surfer_chicken Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Last night (about 2am), my parents were woken up by the sound of the chickens bok-boking and crying and hissing and growling. My mum through a coat hanger out of the window and whatever it was ran off but she didn't see it. The girls were in a rabbit hutch we have been using (as we have a few too many chickens to live in the eglu at the moment ) and Lily was scratched through the mesh and has a small amount of feathers missing from the top of her head, however I'm a bit confused as these scratches are really thin, more like a cat's claws. I originally thought it must have been a fox, but now I'm not so sure. Would a cat try to attack the hens? The extra girls I hatched this year are leaving this weekend anyway, but I'm trying to contact my friend to see if she can take them early so I can put them all in the eglu from tonight onwards just incase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Sounds more like a fox to me. Most cats are respectful of chickens in my experience - they have sharp beaks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surfer_chicken Posted October 27, 2011 Author Share Posted October 27, 2011 That's what I thought a first They scare off all the local cats but I wondered if it might be different at night when the chickens are more dozy and they wouldn't be able to defend themselves through the mesh of the hutch. I am really confused by the small scratches on Lily. I've lost chickens to foxes before and they seem too small. The hutch is like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Dunno then, cats might hiss but no cat I know would take on my chickens. Foxes don't hiss... to my knowledge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
memphisto Posted October 27, 2011 Share Posted October 27, 2011 Could it possibly be a ferral cat at all? We had one whose had kittens in the woods behnd our house in the summer, bold as brass she was but haven't seen her recently since we got our girls. My 2 cats are scared of our chickens, doesn't help the chickens chase them but even with the neighbourhood cats, there has never been an incident with them, thats not to say it couldn't happen though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted October 31, 2011 Share Posted October 31, 2011 Maybe, 2 cats were having a fight right outside your hutch and your chicken got too close for a look. Cats can make a dreadful racket and the chickens probably didn't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
