A rat?

[GretasFlock]

So this morning, something killed one of my quail. Apparently it pulled it through the bars and took its body, I found blood and *some mysterious organ * stuck to the bars, and a quail head lying on the ground by the cage. No feathers scattered, except on the bars of the cage.

We have heard something in our wall lately, and not long ago something killed one of my baby rabbits. We plan to set a rat trap, am I right in assuming it was a rat? We live in a city.

 

[GuppyTJ]

I'd guess raccoon or a cat. Both pull birds through the fence. A bobcat will also bite the head off a bird and leave it behind but this isn't likely in the city and bobcats are rare in any case. Did it pull the bird through a side opening covered with wire/bars or from the bottom of a raised coop on wire? Do you have plans for further predator-proofing your enclosure? Just wondering what your plans are?

Guppy

 

[GretasFlock]

Through the side opening of a solid bottom cage. The reason I say rat is because there were no feathers or bones, just the head. Also there have never been any signs of raccoons around where we live, and wouldn't a raccoon rather have a chicken or one of my rabbits? And as for cats, the cage seems a bit well protected for a cat.

As for cage proofing I plan to put in smaller wire so that the birds can't be pulled through. Something is definitely scratching around in our wall, something larger than a mouse. But I guess I'll set the trap and see what happens?

 

[GuppyTJ]

Sounds like a plan. Figuring out what predator it is can be really hard and in the end, it really just means that no matter which predator it is, we have work to do to do more predator prevention. I have 1/2 inch hardware cloth protecting my coop. It's attached using fender washers and screws, plus staple gun staples just to be even more safe. I buried cinder blocks under the door opening all the way across and the cinder blocks you can see above ground go all the way around the left side to deter diggers (fox, dogs, coyotes). I also use spring lock clips and a slide bolt to secure the human door and chick pop door. I live in the middle of Daniel Boone National Forest and I free range in the day but at night, I have to be sure my coop is as secure as I can make it.

Good luck and let us know what you catch in your trap! If it's a rat, whether it killed your chick or not, it can't live in your walls!

Guppy