ChickenFarmer 0 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Yesterday as I approcached our chicken houses I noticed a creature run between two of the houses and then disappear - presumably below one. It looked rabbit sized, a sort of brown cylinder. This evening I saw it again out of the corner of my eye : I glimpsed a rabbit sized body, with two long thin legs stretched right back ... then it was gone. What could it be? Bigger than a large rat I think, maybe rabbit sized ... but who knows - perceptions can be odd ... Could it even be a fox? Or would the odour freak out the chickens? This thing is taking eggs - but NOT killing chickens. Any ideas? Quote Link to post
nod 285 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 (edited) stoat, weasel, rat will all take eggs, an egg is easier to catch than a chicken Edited April 11, 2012 by nod Quote Link to post
hyperion 122 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 get some traps down more than likely a rat Quote Link to post
WET DOG 1 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Rat!!! Anything else would take ye birds!! 1 Quote Link to post
Ratsmasher 36 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 mink?, or it could just be a big rat cos they will get absolutely massive especially if near a river/lake or if they been on high protein animal feeds, pellets etc Quote Link to post
Ideation 8,216 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Stick a cage trap down and see. Quote Link to post
Hywel 53 Posted April 11, 2012 Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 Fat rat with plenty of food available in my opinion...... Quote Link to post
Malt 379 Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Any chance it was a squirrel? I've known them to take eggs. The landowner on one of my permissions live trapped one that kept getting into his chicken run, it was the fattest, shiniest looking squirrel I've ever seen! Quote Link to post
Lab 10,979 Posted April 12, 2012 Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 Can you lift your shed and see?. Quote Link to post
ChickenFarmer 0 Posted April 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2012 UPDATE: Guess what! We found the body of a wild rabbit, totally unmarked, between the sheds. We had a major fox raid 3 days ago and this mystery creature has been around since then.. I suspect a fox was after the rabbit, which ducked under a house. The fox then turned on the chickens instead. Anyway, I got a large female fox yesterday with a dose of #4 so that evens the score a tad.. (This is the first time I have ever seen a rabbit on our 11 acres - the foxes sort them out pronto!) Quote Link to post
events co-ordinator 353 Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Possibly a litter of cubs under the shed my old mans had them there regularly did you check the vixen to see if she was suckling if so contact a local terrier man to get the orphaned cubs. 2 Quote Link to post
PoshPikey 560 Posted April 13, 2012 Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 Could a cat have brought it onto your land to play with it and then lost it? I have found them in my garden courtesy of the neighbours cats - still alive and unmarked. Quote Link to post
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