Chicks vanished

[MandyMusshafen]

i would guess snake, if its hanging around itl be back ..if your egg count has been low its probably eating those to ... but ive seen other scenarios in my time, youd be surprised how tenacious even a housecat is, itl just hang there and snatch them as they go by if it can get a paw under there, so will alot of other predators ... i adopted one all encompassing rule - if its hanging around the coop its up to no good and getting blasted, end of story ..

I would think snake also, but it got 7 chicks in the space of a few hours! Even if it could find a way in, it never could have made it out with 7 chicks in its belly by the time we noticed them missing. We had snake issues last summer, so we snake proofed the coop and run pretty well! I also went through and reinforced everything before I put the babies in. No missing eggs either.

 

[AGeese]

Weasels really do weasel their way in. Check out some videos on youtube of small ones taking down rats and slipping under doors.

 

[McChooky]

Sorry for your loss! I watched a video where a man swore nothing could get in but he kept missing chicks and eggs. The snake was living inside the nest boxes under the lid.

 

[TOR]

weasel maybe, I had one last year stealing chicks. Weasel can get thru very small hole. Weasel will take food back to its burrough and stock for later.
Can not see your coop, it does have a top so nothing can climb in?
Any holes in the ground around coop or inside, old or new rat burroughs?

Figure out what it is I am curious,You have long tale weasel in Okalahoma, maybe snake? The predator would have to eat inside the soop or carry it away and no openings bigger than thumb...figure it out post back Thanks

 

[ElfenLied89]

I want to know too. I have had 4 babies go missing and one headless in the middle of the enclosed run before that. All in the span of a week. Went out yesterday, my White Palm turkey poult? Just gone. Day before that? My 2 wyandottes just gone. This afternoon? I fed everyone. Did a head count and everyone was fine. That was at like 2pm. Left to take my kids to eat, came back 2 hours later and my adorable black baby silkie was gone.

I feel you on babies going missing. It's frustrating af.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Aren't weasels nocturnal? And aren't they bloody, vicious marauders that slaughter everything in sight? Stealthy kidnappers - I did not think that was their MO.

 

[ElfenLied89]

Aren't weasels nocturnal? And aren't they bloody, vicious marauders that slaughter everything in sight? Stealthy kidnappers - I did not think that was their MO.

Same. I didn't think animals just came in and abducted chicks until my babies are just vanishing. Bodies I could understand, but there is nothing to find.

 

[Smokerbill]

Aren't weasels nocturnal? And aren't they bloody, vicious marauders that slaughter everything in sight? Stealthy kidnappers - I did not think that was their MO.

I've seen weasels out hunting in the middle of the day. I was camping out in Moab, UT and saw a weasel carrying some small dead animal back to its den.

 

[Ocho 8 Farm]

I live in Oklahoma, way out in the country. We had SEVEN of our eleven 2.5 week old chicks disappear without a trace from a completely enclosed run today. There is no trace of anything, and no obvious entry/exit point. The only opening is a thin gap where the door opens and closes. They were in the run with a mama Silkie hen, my very protective bantam cochin roo, 3 BC hens, and a 3 month old BC cockerel that the silkie hatched in Jan. (He refuses to leave the nest and he surprisingly helps with the babies...even helps sit on them...you can see him in the pic) None of the adult birds show any signs of injury.
What the heck could have got the babies (ALL 7 OF THEM) in one day??? I would almost think it was a person but we have cameras and would have seen someone entering or leaving the property!
This is a pic I took 3 days ago of them! Now there re only 5 left! View attachment 3803466

So

I live in Oklahoma, way out in the country. We had SEVEN of our eleven 2.5 week old chicks disappear without a trace from a completely enclosed run today. There is no trace of anything, and no obvious entry/exit point. The only opening is a thin gap where the door opens and closes. They were in the run with a mama Silkie hen, my very protective bantam cochin roo, 3 BC hens, and a 3 month old BC cockerel that the silkie hatched in Jan. (He refuses to leave the nest and he surprisingly helps with the babies...even helps sit on them...you can see him in the pic) None of the adult birds show any signs of injury.
What the heck could have got the babies (ALL 7 OF THEM) in one day??? I would almost think it was a person but we have cameras and would have seen someone entering or leaving the property!
This is a pic I took 3 days ago of them! Now there re only 5 left! View attachment 3803466

Rats. Sorry this happened to you.
I had 5 silkie chicks disappear overnight last summer and I couldn’t make sense of it. I put a camera in the coop and saw 2 huge rats coming in and out and going straight to the nest box where the babies were. The hole was smaller than a quarter.

 

[TOR]

Aren't weasels nocturnal? And aren't they bloody, vicious marauders that slaughter everything in sight? Stealthy kidnappers - I did not think that was their MO.

No they will move in the day, I killed one last year in the afternoon, it was going back to get another baby chick. I noticed some babys gone earlier in the day, in afternoon was back in barn where I keep chickens, sure enough there it was, I was lucky enough to corner it and kill it.
No they will not always kill everything, they just go back for more. Weasels do not hibernate and store fat, they need to keep eating. They will go carry your baby chickens off or chew the heads off your chickens and take them back to thier burrough for later.
Yes sometimes they kill everything, they may even organize for later.
If they can they will drag a chicken away to thier burrough.
Theres videos youtube, they are little killing machines, fascinating animals. untill they kill your chickens, that fascination wears off in a hurry.