Backyard Predator

[RubyTheChicken]

I put my 10-week-old chicks out permanently yesterday, and I was letting them free range for the first time unsupervised today as they have been being taken out for about an hour a day for the last month, and I thought they would be safe, and I went out my lanai door, and some kind of grey/black smokey looking cat looks right in my eyes! I waved my arms to make myself look bigger and yelled at it, and it ran away. there is a small 4–5-inch crack in the back corner of my chain-link fence, and it escaped through that. No chicks were harmed, but I would like to identify the predator and make sure none of my very first batch of chicks get killed. It looked like a small bobcat or a large house cat, but it didn't have any markings as far as I saw. It was definitely some kind of cat.

My coop is completely predator proof, so I am just locking them up until I have some answers.

Any thoughts on what the predator might be and how to keep it away? I live in southwest Florida if that helps.

Edit: I was looking at some other threads and saw that some people use traps. would that work for free-range?

 

[aart]

It looked like a small bobcat or a large house cat, but it didn't have any markings as far as I saw. It was definitely some kind of cat.

Did you see the tail, long or short?
Well, it doesn't really matter what it was....
.... time to keep the birds in a secure run for their safety.

 

[RubyTheChicken]

Did you see the tail, long or short?
Well, it doesn't really matter what it was....
.... time to keep the birds in a secure run for their safety.

I didn't see the tail because it ran away so quickly. A run might be a good Idea though. Will hardware cloth keep out a bobcat?

 

[nuthatched]

Even urban areas have predators. it sounds like a bob cat, just make sure the coop is secure and don't let them out.
10 weeks? Where were they before you put them out?

 

[RubyTheChicken]

Even urban areas have predators. it sounds like a bob cat, just make sure the coop is secure and don't let them out.
10 weeks? Where were they before you put them out?

My screened in lanai/pool cage.

 

[aart]

Will hardware cloth keep out a bobcat?

If it's properly attached to a good strong frameworks.

 

[nuthatched]

My screened in lanai/pool cage.

As long as your sure the coop is secure. They should be fine.

 

[McChooky]

I didn't see the tail because it ran away so quickly. A run might be a good Idea though. Will hardware cloth keep out a bobcat?

I use it on all my coops and runs.Even my catios (so my cats can't eat chicks or be injured out roaming )I wouldn't dream of putting my baby chicks in a chain link fence.All it does is trap chickens making them easy targets. Foxes,minks,skunks,snakes,cats,raccoons and possums can squeeze thru a 3 inch hole.