We have three golden pheasants in our garden, securely kept inside a large cage, on half is walled so only the front section is actual cage.
Woke up this morning to find one of the pheasants missing, a load of feathers just on the outside with a bit of blood. Foxes did kill the previous ones but the cage was then properly secured so there are now no holes bigger than an inch.
I just cannot see how anything has reached it, the only answer seems to be that a fox or something has reached inside and pulled it through, although pulling a large pheasant through a 1 1/2 inch gap seems unlikely to me, they're also not the most sociable of birds so I doubt they would be leaving their perch to greet a fox.
Has anyone any suggestions with what this may be, I really don't know how I could make the cage more secure and I don't fancy having to wake up again to dead pheasants.
Have you found the pheasant? if not i imagine someone has a tasty bird for xmas dinner.
Stoat?
Bid for freedom as it no longer wanted to be caged?
If it's recently been walking round the cage in badly fitted trousers, wings in pockets, whistling nonchalantly and stopping every so otfen to seemingly adjust the crotch, then almost certainly a Great Escape.
Why do you keep pheasants? They are for the table, roasted.
stuffing:
brown bread + lemon + cherries + tarragon
place strips of bacon over the stuffed pheasant in a large tray.
splash it in a glass of red wine.
chuck it in the oven for an hour - take it out, surround the bird with roastable veg, and another splash of red wine.
back in the oven for 45mins.
crimbo dinner, easy.
(1 bird for 3 people - add some sausages if you are hungry people)
It's in a pub garden called the Golden Pheasant, they're there for kids and customers etc, but it's a nice big pen thing they are not caged up or anything 🙂
Not nice tending to them for a few years, building up a pet like bond with them only to find one of them has clearly met a nasty end, extruded through a tiny gap to be eaten, not sure if I more sorry for the dead bird or the two who had to watch.
if no sign of entry I'd go with the stoat suggestion. I've heard they are very difficult to keep out. If it was one it will be back.
I had rabbit in a rural location.
Chicken mesh cage (inc floor) - did you check for tunnels etc
Solid wood hutch at end, each night put in hutch and with door secured.
I'd suggest a fox is still most likely.
Are you sure all the wire mesh is intact?
A fox got into my duck run, but couldn't get out easily once, it finally squeezed through the smallest of gaps at the side of the run. Of course, wire mesh will stretch when pushed enough.
I also had a rat (I presume) tunnel into the duck run - only way I knew was that we were getting less eggs. Once the house was moved a little, the tunnel was easily seen.
Mink and Stoat can get through the tiniest gaps, so go round and secure all of the edges.
Perhaps buy a trap for mink? They are only around £20. Also, rat traps wouldn't go amiss - a rat could take a pheasant if desperate, though they'd be likely to make more mess (unless there were a number of rats, where everything, including feathers is eaten).
With the lack of a body, and not much mess, the fox has got to be the main culprit, it'd grab it, and get away to eat it.
Alan.
Stoat or a weasel. Fox would have killed all three
rickmiester took it to feed his urban fox
if it was a fox you have been lucky.
usually once a kill has been had they will not give up untill all are dead.
oh sorry i see steve austin beat me to it.
To avoid birds being taken or eaten by fox etc you should look at how birds live in the wild. I bet they live on tree.
Thin wire cage will not do as the predators can always chew through them.
A effective ways is to build artificial tree branch for the birds to perch on. You might be looking at a perch of 5 feet or more in height as some predators might jump.
Anyway, cheapest solution is to build a cage with strong wire with small holes in them.
My first fox raid killed all 4 ducks, the 2nd killed 4 out of 6, so they dont always kill everything.
In neither case were the bodies taken. iirc, 1st time 3 heads had gone, 2nd time in October, 1 head was gone, all other bits there, including 2 terrified ducks, one was unmarked, the other had a bite on its wing, and another on its neck, but it was still able to stand up.
Either way, the cage has to be reinforced to stop further attacks, and a trap used to catch whatever is doing it.
Alan
The cage is all intact, it is not made out of wire mesh but strong metal with 1 1/2 inch gaps, the cage itself hasn't been touched really.
Also, the last time a fox did get in through a 3 inch hole at the top before we covered it, both birds were killed in the typical fox way - bodies left behind without heads, in this case it seems nothing has been into the pen itself, there are just feathers on the outside with some blood, no body or anything. I agree that it doesn't seem very fox like, however I guess maybe in this cold snap food is scarce so it may have actually eaten it this time.
It does seem a mystery, I'm not sure how the pheasant would have been pulled through the gaps in the fence, but that is the only explanation I can think of.
Once a fox got in our chicken run and killed them all. Thought they had all been removed as there was no sign of them , but it turned out they were buried in the ground in the run. Saving them for a return visit.
I suspect fowl play with this one.
What is the method of securing the latch on the cage.
I think they've been taken for the xmas table.
Could be a rat