Think rats ate my baby pigeon

[ironjerry]

Baby fully feathered and parent on ground =straw when I fed next morning both gone from the loft Will rat kill and eat pigeon ? Parent could fly away but caught if defending baby. Have mother left. I was going to return to nest but thought this was normal as my canaries feed baby out of nest. What do you think no openings big enough for coon or skunk.

 

[loftkeeper]

there would be signs like feathers might be two legged varmit

 

[jak2002003]

Agree with above poster.

If your pigeons was attacked by a rat there would be signs of a struggle, lots of feathers all over the place.

Also if there were no holes in the coop large enough for your pigeons to get out, then a predator would not be able to pull the dead pigeons outside to take away, right?

I would work on making your pigeon coop more secure... with no holes for anything to get in... and put a lock on the door to deter people also.

Sorry you lost your birds. Good luck for next time!

 

[Hokum Coco]

Baby fully feathered and parent on ground =straw when I fed next morning both gone from the loft Will rat kill and eat pigeon ?

Yes I have lost a adult pigeon to a rat. On the up side they only kill on at a time as a rule, Not like a weasel who can wipe out your entire flock in one invasion. Rats drag their prey out of sight or between walls or under the floor or behind boxes or barrels. Check your loft thoroughly eliminating all access points with metal or ¼ hardware cloth. Then eliminate your problem with what ever works. This is WAR.


.

 

[jak2002003]

Poor weasel.

I kind of like them... even though... like you... one if its relatives got into my pigeon coop (a mongoose) and killed 6 birds one night, 4 the next, and then 5 more the week after.. before I could work out what was going on. In the end I had to demolish the coop and build a new one as I was unable to stop it getting in.. they can get through the smallest holes and cracks... in the ground... through the wire, through the roof!!!! It drove me mad.

It was like a vampire... because it did not eat any of the dead birds...

It lined them up side by side perfectly in the middle of the coop... then bit them and sucked out their blood.... I tell you no lie.

Weird animals.

I still see it and its family running about the garden some mornings. I don't mind as they can't get to my birds now... and they are great for killing cobra and other snakes.

So I have a love hate relationship with them.

 

[Hokum Coco]

Poor weasel.

I kind of like them.

I agree with you fully the varmint was only doing what it was designed to do. While he was on the premises squirrels and rodents were never a problem. It did not deserve a death sentence. In a perfect world it was an asset.
I had already been wiped complete out of homing pigeons due to one invasion. I went over my loft with steel and strips of aluminum blocking all excess. I now think my loft is as tight as a bottle the problem seem solved for over a year. Every one was living in harmony.

This one came through the open door of my loft while I was tending to my birds and took up residence. I noticed him as soon as it came through the door. I tried live trapping him with a live pigeon serving as bait. I watched him one day try to access the pigeon but he was wise to the box trap and would not enter the door. I had moved my birds to the upstairs of my garage and never lost any homing pigeons. Scaring him out was not an option do to interior design of the loft. I also left the door open thinking it would relocate after the birds had been taken out. Days passed with the live bait still in place..... Sadly eliminating him with my 22 caliber rifle seemed like the only option left. My breeders began nesting and my garage loft could not accommodate the situation much longer.