Worried about my Sweetness/Bobcat story

[happinesshill]

Well, we've had *something* eating our chickens for over a month now. First three, two of which were partially buried under some hay/mud and the other we never found.
Then later on, 3 more dead. Two missing completely and one dead in the pen. Then the other day, I told my son to go lock up the hens because it was getting later in the day (not yet dusk)
On the way down, he saw a Bobcat jump over the fence and he started chasing it. It ran off with a hen in it's mouth (had already killed and eaten another one) It eats EVERYTHING, the head, the feet, all of it. NOTHING left! Anyway, the Bobcat dropped this hen (it was still kicking) and ran off into tall weeds/brambles.

We have a trap set for it now and are trying to bait it with that dead hen it dropped.

However, now one of my other hens is acting strange. She was fine before this last killing. But since the last raid in the pen, she is barely walking/moving, won't hardly eat or drink, her head lolls to one side and I can lay her in a box and her feet curl up, her eyes close and she lays there, like dead but not.

Sigh.
I was just wondering if maybe the Bobcat smacked her around alot, bit at her? She appears fine. No marks that we can find or any puncture wounds (but it's so hard to tell under all those feathers) She is my sweet hen. She fell out of a box I was carrying her in as a baby and I accidentally stepped on her head, nearly killing her. Her head was crushed and blood came out of her nostrils...but the tough old girl survived and we named her Sweetness.

My very favorite hen of all (Goldie) was killed during the second killing. I cried so much. I am so tired of this. We try to lock them up before dark every night and we take such good care of them...but we found out that Bobcats are not nocturnal and will kill during the day too.

 

[happyhens44]

Oh im so sorry, Im not sure of about the hen. But I sure hope you can get rid of the stupid bobcat!

 

[happinesshill]

Sweetness had a broken neck. We had to put her down. Either that or she would've starved to death. She wasn't moving, eating or drinking for two days.

Sad, sad day...I've cried so much this week. Thanks for being the only one to post back to me.

As a side note, we are adding on to the pen and putting a roof on it. (The fence part, in addition to the henhouse. They are getting a spiffy new place. I think it'll be much, much better and no open top, so very little chance of anything being able to get in)

 

[Pinky]

I'm sorry you lost your birds

I hope you get that bobcat. I hope your add on to your coop helps.

 

[HorseFeatherz NV]

Poor Sweetness

, poor you

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Awww, I am sorry for your losses. We've had some losses with bobcats. It's just like you described, there often isn't any trace of capture or kill. And sometimes a bird seems to have survived a capture with little evident injury, but it's apparant that there's still something wrong with the bird, who later dies.

It's good that you're making improvements to the security of your coop, that's the best thing to do. You can also try to find where this cat is going with its kills, and try to trap it. Here's a link to trapping bobcats http://icwdm.org/handbook/carnivor/bobcat.asp

I know someone who had success tracking a bobcat to its cache area after it caught a bright white hen. It was easy to follow the white feathers left every few yards or so. They led into the neighbor's woods and where the cat had plucked the hen (a big pile of feathers) and then cached the remains of the half-eaten hen. It had only killed the hen that morning. A live trap was carried into the woods and placed in the piled leaves of the cache. The remains of the hen were placed in the back of the trap and covered with more leaves & branches. The bobcat was in the trap the next morning.

Another BYCer says to place a live chicken in a wire cage next to a trap. Cover the cage well with cardboard & branches leaving the only access to the chicken being through the mouth of the trap. Cover the whole thing with leaves & etc to look like a cached kill. Give the chicken a nice treat the next morning for being such a good sport.

 

[Hoss1975]

Quote:
This should work.Here's another idea,you can use any feathers(wing,tail feathers or even a whole wing),tie them in bunch like bouquet of flowers.Select a sight where you have seen it or look for fresh activity.Take a stick and push it in the ground and tie the bunch of feathers to it,place a foothold trap set on each side.They can't resist the sight of the feathers(it helps if there is a wind to help move the feathers to get it's attention).We can not trap bobcats here in Indiana,they are protected,but i did trap them in KY a few years ago and this method worked very well for me.

 

[babalubird]

Cats can carry germs in their claws. It's what gives you "cat fever" if you have ever had an irritating red infection or even prolonged "itching" from a cat scratch, even given in play. Unfortunately it can be much more serious in small animals, i.e., birds. My suspicions are that your chicken could have been bitten or grabbed by the bobcat, perhaps a small enough mark to not be noticed under all those feathers. If she's a pet, perhaps an avian vet could do something. If not, I seriously doubt anything available over the counter or from your home will help.

Connie

 

[babalubird]

Oh, I'm sorry. I saw your post about the broken neck after I posted. Connie

 

[NYboy]

Sorry about your bird. You did the right thing ,some times all we can do is give our pets peace with a quick end.