I'm sick to my stomach.

pookiegoldman

Songster
9 Years
Aug 3, 2010
416
6
111
Grand Isle, Louisiana
Sunday at mid-day I went out to check on my chickens and discovered a little white polish hen had been dismembered outside of my chicken run. Her remains had been pulled though a very small hole in the corner of the run. Immediately I thought that it was a coon, but then thought that a coon wouldn't fit through that hole. Tuesday I found out that I was right when I walked to the run and found a "friendly" cat that my mother-in-law feeds and looks after, eating a second Polish chicken. So I set out to kill this cat. Last night I got it with a pellet gun. I immediately felt relieved and thought that I could sleep good again. Until last night. Right before bedtime I heard the chickens making a rucous so I ran out and found two raccoons by the run. One climbing down from the top and the other on the ground killing another one of my polish hens, outside of the run. I am so freaking disgusted with this. They're 8 months old and I've never had a problem until now. 3 chickens in 3 days. From a cat to racoons. Makes me sick. Could it be that they're now getting attacked since I recently got rid of the extra 5 roosters that were in there with them? Were they protecting them? There are 3 roosters still in there and when I found the raccoons, the 3 roosters were on the roost SLEEPING!! It appears that my 2 turkeys tried to fend them off. One is limping and the other has a gash in her shin. This is not how I wanted Thanksgiving to kick off...

Anyhow, now that I'm off my rant, Happy Thanksgiving Day Everyone!!
 
Thats so sad, at least you got the cat!
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I don't get why you'd kill the cat....it's doing what cats do. ( I'm also surprised that a cat could kill a chicken that big.) You could have taken it to animal control and at least given it a chance to be adopted. I dunno.
I think the best solution is to make your coop/run predator proof so absolutely nothing gets in. I am sorry for your losses. Unfortunately sometimes we don't know how secure a pen is until it's been compromised.
 
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You seriously would have sent the cat away?? The PawsforCause shelter lady agreed that it needed to go. Yeah cats do it naturally, but so do racoons and I don't want either of them in my pen again.
 
Did you ever stop to think that there's a good chance the cat was taking advantage of a free meal and hadn't actually done the killing?
 
While it may true that the cat in this case may have been taking advantage of anothers kill, cats do kill chickens.I know, because it happened to two of my NH Reds, and they are big hens..Cat like to kill, some will eat their victims, some won't..
Certainly most cats will avoid attacking hens, but it does happen...
 
While I am 110% wholeheartedly for the removal of predators who are actively killing/bothering your livestock

the best thing is to fortify your pen some more!!!! An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! (though thinning out the pred herds could also be called prevention.)

I wish you all the luck in the world getting your birds safe!!!!!!!!
 
Why are you people criticizing them for killing the cat? She is protecting her chickens, and she did it in a humane way. They don't want some stray cat running around eating chickens. I think you did what was right, and I would have done the same. Why criticize someone for protecting their flock? They are doing the best they can. If you think it is wrong to kill an animal that is eating your birds that is good for you. I know it is their natural instinct, but why take it to an animal shelter where it will be killed? I think you did the right thing. Good luck and I hope you get rid of those coons.
 
Can you set a trap for the raccoons? Some Animal Control departments will lend or rent the traps. I bet when the first chicken was killed, the blood attracted more predators. It sounds like you need more protection at night - is the coop entirely closed? They need to be inside something a raccoon can't reach into.

Oh, and don't blame the roosters! Chickens are entirely helpless at night. Their brains just shut down, or something.
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(And you guys who are arguing about whether to kills cats, etc - have you read the stickied rules post at the top of the Predators and Pests forum? Please don't get this thread closed down, okay? The poster needs help keeping chickens alive!)
 
i am so sorry for your losses. i would be heartsick if my babies died such a horrible death. i wouldn't think that you are having this problem now due to rehoming roos. i suspect that the raccoons just discovered your pen and now know where to come for a meal. So you will need to keep trapping until you catch the entire clan. Also may want to do some coop and run fortification. Too bad we have to create Fort Knox for our chickens to keep them safe.

Anyhow, so sorry again. Polish are such sweet little birds.
 

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