Something KILL3D My Chicken And I Don't Know What or How! Chicken Tunnels Fail 

Really unfortunate. I only started with hens about 1 month ago. Losing one within a month, not fun. But I suppose the issue could have been prevented if I'd just made the tunnels more secure. But honestly at this point what's stopping a racoon from digging underneath the tunnels? So, I'll have to re-think my current chicken tunnel system.

My niece had the same problem, 8 of their chickens were killed one night. They put up cameras and set traps. Turned out possum's were the culprit. Love your container home and you're doing a fantastic job working your way off grid. Much respect and all the best to you for all your very hard work!

My friend has chickens on a homestead, the rooster always sounds the alarm when raccoons are in sight and the sound of the hens scuffling let's him know it's go time. He's got a .22 ready to rock and roll. He shot a raccoon right in the eye last month. No more raccoon problems 😎

That sucks. You should check out the portable poultry coop on Atomic Zombie Extreme Machines YT channel. This awesome set-up they built is surely part of the wave of the homesteading future.

A dog would probably solve the problem if he is not trying to attack the chickens himself.

Awwwww,I'm so sorry..... that predator WILL BE BACK. Lock n load. Beautiful coop!!

Sorry that you lost one of your laying hens, that's always the pits! Maybe try connecting your segments with small 1.5"-2" D rings. They would be easy to disconnect and allow you to reconnect them fairly quickly. Keep the opening side of the ring facing the ground.

Sorry for the loss. Awesome coop setup though, without even accounting for the tube. I feel like even without the tube these chickens have it pretty good. I had chickens previously in NJ and they were killed by a hawk in one instance and raccoon in another. I know it was a raccoon because it actually manipulated the coop door latch open, which was fairly complex and at least a two-step process, and drug one of the hens into the woods. I would also lean raccoon in your case but would leave open possibility of foxes. There are foxes throughout Florida and they are known to be risk-taking and extremely persistent in getting in coops, and they do come out during the daylight, especially dawn and dusk. A design idea might be the following: bind sides and top together with rings, and in each segment, weld cross members on the bottom side of tube with a comparable wire material that the grids are made of, every 3-4 inches or however narrow is needed to keep a fox or raccoon from getting in. That or even wood cross members bound to the side boards, like pressure treated 1x2 furring strips. Less comfortable for the chickens to walk on but easier to move, more durable, and pretty impossible to penetrate, and eliminates the need for the side boards. Could always pilot it with one small segment and see how they respond. They walk pretty gingerly and are precise with their pecking so they might adapt to it fine.

Change the tunnel to a fenced open area

Mink or Fox bro. Smart. Raccoons also. Very good at figuring out doors.

In your area you have wild cats, there are also panthers, my friend's dog was attacked during the day, the dog was left without one eye and her clavicle fractured, the dog was saved because the other dogs began to bark. They also attacked her little pig and tore off part of the pig's tail. Be careful at night.

Sorry for the loss.... I think you need to make sure it will not happen again. Usually it will happen again...

My first thought was raccoon or possum, but after looking at the scene of the crime. I'm definitely thinking it was Sly Cooper.

Maybe it was your pet cat that did it? 🤔😸

Add surveillance cameras with night vision.

I would advise you to immediately call in CSI in the event of a subsequent murder. You can also hang up cameras then you have direct evidence. Good for a lawsuit.

Chemicals in air be careful

Really sorry to hear that. 💔😔

Use expanded metal instead of that weak wire mesh.

I’ve read to dig around and under the fence 20” with few ncing to prevent predators

hardcore man. sorry that happened. figures it was the hen that was laying eggs too. i see others already took my answer! :-) i like the d-rings and bricks ideas!

Hello, new subscriber and watched your video. Sorry for what happened to your hen. Have you ever thought about build a chicken tracker that can be moved around your yard. I think that would be a good open and make it like a run that can be locked to your coop house. Look into chicken tractors and see how that can be very beneficial to you and your future chickens and hens. Hope I was able to be helpful. I watch other RU-vidrs who use the tunnels and tractors so that might be an option to see where you went wrong with the structure based on their structures.

There's a kind of wild cat, i don't know if the name is feral cat, it drinks the blood from the neck of the chicken. Very agile and can fit through the smallest opening, it really is baffling. Very smart...the solution is to have a guard dog. A good guard dog... Ofcourse and reinforcing your chicken coup...and it's always the laying hens that are victims😢

You're going to lose so many chickens if you continue with that tunnel whatever ate that chicken knows where the food is and will come back for more.

Mink buddy i have had chickens all my life.

bro I used to watch you when I was in middle school talk about race relations on RU-vid. I’m about to graduate college

Thats an easy fix, just loop some wire to connect the segments.

John, I don’t know you but put a bear trap around it that will stop from even coming your property. I love self-sufficiency… No debt that’s one of my requirement for being self-sufficiency. Our home is paid off .. but we smaller debts.. we try to buy everything we need with a debt card… I won’t get a Credit Card at all!!! Anyway, my husband and I want to build a shipping container home but with 9 of them. We would love to use your services to make that dream come true with some plans… Do you offer plans for a shipping container home??? It could be a side hustle for you… I want to build a shipping container home… so then we would have two properties all cash for this project!!! Just needing some ideas and support with it!!! Bears traps are the way to go to stop the little foot!!!

Prints in ground, Bigfoot?

u need to install some Cameras

Wire tie sections together and stake down the tunnel

probably owls. looks like you live in FL. owls are wild killers.

Build a couple of those rolling chicken coops (look up Joel Salatin), problems solved

Watch the type of feed your giving them. Few types are causing hens not to lay eggs.

Mink

More than likely it was a fox or coyote I've seen chicken coops where they're high up like they are higher up like a kid that has a clubhouse that high off the ground and they make the chicken runs high off the ground where coyotes or any other animals can't climb also that they cannot even jump up and get it because it's too high so if you make your chicken coop 8 ft off the ground and then have a run for them long enough and high enough where you can have them have run that's up in the if they won't be able to get at them I seen this down in the cape where the owner just took a ladder and we'll go up to the chicken coop and remove the ladder at the end of the day that way the chickens were always safe p no animals can attach themselves or climb to get to the I would think about building it up higher

Dang that’s so sad they just acting like they don’t know that they best friend is gone atp I think they sit her up😂😂😂ijp But I think you should build they runway a lil bit stronger to keep them out

Coyote

Coyote of Fox

Yeah sorry but you’ve never kept a dog inside of a kennel I assume. They can force themselves through the smallest of cracks.

You must be crazy icy raccoons during the daytime. I have a place north in a very raw part of Ontario Canada. They were always around daytime nighttime the same in the south where I live raccoons assume they’re nocturnal they’re not

its a fox

fox

its the baby werewolfs killed ur chicken

I like fried 🍗 n 🍉 yawl!

👋👏👍