Cat or Fox

Lizzy May

In the Brooder
Jul 17, 2021
18
24
36
Hi I’m new to Backyard Chickens.
I came across this sight after trying to find Information to help my poor chicken Cricket.
I have 5 Chickens that I adore.
Cricket was my very first chicken she is a Barevadel.
At 3.00am I woke to a strange noise couldn’t work it out drifted back to sleep to be woken again I listened I couldn’t work it out then I realised it was my chickens so of course I ran outside to my horror I found my Araucana Becky laying still surrounded by feathers then there was my Grey Australorp Gypsy laying on the ground surrounded by her feathers. I went to the coop to find my darling Cricket limp on the ground but still breathing. I scooped her up and went for a torch when I came back Gypsy and Becky were gone. I thought whatever came assuming it was a fox had come back to take them but to my delight I heard a squawk and Gypsy was with my Maran Boots running for cover. I found Becky under some scrub hiding. They must of been playing dead. Inside the coop was my Wyandotte Mapel she appeared oblivious to the whole ordeal. I felt terrible as you see it was all my fault I hadn’t been locking my chickens up.
I put them all together in a small room near the garage for the night. I wrapped cricket up in a towel. I expected Cricket to die but she didn’t but she is very much in shock and not doing to good. I have made up a bed for her and brought her inside.
She is very limp and cannot hold her head up. I have been holding her neck up to a cup of water which she is managing to drink. I have given her mashed up banana with weetbix a little salt and sugar. She eats a little of this. I’ve tried porridge but she ate very little of this and seemed to struggle with the stickiness of it. I found she manages the wet week bix better. I have now mixed in Tuna for protein.
I’m now thinking of trying a Vit E liquid squirted in her food.

I have found this site to be the most hopeful and informative site over these last couple of stressful finger crossing days.
I came across a couple of threads that have given me hope. As I don’t want to cause her suffering but I want to give her a chance too.

My husband believes it must of been a cat as they are all still alive. He said if a fox had gotten that close they would of been killed. As Becky and Cricket have a little blood on their skin but no open wounds.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be most appreciated.
Thank you for such a great site.
Elizabeth
 
I'm sorry for your losses.
I've seen foxes carry off live chickens before, although neck snapping is more common. Where were feathers pulled out? In my experience it's more of a dog/fox trait to keep attacking the leave ones once they make a kill.
 
Hi I’m new to Backyard Chickens.
I came across this sight after trying to find Information to help my poor chicken Cricket.
I have 5 Chickens that I adore.
Cricket was my very first chicken she is a Barevadel.
At 3.00am I woke to a strange noise couldn’t work it out drifted back to sleep to be woken again I listened I couldn’t work it out then I realised it was my chickens so of course I ran outside to my horror I found my Araucana Becky laying still surrounded by feathers then there was my Grey Australorp Gypsy laying on the ground surrounded by her feathers. I went to the coop to find my darling Cricket limp on the ground but still breathing. I scooped her up and went for a torch when I came back Gypsy and Becky were gone. I thought whatever came assuming it was a fox had come back to take them but to my delight I heard a squawk and Gypsy was with my Maran Boots running for cover. I found Becky under some scrub hiding. They must of been playing dead. Inside the coop was my Wyandotte Mapel she appeared oblivious to the whole ordeal. I felt terrible as you see it was all my fault I hadn’t been locking my chickens up.
I put them all together in a small room near the garage for the night. I wrapped cricket up in a towel. I expected Cricket to die but she didn’t but she is very much in shock and not doing to good. I have made up a bed for her and brought her inside.
She is very limp and cannot hold her head up. I have been holding her neck up to a cup of water which she is managing to drink. I have given her mashed up banana with weetbix a little salt and sugar. She eats a little of this. I’ve tried porridge but she ate very little of this and seemed to struggle with the stickiness of it. I found she manages the wet week bix better. I have now mixed in Tuna for protein.
I’m now thinking of trying a Vit E liquid squirted in her food.

I have found this site to be the most hopeful and informative site over these last couple of stressful finger crossing days.
I came across a couple of threads that have given me hope. As I don’t want to cause her suffering but I want to give her a chance too.

My husband believes it must of been a cat as they are all still alive. He said if a fox had gotten that close they would of been killed. As Becky and Cricket have a little blood on their skin but no open wounds.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be most appreciated.
Thank you for such a great site.
Elizabeth
 
Hi There
Sorry you will need to excuse me I’m not very tech savvy so still get use to this.
Thank you for your reply

There were lots and lots of soft feathers like the ones under their tails.

My Cricket seems to be holding on. I just don’t know what more I can do for her
 
Hi There
Sorry you will need to excuse me I’m not very tech savvy so still get use to this.
Thank you for your reply

There were lots and lots of soft feathers like the ones under their tails.

My Cricket seems to be holding on. I just don’t know what more I can do for her
Don't worry about it, I'm going to guess that it was a fox, I've seen coyotes rip the bum fluff out first so I don't think fox would be too far away from that behavior. Have you posted in the emergencies and injuries forum about Cricket? People might be able yo help you with her.
 
Thou I’m not far from a national park. Other people on the area have lost their chickens to foxes but in the 6 years of having chickens I’ve never seen one near out yard. But my husband did see a cat on the fence a couple of days ago.
 
Also I acknowledge your condolences thank you but my chickens thankfully survived it’s just cricket not doing to well I’m assuming she is in shock and I’m hoping she will recover.
 
Hi I’m new to Backyard Chickens.
I came across this sight after trying to find Information to help my poor chicken Cricket.
I have 5 Chickens that I adore.
Cricket was my very first chicken she is a Barevadel.
At 3.00am I woke to a strange noise couldn’t work it out drifted back to sleep to be woken again I listened I couldn’t work it out then I realised it was my chickens so of course I ran outside to my horror I found my Araucana Becky laying still surrounded by feathers then there was my Grey Australorp Gypsy laying on the ground surrounded by her feathers. I went to the coop to find my darling Cricket limp on the ground but still breathing. I scooped her up and went for a torch when I came back Gypsy and Becky were gone. I thought whatever came assuming it was a fox had come back to take them but to my delight I heard a squawk and Gypsy was with my Maran Boots running for cover. I found Becky under some scrub hiding. They must of been playing dead. Inside the coop was my Wyandotte Mapel she appeared oblivious to the whole ordeal. I felt terrible as you see it was all my fault I hadn’t been locking my chickens up.
I put them all together in a small room near the garage for the night. I wrapped cricket up in a towel. I expected Cricket to die but she didn’t but she is very much in shock and not doing to good. I have made up a bed for her and brought her inside.
She is very limp and cannot hold her head up. I have been holding her neck up to a cup of water which she is managing to drink. I have given her mashed up banana with weetbix a little salt and sugar. She eats a little of this. I’ve tried porridge but she ate very little of this and seemed to struggle with the stickiness of it. I found she manages the wet week bix better. I have now mixed in Tuna for protein.
I’m now thinking of trying a Vit E liquid squirted in her food.

I have found this site to be the most hopeful and informative site over these last couple of stressful finger crossing days.
I came across a couple of threads that have given me hope. As I don’t want to cause her suffering but I want to give her a chance too.

My husband believes it must of been a cat as they are all still alive. He said if a fox had gotten that close they would of been killed. As Becky and Cricket have a little blood on their skin but no open wounds.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be most appreciated.
Thank you for such a great site.
Elizabeth
Welcome to BYC Elizebeth!
I am very sorry that you had to go through that experience.
Search up a bunch of things to help sick chickens, and if you want you can try this: raw egg yolk. I feed that to my chickens that are refusing to eat and when they get the taste of it they gobble it up in seconds! Though that won’t work for every chicken.
I believe it’s probably a cat, foxes * generally * kill their prey and eat everything except the guts which you may find dumped somewhere.
But do what works best for you, and I hope your chickens will heal quick.
Best wishes to you and try other forums on this website to suit your situation.🙂
 

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