What killed my baby chicks?

[Chicken Earl]

I think the evidence of predation rules out the dog. I don think any dog the size of a Lab would be able to selectively eat bits of tiny chickens and leave the rest. My money is on the rat.

 

[AbL]

I think the evidence of predation rules out the dog. I don think any dog the size of a Lab would be able to selectively eat bits of tiny chickens and leave the rest. My money is on the rat.

I think so too, or a small weasel-like critter. I once found several baby chicks and quails killed and the only entrance point was a tiny hole only large enough for a mouse or young rats. I even saw young rats squeezing through 1,8cm distances metal bars to get into the quail cage.
In this case, only the disappeared ones are suspect. Rats normally don't take their prey with them.

 

[Cargo]

Hi all. I'm new here. My son recently got baby chicks to raise through 4H. The chicks were thriving, but last night something killed all of them. We had them in a plastic bin on a chair in our basement, so whatever killed them is in our house! My first thought was the dog got to them, but after seeing the evidence I don't think it was her. First, she is an inside dog and I haven't found any evidence outside the basement. Second, the bin was still on the chair and I think she would have knocked the bin down trying to get to them. She isn't tall enough to look inside but is definitely rambunctious enough to knock it over if she wanted to do so. Third, I think it would have been a game to her and we would have heard her barking. (She is a lab and I know she could easily kill the chicks, but I don't think it would be to eat them. I think it would be trying to play with them.) My second thought was RAT, but there aren't any rat droppings anywhere. What else feeds on baby chicks that might be inside my house? My son is very upset and wants more chicks, but I'm not getting any more until we know what got them, so it doesn't happen again. There were 6 carcasses on the floor around the brooder and the other 7 chicks are gone. Either something ate them whole or carried them off. (That is another reason I don't think it was my dog.) Am I CRAZY to think this wasn't my dog? We were careful not to let her follow the kids to the basement and in general, she doesn't try to hurt other animals although she loves to play with them and could hurt them because of her weight. She has been around 2 kittens and a duck (all grown now). She loves to play with all 3 but never tried to hurt them. What else might it be?

Anytime I hear about wholesale slaughter I think about weasels. They and Terriers are the only predators I know that will kill everything like a psycho.