Could this be my chicken killer?

[McGobs]

As of this morning, a third cat has wandered into that trap. Our Animal Control Officer is a nice guy...but this is the third call this week about stray cats. How long till he starts screening my calls? hehe

As much as I want to believe I caught the killer, I'm still not totally convinced I have. Does anyone have any expirience catching/trapping a fox? I'm in Central Maine...so if it is a fox, its not going to be a very big one. Is a Havaheart Trap (something bigger than what I have in the first post) going to work? Or should I start looking at different avenues of capture? What would you recommend?

 

[McGobs]

I did think that baiting a trap would attract more guests to the area. But then I thought "How much more attention could one can of cat food attract, that my 30 birds aren't already attracting?"

 

[Farming Frenzy]

If it ever happens again you should start video taping the chicken coop. are they free range? If they are it is more easy for the cat ( if thats the predator ) to catch them. Good luck!

 

[Farming Frenzy]

I heard that foxes like chiken... hehehe. You could put some bait in the cage ( like a bone or something ) and cover the cage in leaves so the fox cant see the bars. Then its like a den. Foxes live in dens so they wont be afraid to go into it.

 

[theoldchick]

Get a trail camera hunters use and you'll be amazed at what comes wandering by during the day and night.

 

[dc3085]

To catch a fox in a trap like that you are going to have to do some work and have some patience and hope like heck the cats dont mess it up for you.

Place the trap away from your chicken coop but somewhere near a game trail. Camo the heck out of it with local brush, sage works good because it will help with your sent. Try to make it look like it belongs where you are putting it. I would recommend using a scent mask for hunting and wearing cotton gloves if you can. If not standing near a smoky fire until your clothes smell like woodsmoke will help (light a fire outside and throw some green brush or sage on it to get it really smoky). Use a couple whole eggs and break one on the ground inside the trap. If it smells like you at all you wont get a fox or a bobcat in it. If a stray cat gets in the trap you need to repeat the scent masking process before accessing the trap. Keep in mind this method may also trap skunks so be able to view the trap from a distance before you approach. I say use whole eggs because most cats don't know to break them like a wild animal who eats them regularly would.

My dad trains hound dogs and has been trapping foxes this way for most of my 30 years, so this should work for you. If this doesn't work for you let me know and I'll try to elicit some more old man tricks from pop.

Edit: it could take a few days before the foxes get used to the trap and any smells they dont like wear off so let it go three four days minimum

 

[aart]

I ruled out all the dogs around me(both neighbors and my 3)because we all have Shih Tzus(Seems odd to have a Shih Tzu commune doesn't it?). I did follow the trail as far as the feathers went(which was maybe 30-40 feet in, and then looked for prints everywhere. But that proved fruitless cause heavily wooded and not a lot of soft ground. I don't even leave prints unless I try too.

I did catch another mangy looking cat though. This one was smaller than the other one, short haired, and completely different colors. Probably not related, but makes me wonder how many **** cats are around here. There is a horse farm about a mile down the road, and rumor is all the stray cats used to get dropped off there to help them with their mice population. I hope thats still not the practice...but that could potentially be an issue for me.

I may end up investing in a bunch of traps of different sizes and just start leaving them around the property. No one told me how expensive chickens were when I started. Housing and feeding is one thing. Now I gotta pay for protection. Its like living with the mob. Wish I had known about this site before I jumped into this whole endeavor.

hahahaha

eta:condolences on your loss, didn't mean to gloss over it... but that just really struck my funny bone...New York accent and all

 

[shallowbrook]

The cat probably didn't kill you chicken, but calling animal control you are judge jury and feral cats have very little chance of making past the next kill day at animal control facilities.

I would be more inclined to believe a hawk killed you bird. They will leave a pile of feathers where the kill takes place. If nothing is around to bother them they will eat part of what ever the kill that's why the feathers are there. Then they will fly off with the rest of the carcass. That's why there are no other clues. There has been a family of hawks here where I live ever since I have been here. Most years they raise two or 3 chicks. Remember birds of prey are federally protected, you can't kill them

I don't turn my birds loose because of the hawks. Also because of my dogs..I don't want them to kill the chickens. With my dogs it would be accidentally killing them, as to the dogs they are only playing. I think my dogs would see chickens as self propelled squeaky toys. I take my dogs with me into the pens so they learn that they aren't allowed to chase the chickens.

I have also in the past given 1/2 grown kittens to the people who own chicken houses. They kittens grow up in the house, but only hunt the rats. Another reason I don't think the cat killed your chicken.

Next on my list of probable suspects would be raccoons. They definitely will kill chickens. But coons are more likely to kill at night, and in a pen or house as they aren't very good chicken catchers.

 

[Chickenfan4life]

If you think about it, it wouldn't be hard at all for a cat to kill a chicken, especially if it was in the dead of night, when the bird is just a sitting duck. I, honestly, would say it is the cat.

 

[kynewbchickie]

My tomcat isn't interested at all in the chickens...he's too busy dealing with rats and mice in our field. Cats very well can be your killer; I guess you'll find out if any more of your birds go missing or are killed after you've trapped and removed all the strays you've gotten so far.

Where I'm at, our biggest issue here during the day is hawks. They'll circle, but they're wonderful at giving away their presence because they'll scream while they're circling before they dive. At night, we've got all kinds of critters to worry about - but their coop is locked tight with 2 chicken doors and 1 main door that are locked with keys.

I hope you find your killer and do away with him/her. I'm really sorry to hear of your loss. :-(