Lost my birds to a cat (need advice)

[Goldenpheasantlover]

First of all, thanks everyone for replying!

I suppose it might have been a fox, the digging was the only thing that stumped me as to what it was. I wasn't sure if a fox would chew a hole in some mesh that is about 4 ft off the ground, but they are tricky and we have seen a few round here recently. I wouldn't have thought a bird of prey of any kind because the ONLY way in to the run for them would have been through the mesh hole (or a rat hole, but they've never bothered the adults before so I'm pretty sure it isn't rats). I had a proper look around the run today for any indication but I couldn't find any fur or footprints and it had been raining all night. I suppose a Pine Marten might also be a possibility.

I really want to find out what the darn thing was, so I'm going to be setting up traps. I'm not sure what I'd be allowed to do with it once I catch it so I'm going to contact Defra about it. If I find out what it is then I'll tell you and maybe put up a few pictures. I'm hoping it isn't a fox, I rather like them

The dangers of chicken keeping I suppose...

Thanks everyone so much! I really appreciate all of your help.

 

[mkeawsh]

Oh goodness, it sure does not sound like a cat. A cat will not catch something in a tree or bring something up in a tree. They also do not "chew" through things like that. I have had cats all my life and at present have 5 indoor cats and numerous outdoor that are always around the chickens and goats outside and could care less about them. As a matter of fact - just he flapping of the wings and the hyperness of a chicken scares the daylights out of them and they go running. They just don't want to deal with it and they don't have to - too much work.

Now a cat might follow a scent of something already dead and come for any remains.

 

[mkeawsh]

Do you have weasels or minks. They will dig holes. They will dig right under an enclosure perimeter and get in and get out the same way with what they have. They will also chew and climb trees.

 

[ivan3]

Possibly Owl, Red Fox and cat. Definitely replace `fabric' with hardware cloth/welded wire. Don't know if electric fencing is considered `cruel' in England). A baby monitor would at least alert you to attacks when you are home and awake.

A motivated domestic cat can `climb' (run right up) a 6ft. welded wire fence and drop into the run in the time it takes to read this sentence.

Squeaky's observations, in this thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=116704 (post #10 - quoted below), are interesting:

A determined cat can kill a full-sized bird. Growing up I had a cat, Shogun, who had no claws but a serious approach to pest control. She used to climb trees (which was a sight to see) and then lurk overhead until a wild pheasant walked by to raid our garden. Then she'd drop onto the bird from ambush. She had this little neck-breaking thing she did with her jaw. She never went far from the house, but she'd take down full-grown ring-necks and try to drag them through the pet door to eat. She'd throw a temper tantrum when they didn't fit.​

 

[Goldenpheasantlover]

ivan3 - I don't think I will ever be using cloth mesh again, we only used that for cost reasons, but it wasn't worth it. That's a nice link, thanks. One thing that people might not know about golden pheasants is that they aren't very big, only about 80cm long. Probably only half the size of your regular ring-neck, which would probably make them a lot easier for something like a cat to carry off a couple.

 

[TinyBirds]

Do pheasants go into the coop at night like chickens do? With some of my silkies I just lift them off the ground and put them into the coop, so if I could do that with the pheasants too, maybe I could get a couple. They can't get into the trees now because we have overhead netting to keep out the hawks. I was thinking of getting some golden pheasants, but we also have major predator issues, even with electric fencing and a 2nd fence of strong wire and covered with netting. We have a bobcat and some foxes that come in the daytime and grab through the fence to pull things out. Having birds as pets is really heartbreaking much of the time. I know how you feel and am sorry for your loss.
Jenny

 

[mkeawsh]

Quote:
I have not lost a chicken at night since I got the niteguards and have them hanging low on each side of the chicken coop and tractors. I have one hanging on each side of my goat pen also to keep coyotes away at night. They hang at eye level for what I trying to ward off - www.niteguard.com. - I have had no worries for two years now. I have even forgotten to take in the eggs that I gathered for the day and had them sitting outside the coop and they were still there the next morning.

 

[drumstick diva]

I think you have more than one predator - the birds killed in the trees were probably done in by an owl. The ground ones a fox etc. We have fox out during the day but I doubt that they'd climb into a tree after roosting chickens. A owl would be thrilled that he found them so close to home.

 

[centrarchid]

Quote:
They do not have the owl diversity we have. The species big enough to target chickens are extremely rare.

 

[allieloveschickens]

A cat could definitely kill golden pheasants, but a standard size chicken? That would be a difficult task- I agree with everyone that it is probably a different predator, maybe a marten, or opossum. Hope you catch whatever it is!