Could a cat do this? (graphic)

[Wrooster]

We left a door open and something got a chicken the other night. I'd really like to blame it on a feral cat that one neighbor had neutered and another sometimes feeds. I'm just not convinced a cat could do it.

The bird was a relatively small older leghorn and was probably sleeping on the floor and not on a roost. She was dragged about 50 feet out of the house, across the fenced yard, and over the 4-foot wire fence. There are lots of feathers and some blood at the base of the fence on the outside. The largest piece we found was another 20 feet away and was all skin, feathers and some bone. We didn't find the internal parts or anything else.

I know our chickens are on this cat's radar because we see it snooping around. But could a cat take a chicken apart like that? The biggest piece had fragments of broken bone. I didn't look carefully enough to see exactly what was broken and when I went back a day later it was gone, but it made me think of either strong jaws or strong hands - neither of which a cat has.

We also have raccoons and foxes in the woods and sometimes there's a loose dog. So what do you think? Is the cat probably guilty or did something else do it?

Enclosed area is to the right.

One leg, skin, bone and feathers.

 

[GitaBooks]

Sorry to hear about your chicken.

Cats will leave the skin and feathers scattered around, eating the meatier parts.

Raccoons eat the head and crops.

It could also be an opossum (probably not) or a mink (doubtfully). A dog would probably carry the whole chicken off or just play with it and not eat it. I'm guessing it very well could be the cat. Foxes carry off the birds they catch, and bobcats do as well.

Hope this helps.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'd like to blame cats too but it was likely a raccoon. An opossum meal looks like that too. Mink and weasels don't really eat the meat, just kill and suck some blood.

 

[Wrooster]

I'm probably over-thinking this and in the long run it's not going to make any difference to this particular feral cat. Neutering feral cats and freeing them to eat wildlife is misguided, whether they eat my chickens or not. This will be a cat-free zone.

The culprit had apparently cased the premises enough to know that once over the fence he was out of reach of the rooster. That was the first stop.

The only two pieces we found were in different directions from the feathers at the fence. Makes sense if there was more than one animal involved. The fact that we never found most of the bird could mean it was carried off to feed a litter. All of that sounds much more like a raccoon family than one formerly-male cat.

But this will be a cat-free zone anyway.

 

[GitaBooks]

Cats have gone after my chickens before, so I'm not saying they are innocent in the least, however, I am saying that cats help fill in the place of predators that are exterminated from areas, such as bobcats. They make sure pests don't get out of hand.

Doesn't mean you always have to like them though.

Hope it all works out!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

... Neutering feral cats and freeing them to eat wildlife is misguided, whether they eat my chickens or not. ...


But this will be a cat-free zone anyway.

X2

Here too.

A friend of mine lives in the city in the heart of a feral cat colony that a group feed. She can't let her chickens out of her basement for all the cats in her yard.

 

[Wrooster]

Quote: Cats kill over a billion birds a year in this country. They are responsible for the recent extinction or near-extinction of more species of birds than any other cause. That's not pest control. I like cats but they are an invasive species. House cats and barn cats are OK. Feral cats are not.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I agree but I'm not OK with barn cats either. We have a cat now but she's never been outside. I really like cats and have had a few but they shouldn't have free reign to kill wildlife and cat people don't get that.

 

[HeritageGoose13]

I think a cat could do this, if it was very hungry, or if it killed the chicken and crows scavenged the rest.

ETA: Raw-fed cats develop strong jaw muscles and can break through bones. I see no reason why it wouldn't be the same way with a feral cat.

Also edited to add: cats don't fill in the gap from bobcats. Cats carry a disease, FIV, which bobcats die of when exposed. Better to just get rid of the domestic cats so the bobcats can return.

 

[GitaBooks]

Oh. I guess I was basing it after my barn cats behavior. My bad.

We have three barn cats, a porch cat, an indoor cat and a stray cat. We've had plenty of other cats in the past as well. They do a great job of keeping our little farm ecosystem in balance.


The grey one is Tabby and the other one is Scardy Cat (Tabby is actually the more shy one). Not the most clever names, I know, but kids will be kids.

They're around 8 years old.