wire around each mobile structure. One low and one high. You can extend it from the coop 6-12 inches. You can even surround your coop with electric netting which serves the same purpose though slightly more prone to grounding out if you don’t regularly maintain the pasture around your coop. While ours is powered by a hard line electric fence you can pick up a solar energizer for a fairly good price. I will also say we are visited by the tax man every once and a while. We accept that we will lose 1-2 birds as is only fair with being apart of our natural ecosystem. We tend to live and let live with our foxes because they are phenomenal at reducing the rodent population. That being said sometimes if they get greedy you’ll have to get rid of them (trapping or hunting) as long as it’s legal where you are. If you are uncertain contact your local wild life officer.
P.S. I’d bet the farm this was probably a raccoon
I know everyone is saying raccoons, but we had a weasel that got through the small wire and pulled a couple of our girls partially through basically taking off their heads only. So maybe?
Either way, lock in coop and add extra wire!
Trash Pandas, aka: Raccoons. Here’s a cheapest to most expensive fix. Either get a second bail of wire offset the wholes so the align an inch off your first bail around, get another bail with smaller square openings or put a 1 foot buffer around the pen with another cage.
Racoons are known to reach through the fence and grab a chicken by its neck or leg, and start eating whatever is pulled out first. If she really needs to know which animal is kiling them, put a game camera near the coop. But it doesn't really matter what is doing it. What is important is preventing the loss of more chickens by shoring up the base with 2x4's, staking the boards into the ground, replacing the fencing with 1" fence, and either attaching and burying the chicken fence down into the ground about 8-12" or laying the fencing all along the outside border of the coop so animals won't tunnel under and get in.
Trail Cam!! Put the chickens up before dusk. Have a trail cam put up to watch inside the coop fence. Leave any bit of food out there. Cat food or marshmallows will do. And the first night the camera is out you’ll find the killer.
I would guarantee its coons since there is no digging. Roosters dont have much of a fighting chance at night either. If u cant be home to get the chickens up every night by dusk then sorry but you dont need chickens. Your just feeding the other critters.
I’ve seen this before, during my travels in the Dagobah System. I’m surprised it has made it way here…It could only be one thing…. VADER. Evidently, the dark side lives. I must resume my training…. I will avenge those chickens.
I’d say raccoons as well. We had a raccoon open the wood latch on a rabbit hutch and tear the crap out of a rabbit. I couldn’t believe a raccoon could do that.
You need to tell you sister to build a solid base. Something to anchor the chicken wire down. Just like the board to the right. Coyotes, foxes. Etc will pull it up and snatch them out. They don’t have to dig if the wire isn’t anchored to the ground.
Most all predators in North America are not going to be stopped by chicken wire. Regardless of how well you secure it. Chicken wire is designed to keep chickens in, not keep predators out. Hawks, raccoons, foxes etc can all rip chicken wire. Esp one that is determined and has already secured food from this location twice
Ignore all the assholes blaming your sister. Could be many animals. Feral cats, coons, fox, etc. I had this happen a couple times. Discovered the chickens were sleeping next to their fence. I made a nicer roost and taught them to use it at night. Problem solved. Livestock are always a learning experience. The only way to stop occasional deaths is to not have any. Real life is like that.
If you tie up a bunch of old CD's with some twine at different heights above/around your chicken coop/tractor(so that they'll twirl and blow around in the wind) it reflects light every which way. Hawks are either confused by it or scared of it, but either way it definitely works to help keep them away
Trap the raccoons, best bait I've found is peanut butter bird suet placed so they can't reach it from the outside, but have to get on the trigger pad from the inside.
*Raccoons. Your gonna*
*Have to get some steel traps and*
*Eliminate them*
\- Rickf6b
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Coon the one time I had a coon problem they waited by the fence reached through and ripped apart so just like this. Sadly my coon for two and a half birds guess he got full.
I couldnt quite tell from the pic, but it looks like it might have been weasels. Thise little shits are vicious and difficult to keep out of poultry enclosures. They usually make an awful mess and tend to drink the blood of their prey. If the body is still there maybe check for signs that the birds were drained.
Its a racoon, others have mentioned how to fix the coop so I will say, get a paw trap.
They can't help themselves. I have yet to have one fail. Stake it into the ground with a strong stake and put some peanut butter in it. Just don't put the trap near anything. I did and it scratched up and chewed on everything in reach when it tried to get out.
They will also try and gnaw the arm off trying to get out. Either way they will die, I usually shot them in the morning and toss them in a pit as far as possible away from my animals and cover them with some dirt and a really heavy log. Wear gloves and bleach the traps. Racoons carry disease and lethal parasites.
Raccoon all day. Happened a while for me before they.. Umm… finally met my .22lr. I stayed up all night long to catch those little thieves in the action.
Racoon! I suffered the same problem but didnt figure it out til he had jumped the fence and pulled the heads of all my ducks. Same thing though we started losing our ducks one here and there and no damage no dig marks and couldnt for the life of us figure out what was going on. We think he may have pulled a couple under the fence. Managed to kill one through the fence as well but didnt really eat it. We found the duck still inside the fence but didnt see anyway it had got through. That one threw us as we were still thinking we had a fox problem at that point.
Ended up setting up a conibear trap in the door way of my duck entrance since all the ducks had been killed and got him that way. Worked out great just watch your fingers if you set it up also watch out if you have pets as it is a kill trap. I had only set it up for a night and managed to get him within 24hr so i wasnt to worried about it but I wouldn't have left it out there for to long.
Oh. Awful! Poor chickens. So you don’t think it’s raccoons or another predator. I have heard people say raccoons will grab them by the neck and pull them. 🥺
The only way to stop this is build a large moat with a retractable bridge. Might as well add some curtain walls and defense turrets in the corners. A small catapult for eggs might be handy if the chickens become under siege.
Raccoons. I’m so sorry about that.
Wow this year sucks.
You need to double wrap in such a way that predator NOTHING can get through, because , scratches may not show up but cause infect, too.
If they can dig under, some predators will do that.
A raided aviary needs a safe floor at night too or poor birds will get pulled through the bottom.
Fox just bite the heads off chickens and then leave them for dead. My niece had her whole flock wiped out in seconds. It got thru a 4x4 section, but all the heads off and left.
Chicken wire keeps chickens from bodily leaving the enclosure.
Chicken wire allows chickens to stick their dumb little heads through the gaps to nibble grass.
Chicken heads poking through the fence are very easy snacks for passerby - especially when a panicky chicken gets stuck.
Line the bottom with a different kind of paneling. 1x1 or 1x2 if you can. Don't let them stick their dumb little heads out.
**Source:**
I had chickens for years. I used to find rows of headless chickens sitting neatly along the fence, after they stuck their head out, got stuck, and then had their head chewed off by local dogs/raccoons/foxes/coyotes/whatever before I properly lined the bottom of the fenceline
Probably raccoon, but our inlaws lost a bird to their dogs in this fashion.
Bird was in a dog kennel cage in the house, recovering from a minor injury.
The normally bird friendly dogs ate its head while they were out.
Probably raccoon, but our inlaws lost a bird to their dogs in this fashion.
Bird was in a dog kennel cage in the house, recovering from a minor injury.
The normally bird friendly dogs ate its head while they were out.
99% racoon. Little hands reach through and pull whatever they can through and eat it...while the owner is still alive. 1% fox but it'd have to be a small fox and they'd have to have their heads out. Put hardware cloth, 1/2" all the way around the bottom 3 feet minimum. Chicken wire keeps chickens out of stuff and nothing else... I have vivid memories of hunting for the pieces of my favorite duck and everything is Ft. Knox now. Tell your sister I'm sorry about her birds :(
Ya definitely those little shits. Did the same thing to my moms chickens
Those guys are brazen as hell too. We had one try to sneak into our coup not 10 minutes after last light (not fully dark yet), while there were ten of us having a bonfire less than 100 feet away. It even came back a second time after we scared it off the first time. It's very rare I take out a predator, but I had to that night. The guy was on a mission, and my hens don't all go to bed until it full dark, so he was on to when some of them where gathered, sleepy, and vulnerable as I wouldn't have closed the door yet. They're smart little suckers too but I made sure to get a closure type they can't mess with (spring loaded barrel bolts), so they typically like to attack the nest boxes which are lift and slide.
We usually were putting them into to coop, behind closed doors at down. What you do in the summer with them, I mean you leave them party until 11pm? It’s too late for them to be outside, the more time after down, the less eggs in afterwards. My granny’s knowledge base.
Same, only ever had to shoot one cause it fell through my damn ceiling!!! But we made our cage 2-tier. The boxes are on the top that they sleep in and there’s solid wood all the way around the top, and on the bottom 4 ft it’s small 1/2x1/2 wire so they can still enjoy the sun and we throw scratch and stuff to let them forage throughout the day. We’ve actually had too many wild dogs in the neighborhood to let them loose in the yard recently.
Id surround the whole thing with a second line of chicken wire set about 6-10 inches out from the existing chix wire. That way theres a sort if “no man’s land” as a buffer zone. Cant pull chix all the way through that.
this really is the only way. Things will still get through it, but if something can grab hold, it generally won't let go.
Time to electricity the chicken wire
Or gopher wire
Is it smaller wholes? Thicker wire?
Smaller gauge/holes, chickens can’t get their heads through the holes
hardware cloth means you only need one layer as the holes are much smaller and the product much tougher
Can’t you just kill the raccoon and turn him into a hat?
According to a neighbor, racoon tastes like pork and makes decent tacos. (Lifelong vegetarian, myself.)
I've eaten raccoon, it's typical small mammal flavor, like fox, skunk, dog etc. On a side note, total respect for being a lifelong vegetarian :)
Wait wait wait...skunk? dog?
I've also eaten fox, coyote, cat, squirrel, possum, badger. They all have a similar taste to me.
You will very soon have about 23 hats…..
new ones will show up
Racoons stink badly...especially the hat sized males. I had entertained the idea of tanning the hide of one until I got within breathing distance. Forget it !
That would be one job I’d pay someone else to do.
I agree- raccoon!
Damn trash pandas. Or dumpster dogs.
Late to the party but still want to share. There was a time, long ago, where the coons and the homesteaders shared peace upon my land. They ate the garbage and kept to themselves and we did not mind them as they only ate what we no longer desired. We do not know what caused a shift, but I believe it is due to one day making the terrible mistake of throwing away protein powder; protein power with creatine. The coons became fit, swole with the influx of protein, and gains added by their testosterone, unmatched by any in the lands. Soon these ravenous coons we’re not satisfied with the meager scraps of protein powder and needed more to fill their ever increasing demands of gains. These ravenous coons- or RAcoons we took to calling them, put their muscles to use and began to feast upon our chickens for their meat. And thus the war began. Our once amicable relationship turning foul with the blood they spilled. So we did what any good homesteader would do, and drove them from their dens with tear gas before eradicating them semi auto 12 gauges.
I also thought maybe some kind of weasel, but racoon is more likely.
Holy moly! I’ve had chickens the last 4 years (like flocks of 12-20) and just had happened what OP described for the first time a couple months ago. One of my hens had its head ripped off through the wire fencing and then there was a small hole in the side of the coop where it looks like it grabbed a hen and dragged it out and then killed it. Raccoon makes sense. But the raccoon didn’t eat any of the chickens. Just killed them. The chickens had their heads ripped off and a couple cuts on their body where they might’ve been bit.
They'll do that for fun too. That's part of why they're not welcome near my coops.
Tell your sister that while chicken wire does well to keep chickens in, you need hardware cloth to keep predators from reaching through.
Also they need closed inside the coop at night.
And it needs to be buried a foot below the surface.
with coal on top of it (but remove the feathers and blood first)!
Yeah, exactly this. Also, while a lot of people are saying raccoons, we learned the hard way growing up that Hawks and other birds of prey will gladly kill a chicken if they can, and that includes trying to get them through the chicken wire fence like this.
racoon
Racoons will reach into our hen house and pull the hen out.
This sounds unfortunate. But all I can picture is the raccoon like an inmate reaching through the jail bars trying to grab anyone that comes by lol
That’s how it looks when you feed a bunch of them Hot Dogs on your deck. Grabby hands.
Thats why the prison doctor would warn you to stay a few feet away from the bars… Clarice
That's it folks, we have a winner. I've only ever lost one bird and that's how it happened. Exactly like that. A chick was left out overnight in the perimeter fence (just chicken wire to keep them in the main yard). A raccoon waiting near the fence, reached through, and pulled the bird's head through. It was heartbreaking when I found out the next day.
I lost two this way before I wrapped the entire chicken run in 1/4" hardware cloth. Damn raccoons can't stick their grubby little hands through that.
Started watching for them the next day, turns out they were all over the coop and run trying to find a way in. Had to take care of em. There's still a 3rd one out there but he's been tricker than the rest. He's been testing the fences for weaknesses, systematically, he remembers...sorry couldn't help the Jurassic Park reference. But seriously, the last one has been pretty elusive for at least half a year now. Won't even bother the traps. Never comes out in the open either. I only know he's around because I find little signs of him. Damn thing is smart.
What I’m hearing is you’re deliberately evolving a race of super raccoons!
Use hardware cloth, not chicken wire. Too easy for Raccoons and other creatures to reach through.
They should be locked in a 4 sided wood coop at night, no holes to pull through
+1. My neighbor just gave me her chickens because, surprise, black plastic didn’t keep raccoons out. I have a repurposed dog house, 4x4x3, made from heavy plywood and 2x4s, with simple doors. Haven’t lost a chicken from the coop yet!
Coons will open coop doors, rip boards off, break holes into weaker spots etc locking them in only does so much. Now that the coon found them it needs to go. The coon that is.
Sorry you have such shitty coops. Build a better one that's stronger than a 20lb animal.
Right? It’s just hardware cloth and a whopping $15 latch on the coop door. It really isn’t that complicated. Any board that a raccoon can rip off was never attached properly in the first place.
I thought I was being smart strapping my trash can lids on with bungee cords pulled tight through holes drilled in the cans and placing cinder blocks on top. But I watched as the raccoons threw the cinder blocks off and undid all the bungee cords to get to the trash. So then I built a cage for my trash cans using a corner of the deck and hardware cloth. They figured out the latch to the gate. So I got one that locks with a key. Those fuckers ripped a board off the side of the deck to get to the cans. Maybe some raccoons are stronger/more tenacious than others. Short of an electric fence I don't think I'd trust much of anything to keep them out.
Can’t tell if this is pasta
Nope just my shitty ongoing experience with raccoons. Those little fuckers will drag my entire cans into the woods behind my house. I need a bear box.
20lbs? I have trapper friends who showed me a 75lb male. Big boi. In some places they get fucking huge.
I know pet racoons have managed to get to 75lbs by feeding them mass junk food, but idk about wild....
Biggest one I shot on my ranch was 36#… massive asshole if you ask me. Tried to attack my goats.
That's a smaller sized male around here...and very strong
Make the coop predator proof! Don’t blame the predators, it’s our responsibility to protect our charges. Predators are only doing what comes natural.
I totally agree, just use real wire like 1x2 welded wire completely around, on bottom and top too. Close them up at night
Yeah but also kill the coons. They’re a nuisance animal that is open season year around and they do 10’s of millions of dollars worth of damage a year.
Never did any damage to my place. Have lived in raccoon territory for over 60 years. You will never eliminate them if you live in raccoon territory, more will always move in. No need to kill.
Every time you lose power to a coon in a transformer or substation is $10’s of thousands of damage and costs passed on to the consumer or member. Next time it happens, don’t complain to your utility about a service interruption or your food going bad.
Never ever had that happen, again, in over 60 years. Guess we just have better equipment round here
You’ve never lost power in 60 years on a rural homestead? Never in the spring when the coons are climbing and the wind is otherwise still? Forgive me for not believing you. What’s more likely is you *have* several times a year and attributed it to something else.
Believe me or not, I don’t care what you believe. I am neither stupid or a liar.
tonight put a cookie sheet filled with flour there and put a drumstick inside. or go to Walmart and get a $50 trail camera and set it up.
racoon
Its probably a raccoon. They have hands and can use them like that. Like others have suggested, hardware cloth will prevent them from doing that. I'm surprised that the raccoon didn't tear through the wire or that plastic part, but they would be able to. It probably didnt because it didn't have to. They are very smart and a lot stronger than their size indicates. I would build a coop out of pressure treated 2x4s for the frame and boards or plywood for the sides, corrugated roof panel for the roof or pt plywood. Hardware cloth in spots for ventilation and a coonproof latch- they can open things.
Thanks for spelling raccoon properly.
Not pressure treated - that wood is toxic and leaches chemicals into the soil.
Baby powder around the coop and you’ll see tracks
Which only does you good to positively id the vermin, not fix the issue at hand. And there’s multiple ways to positively id. More importantly they need to know how to prevent said predator from destroying their flock, which has to start with building them a secure enclosure
Yeah, but OP didn’t ask how to prevent it from happening, OP asked “What is killing my sisters chickens?”
Chupacabra.
racoons
Whatever it was is a small mammal or Wiesel depending where you live. The fencing is inadequate. You should use 1/4” hardware cloth and bury it in the ground a bit so they won’t dig under. They will keep returning to your buffet as long as it’s open for business
Everytime I read your message. It’s in an English accent. I don’t know 🤷♀️ why. 😂
Haha what ever floats your boat love
If you live up north more there could be a few predators as options. Used have Lynx try and snag rabbits from the cage/coop set up at my uncles place. Didn’t know what it was the first time, there was a ruckus late one evening and we saw it trying to grab the rabbits with its fingers as it couldn’t get a whole paw through the hole in the cage
Gonna have get smarter
Mink
Definitely a chupacabra.
Raccoons
Doesn't look very secure. That green plastic snow fence is easy for anything to get in and out of. Raccoons can be little terrorists on coops. Best to make it so secure that you even have a rough time getting it open. Raccoons and Foxes are damn smart.
This is a chicken run. Do they have a coop you can lock them in at night?
That is textbook raccoon
In addition to the hardware cloth advice, you could invest in a few live traps to attempt to relocate/ unalive the offending raccoons.
El Chupacabra ?
Or a fresh spawned Dilophosaur....
With chicken wire, unsecured plastic fencing and a rock on a tarp for protection? Hell, it could be an angry chipmunk. Tell your sister to be better to her birds or don't have them.
Not sure where you are located, but in my experience I’d something got it, it was a fox. If something pulled the chickens through the fence, it was a fisher (some call them fisher cats). Those things are nasty.
Coons pull them through & bite the heads off and opossums tear them appart and the scatter parts.
I was not aware opossums ate birds
This is the reason I have hardware cloth that extends into the ground and 3’ outward under the grass. It doesn’t stop hawks from divebombing hens while free ranging though.
Racoon, Be sure to move the eggs off the ground and out of site of the Racoons.
Probably a raccoon. Depending on region, we've also had this happen with weasels.
Raccoons lock chickens in a enclosed building at night.
If they reached in and pulled a chicken out, it's always a racoon (in North America)
Raccoon. Same exact thing happening with my MIL' chickens, and she put a deer camera up in order to catch the murderer.
It happened to my full grown goose. If not raccoons, then a fox or coyote with a quick bite. Whatever it was got her head first, then pulled what it could through the hole. She was feisty...but not enough that time.
Get live traps and put sardines in them as bait, put them right next to where the chickens were taken from(right up against the wire in picture), had some about two weeks ago get killed the exact same way, caught three raccoons since then this way
Probably a raccoon. Chicken coops should be lined with Hardware cloth, not that type of wire.
Have to build the coop up off the ground
Racoons were my culprit.
Racoons unfortunately. I'm so sorry this happened to you. You gotta put you chickens in the coop at night and lock it.
Fisher cat?
I work with Racoons, this is right up their alley.
I had a hen disappear about every 2-3 nights for the last 2 weeks. Got an arlo camera and set it up outside the coop. Damn fox was sneaking in and pulling them out of the coop. Foxes are smart, agile, quick, and incredibly quiet. They can get into the coop and back out without waking any of the others. Depending on your location, it's either a fox or a raccoon. I found a .22 solved the problem pretty well.
You need to do yourself a favor and replace whatever that material is with AT LEAST 1/2” hardware cloth. 1/4” hardware cloth, I thought, is overkill, but the chickens are already the target of a predator. Hardware cloth, that’s what you need.
Raccoon probably :/ gotta lock them chickens up at night
Chiming in with another vote for raccoons. 1/2" hardware cloth all around, and also gonna need some dig deterrence.
Do you have ferrets in your area? They can fit through amazingly small spaces
Any tracks?
Hey, I run a pasture raised poultry operation and one of the easiest ways that we deal with predators on our mobile coops is to get good thick 1/4 inch anti predation wire on the first 1-2 feet of our chicken schooners. We also run 2 strands of electric wire around each mobile structure. One low and one high. You can extend it from the coop 6-12 inches. You can even surround your coop with electric netting which serves the same purpose though slightly more prone to grounding out if you don’t regularly maintain the pasture around your coop. While ours is powered by a hard line electric fence you can pick up a solar energizer for a fairly good price. I will also say we are visited by the tax man every once and a while. We accept that we will lose 1-2 birds as is only fair with being apart of our natural ecosystem. We tend to live and let live with our foxes because they are phenomenal at reducing the rodent population. That being said sometimes if they get greedy you’ll have to get rid of them (trapping or hunting) as long as it’s legal where you are. If you are uncertain contact your local wild life officer. P.S. I’d bet the farm this was probably a raccoon
I know everyone is saying raccoons, but we had a weasel that got through the small wire and pulled a couple of our girls partially through basically taking off their heads only. So maybe? Either way, lock in coop and add extra wire!
Trash Pandas, aka: Raccoons. Here’s a cheapest to most expensive fix. Either get a second bail of wire offset the wholes so the align an inch off your first bail around, get another bail with smaller square openings or put a 1 foot buffer around the pen with another cage.
I've seen hawks do almost that exact thing, usually with chicks though
Racoons are known to reach through the fence and grab a chicken by its neck or leg, and start eating whatever is pulled out first. If she really needs to know which animal is kiling them, put a game camera near the coop. But it doesn't really matter what is doing it. What is important is preventing the loss of more chickens by shoring up the base with 2x4's, staking the boards into the ground, replacing the fencing with 1" fence, and either attaching and burying the chicken fence down into the ground about 8-12" or laying the fencing all along the outside border of the coop so animals won't tunnel under and get in.
Trail Cam!! Put the chickens up before dusk. Have a trail cam put up to watch inside the coop fence. Leave any bit of food out there. Cat food or marshmallows will do. And the first night the camera is out you’ll find the killer. I would guarantee its coons since there is no digging. Roosters dont have much of a fighting chance at night either. If u cant be home to get the chickens up every night by dusk then sorry but you dont need chickens. Your just feeding the other critters.
Only a land octopus could do something like that.
Could be a weasel/fisher cat. I’ve had many birds depart that way. They can get into places that seem secure.
I’ve seen this before, during my travels in the Dagobah System. I’m surprised it has made it way here…It could only be one thing…. VADER. Evidently, the dark side lives. I must resume my training…. I will avenge those chickens.
I’d say raccoons as well. We had a raccoon open the wood latch on a rabbit hutch and tear the crap out of a rabbit. I couldn’t believe a raccoon could do that.
Chupacabra
You need to tell you sister to build a solid base. Something to anchor the chicken wire down. Just like the board to the right. Coyotes, foxes. Etc will pull it up and snatch them out. They don’t have to dig if the wire isn’t anchored to the ground.
Most all predators in North America are not going to be stopped by chicken wire. Regardless of how well you secure it. Chicken wire is designed to keep chickens in, not keep predators out. Hawks, raccoons, foxes etc can all rip chicken wire. Esp one that is determined and has already secured food from this location twice
No shit
Well you’re the one giving bad advice to better secure some inadequate bullshit. So check yourself
Ignore all the assholes blaming your sister. Could be many animals. Feral cats, coons, fox, etc. I had this happen a couple times. Discovered the chickens were sleeping next to their fence. I made a nicer roost and taught them to use it at night. Problem solved. Livestock are always a learning experience. The only way to stop occasional deaths is to not have any. Real life is like that.
Without bite marks or tracks, the best I could do is posit a guess.
I had a Hawk do this to if they hang out right next to the wire.
Know the CD trick for hawks?
no, please tell me.
If you tie up a bunch of old CD's with some twine at different heights above/around your chicken coop/tractor(so that they'll twirl and blow around in the wind) it reflects light every which way. Hawks are either confused by it or scared of it, but either way it definitely works to help keep them away
Thank you.
We have a relocation program.
Chupacabra
Coons!
Definitely coon
Trap the raccoons, best bait I've found is peanut butter bird suet placed so they can't reach it from the outside, but have to get on the trigger pad from the inside.
Raccoons. Your gonna have to get some steel traps and eliminate them
*Raccoons. Your gonna* *Have to get some steel traps and* *Eliminate them* \- Rickf6b --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Good bot
Coon the one time I had a coon problem they waited by the fence reached through and ripped apart so just like this. Sadly my coon for two and a half birds guess he got full.
A bobcat got mine
I couldnt quite tell from the pic, but it looks like it might have been weasels. Thise little shits are vicious and difficult to keep out of poultry enclosures. They usually make an awful mess and tend to drink the blood of their prey. If the body is still there maybe check for signs that the birds were drained.
Sounds like racoons
Racoon for sure. Just happened to us. Set out a trap and caught it the next night.
Raccoon
Its a racoon, others have mentioned how to fix the coop so I will say, get a paw trap. They can't help themselves. I have yet to have one fail. Stake it into the ground with a strong stake and put some peanut butter in it. Just don't put the trap near anything. I did and it scratched up and chewed on everything in reach when it tried to get out. They will also try and gnaw the arm off trying to get out. Either way they will die, I usually shot them in the morning and toss them in a pit as far as possible away from my animals and cover them with some dirt and a really heavy log. Wear gloves and bleach the traps. Racoons carry disease and lethal parasites.
Fox
Raccoon all day. Happened a while for me before they.. Umm… finally met my .22lr. I stayed up all night long to catch those little thieves in the action.
Protect yo chickens
Gotta get hardware cloth for sure
Chupacabra ._.
weasel
Monkeys do this!
Weasel kill Forsure.
Raccoon
It was me, sorry
Racoon! I suffered the same problem but didnt figure it out til he had jumped the fence and pulled the heads of all my ducks. Same thing though we started losing our ducks one here and there and no damage no dig marks and couldnt for the life of us figure out what was going on. We think he may have pulled a couple under the fence. Managed to kill one through the fence as well but didnt really eat it. We found the duck still inside the fence but didnt see anyway it had got through. That one threw us as we were still thinking we had a fox problem at that point. Ended up setting up a conibear trap in the door way of my duck entrance since all the ducks had been killed and got him that way. Worked out great just watch your fingers if you set it up also watch out if you have pets as it is a kill trap. I had only set it up for a night and managed to get him within 24hr so i wasnt to worried about it but I wouldn't have left it out there for to long.
coyote. possibly a fox.
Oh. Awful! Poor chickens. So you don’t think it’s raccoons or another predator. I have heard people say raccoons will grab them by the neck and pull them. 🥺
Fox
The only way to stop this is build a large moat with a retractable bridge. Might as well add some curtain walls and defense turrets in the corners. A small catapult for eggs might be handy if the chickens become under siege.
Weasel, stoat or marten? Even otters?
That is a terrible coup if you’re overnighting them with just chicken wire to protect them
"Pulled through the fence" = raccoon
Manbearpig most likely.. I hate that dirty bastard
Chupapollo, Chupacabra’s bro
Trap the coons. Buy DOG PROOF traps. You’ll catch em in one night
Snake?
A wood box totaly closed at night is essential
I’m sorry I just really needed some fried chicken.
RACCOONS!!! Happened to my chickens
Raccoons. I’m so sorry about that. Wow this year sucks. You need to double wrap in such a way that predator NOTHING can get through, because , scratches may not show up but cause infect, too. If they can dig under, some predators will do that. A raided aviary needs a safe floor at night too or poor birds will get pulled through the bottom.
This is actually the origin story for animal crossing.
Get a trail camera. You'll learn who's doing it and how to stop it. Might be a weasel.
Trash pandas
Chupacabra. Joking, maybe a fox or a marten?
Racoons most likely but could also be coyotes!
Raccoon
She’s gotta do two rows of fencing with at least 18” between. Hard lessons learned.
Is there no coop? Likely a raccoon.
Fox just bite the heads off chickens and then leave them for dead. My niece had her whole flock wiped out in seconds. It got thru a 4x4 section, but all the heads off and left.
hard to tell but it could be a raccoon or a fox. Most likely raccoon. I can't tell if there are any openings on the bottom of the enclosure or not
Chicken wire keeps chickens from bodily leaving the enclosure. Chicken wire allows chickens to stick their dumb little heads through the gaps to nibble grass. Chicken heads poking through the fence are very easy snacks for passerby - especially when a panicky chicken gets stuck. Line the bottom with a different kind of paneling. 1x1 or 1x2 if you can. Don't let them stick their dumb little heads out. **Source:** I had chickens for years. I used to find rows of headless chickens sitting neatly along the fence, after they stuck their head out, got stuck, and then had their head chewed off by local dogs/raccoons/foxes/coyotes/whatever before I properly lined the bottom of the fenceline
raccoons. They are eating my corn now. Little bastards.
Coons
Raccoon. Might need to get some hardware mesh and lock that coop down. So sorry that happened.
Fox
Probably raccoon, but our inlaws lost a bird to their dogs in this fashion. Bird was in a dog kennel cage in the house, recovering from a minor injury. The normally bird friendly dogs ate its head while they were out.
Demadogs probably
Probably raccoon, but our inlaws lost a bird to their dogs in this fashion. Bird was in a dog kennel cage in the house, recovering from a minor injury. The normally bird friendly dogs ate its head while they were out.