Will cats kill chickens?

Sweet_Chickies1018 said:

Have been letting my hens free range in our fenced in backyard for a year & never had any incident. Last week, our Silkie got attacked by a cat & got killed. I was shocked. I've only ever seen cats watching my hens curiously, never attempting to get at them. The cat came back a few days later, but thankfully, I was watching out the window & shooed it away. It looked ready to pounce off the fence after my other 3 hens. They are full grown hens, Barred Rocks & an Americauna. So, bigger than my Silkie. I havent seen the cat again. Just wondering how I can keep it away. Im afraid it found my yard & wants my chickens.

My hens are safely locked away in their coop at night. So not worried for them at night.

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I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss....simply heartbreaking. Does this cat appear to belong to anyone? If so, and provided you're able to locate who, what are the possibilities of suggesting politely they keep their kitty confined due to the danger they pose to your birds? Perhaps someone else more experienced in this area can chime in with effective feline deterrents.

On the other hand, not to sound completely harsh, but unless you live in town where such things are prohibited, you have every right to eliminate predators with a bullet if they're on your property. As much as I love most animals, I have no problem protecting my babies when needed.

A call to animal control could also be a less "violent" option.

~Alex

That is shocking your silkie was killed by a cat! Could it be that bantams are smaller and are more like prey to a cat? My cat always got along great with my chickens even young ones like 8 week olds! I would call animal control if it was my problem. You can't have the wonderful world of chickens taken away from you because of somebody's roaming cat. If you know who owns the cat, you also talk to them about keeping their cat indoors or somewhere else secure in their sight.

We now have our chickens, young guineas, and one rooster locked up in the chicken coop. We had two older guineas that we could not coax into the coop. They were in an open barn area we have had enclosed with chicken wire. The two guineas were dead and completely eaten yesterday when I went. The cats know where that hole is because when I go to the barn, they came through that hole. I patched it. I think we need a camera in the barn. Young guineas were the first that were missing which I thought cats could have gotten them. We locked the remaining ones inside. Then bigger chickens were missing. Cats and dogs have always come and gone in the barn until now. We have many cats on the farm and we need them because of rodents. My husband says we are going to have to put up a better wall (replace the chicken wire).

Alexandra33 said:

I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss....simply heartbreaking. Does this cat appear to belong to anyone? If so, and provided you're able to locate who, what are the possibilities of suggesting politely they keep their kitty confined due to the danger they pose to your birds? Perhaps someone else more experienced in this area can chime in with effective feline deterrents.

On the other hand, not to sound completely harsh, but unless you live in town where such things are prohibited, you have every right to eliminate predators with a bullet if they're on your property. As much as I love most animals, I have no problem protecting my babies when needed.

A call to animal control could also be a less "violent" option.

~Alex

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My husband was going to take care of the first two cats he found in the barn. The next day he found completely different cats in the barn. Right now we are letting them live...hoping we can strengthen the wall. I just hate that we can't let the chickens outside. We need the cats because of mice on the farm. I think my next step is to put a camera in the barn to make sure it is actually the cats.

Prairie Home said:

My husband was going to take care of the first two cats he found in the barn. The next day he found completely different cats in the barn. Right now we are letting them live...hoping we can strengthen the wall. I just hate that we can't let the chickens outside. We need the cats because of mice on the farm. I think my next step is to put a camera in the barn to make sure it is actually the cats.

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Good move. So sorry this has traumatized you...it would anybody. I would be interested to know what you find after installing a camera.

~Alex

Alexandra33 said:

Good move. So sorry this has traumatized you...it would anybody. I would be interested to know what you find after installing a camera.

~Alex

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I will let you know what the camera shows! We keep reinforcing the chicken wire hoping to keep whatever it is out. We will find out if we succeed. Maybe we should face a camera towards the chicken wire to see what shows up.