Chicken Killing cat.....Need advice. (WARNING GRAPHIC PICS)

[ih66series]

I don't think a cat could take on a rooster.

 

[Stonerowfarm]

I have to agree. I think the cat, being hungry scavanged what was left after a kill by something else. Reason I keep coming back to this is that someone dropped off a cat to my barn quite a while ago. I would see her once in a rare while, but mostly she stayed out of sight. For some reason the beginning of the summer she started living under the house and waiting for me every night when I went out for evening chores. She would sit a ways off, like she was waiting for her dinner too. So, I started putting out a bowl of food for her. At first she would run as soon as I came close but eventually (over a couple months) she started sitting a few feet away from me, and then before you know it, she was crawling up into my lap waiting for attention. She had, up until then, been surviving on whatever she caught. I have full size hens with a rooster, as well as quite a few bantams. They are in runs, which she could have easily gone into. In addition I have a free range hen who wanders all day. Kitty never once bothered my FR hen or tried to get into the bantams. She lived on mice and the occasional bunny. Now, this cat is huge, a Maine Coon cat and I don't think she could take down my rooster without him doing serious damage to her. There were much easier things for her to catch and eat.

Funny story. She found a way into my house. A floor board was pulled up to repair a pipe and never nailed back down. One morning about six weeks ago I went upstairs and lo and behold - there was kitty! I put her out - she came back in. DH convinced me to let her stay since it was getting so cold out. The next day he nailed down the floor board and I figured, okay, we have yet another cat (at least for the winter). Flash forward a couple days and I look down the hallway and see something that most certainly did not belong. There was a dead rabbit (on the only wall to wall carpet in the house). Frantic call to DH, he comes back home from work and disposes of bunny. A week later he was moving furniture around and come to find out, kitty brought the bunny in alive and then proceeded to play with it a bit before finally killing it.

So it seems that maybe the cat is definitely going to an easy source of food, but I don't think he is killing all these birds himself. Besides for him to eat a whole bird except for the feet just doesn't make sense. Their belly just wouldn't be able to take a whole bird.

Any chance you could put up a web cam and see what visits? Or set up a few Hav-A-Hart traps to see what might be out there.

 

[Grim]

this is going to sound morbid. but if it is following you and growling at you. i suggest killing the cat and garbage bag it, double bag it, use gloves and take it to the vet and tell him you think it had rabies. he'll cut off it's head and send it off for testing. your problem isn't a chicken killing cat, it's a rabies outbreak in your area.

 

[Stacykins]

I have done a lot of trapping of stray and feral cats for the TNR program in Milwaukee (live in Milwaukee currently, moving to Escanaba, MI in a few months). The havahart traps baited with something irresistible such as tuna or sardines in oil usually gets them within a few hours. Any stray cat is usually afraid of humans, and will growl at first. One of the strays who was clearly once a pet, but not eligible for the humane society's adoption program (nice strays are kept for adoption), acted very angry and afraid. But instead of releasing him like I would a feral, I set up a spare room for him with food, a litterbox, and a warm place to sleep. I would just go and sit in there with him and read. Eventually, he stopped being angry, and after a few weeks became an attention whore with a deafening purr. I did a private adoption to another person, and last I heard, he is doing wonderfully.

Anyway, getting off that bit of reminiscing about ferals and strays. If you can trap this cat, the local animal control should take the cat, at least to euthanize. I know I couldn't shoot a cat, personally. I know how to get the most sly cat in a trap, but putting a bullet in one? However, knowing the life of feral cats, euthanasia is humane. The injuries, diseases, and starvation I've seen is terrible. One cat I trapped that was a sweety, but had to be put down, had cancer in his eye, in addition to a broken leg that had healed twisted. He was starving because he couldn't see or get his own food before he wandered onto my property (where I feed the TNR'd ferals, though I have none at the moment). Another really mean feral was covered in scars, he barely had fur on his face. Not surprisingly, he was positive for feline leukemia, which is contagious through blood and saliva. If he hadn't been euthed, his would have died a pretty miserable death once his disease caught up with him.

 

[Tala]

Quote:
I personally would NOT take this route. Yes I would shoot the cat and treat it as suspect for rabies, especially because it's growling at humans!!!!!! But all my animals are vaxxed (and chickens are not mammals they don't get rabies) so I don't want to risk having a bunch of government bull crap brought down on my property. I've heard of them requiring all your animals to be put down, etc. so no way am I setting myself up for any kind of questioning.
Raccoon sized live trap, cat food/tuna/whatever, and a .22 to the head as humane as possible.

 

[teach1rusl]

I'm with the group who are a bit skeptical that this cat took on not just one, but several chickens, and was able to eat the whole thing. I could see a hungry cat killing a small chicken, but can't see one eating a whole chicken in a sitting. I agree that something else is most likely killing your birds and the cat is cleaning up.
I've worked w/trap-spay/neuter-release of ferals, and this guy/gal doesn't sound like a "true" feral...maybe a stray that's been on his own for a long time...or maybe born wild and fed by someone at one time. But if he's putting up with you and following you around a bit, he's seeking human companionship.
However, as long as you (or a friend) is a good shot, you could trap the cat and shoot it. If it's a clean shot, then it's a quick, merciful death IMO. He would most likely be put down in a shelter anyhow, since there are tons of cats that are already socialized waiting for homes. Or you could adopt him - feed him and socialize him.

 

[bambi]

I posted earlier today about feral cats and I feel I need to say this. The feral cat I fed also acted after some time with (months) it wanted human company it would sit aways off and just stare at us but the day it attacked was very sudden and there was no provoking involved it actually ran at me as I was putting his food down. Please be careful. I agree with what others have posted feral cats have a terrible and short life.

 

[magicpigeon]

Love my Critters! :

I too have no patients with animals attacking MY animals. This last weekend we got home from an out of town trip and I was in the house unpacking. My 2 year old son and husband went out to play with the dogs. (my chickens free range during the day in a fenced in 1 acre area) I heard a gun shot, I went outside and my husband had shot a dog that had my silkie rooster in it's mouth. We rarely have dogs loose in our area, we didn't recognize the dog, and the dog did not have a collar on. My husband had 2 choices, let the dog feed on the chickens, or kill the dog. He shot the dog right in the heart/lungs and the dog dropped instantly. Once an animal finds "food" it will continue to come feed until there is no longer any "food" left. No matter if it is a wild animal or a wild domesticated animal.

X2

Get it while you still can. My first chicken was killed by a cat. Unfortunately, I don't have a gun to shoot it. Luckily at the time, I had a thick plank of wood I was using to to some general repairs.

If it is growling and following you though, I'd get it tested. Rabies is an option...​

 

[Catstar68]

Generally, when an animal is infected by rabies and begins to exhibit behavioral changes, death occurs within 2 to 10 days. Also, an animal infected with rabies is not infectious (virus is not in the saliva) until they begin to exhibit these neurological symptoms although an animal can be infected for up to 2 years before they are symptomatic. They are not infectious until they show neurological signs! It is my understanding that the closer the original infective wound is to the spinal cord/head, the quicker the progression from latent virus to the infectious terminal stage.
I doubt the cat has rabies because it is growling at you. I really think the cat was cleaning up something else's kill so that leaves you with a predator problem.

 

[Stonerowfarm]

Quote:
I personally would NOT take this route. Yes I would shoot the cat and treat it as suspect for rabies, especially because it's growling at humans!!!!!! But all my animals are vaxxed (and chickens are not mammals they don't get rabies) so I don't want to risk having a bunch of government bull crap brought down on my property. I've heard of them requiring all your animals to be put down, etc. so no way am I setting myself up for any kind of questioning.
Raccoon sized live trap, cat food/tuna/whatever, and a .22 to the head as humane as possible.

Not true about the Gov't coming in and making you put all your animals down. I had a raccoon kill one of my chickens, I beat her with my bare hands and had to get rabies shots. I have, in addition to chickens, goats, dogs and cats. None of my animals had to be tested, quarantined or put down. The trapping and trip to the State Lab was handled by a local animal control officer.

Just sayin'