Lost a Chick!

As I walked into the chicken house to look for eggs and fill the feeder, I noticed one lone chicken claw on the floor! My heart sank as I counted the remaining chicks and only saw 6 of the 11. Quickly I did a perimeter search and found that some of the chicks had squeezed through the fence and were hiding under the house. One, two, three, four....thank goodness I only lost one chick and not five. As I tried to catch them I spied the remains of the final chick in some tall grass. Poor thing was missing its head and most of its body. I concluded that it must have been something small like a weasel because there was no damage to the fence (so it must have fit through it) and it did not pluck any of the feathers off like a fox usually does. Time to get some fencing with smaller holes. I have had this fence up for the last three years and not had a problem until now (except for the occasional snake), but I think this is because I used to always have horses in this field keeping the grass short. I had decided this summer to give that field a break from grazing...good for the pasture ... bad for the chickens I guess!!!! Lessons learned...off to the store now!