Help with the house cat

I have never had trouble with my outdoor cats. One of my cats is named Chica because she is a girl of course, but also because I originally found her hanging out with my chickens and kinda took her in at that point. Mainly she just wants to eat their food, but she enjoys their company too.

I think what you did was a pretty cool idea, and I'm glad to hear it worked. Sometimes there are ways to remedy a situation, you just gotta think outside the box.

My grandparents had a farm out in West Texas. Grandma had a few Bantams but mostly white leghorns -- probably 40-50 at a time in all stages of growth.

They also had 'barn cats' which bred & had kittens all the time and were NOT pets -- a few you could handle and if you got one of the kittens it would tame up pretty quick but most were semi-wild & lived on the vermin in the barns & rabbits out in the fields.

I never ONCE saw any of the cats chase/stalk/kill any of the chickens. They pretty much ignored each other. Not to say the cats wouldn't have taken advantage if one of the chickens had been old/sick/injured but chickens in the peak of health or with a momma hen -- never.

I have 5 Bantams and 7 indoor/outdoor cats. These cats are tame but DO hunt. They don't bother the Banties. Funny story: my neighbor was visiting and we were watching the chickens out the back windows as they free-ranged. She said "uh oh. You have a problem. One of your cats is stalking the chickens." I looked out the window in disbelief -- NONE of the cats had done that before. Sure enough, the cat was stalking the chickens in full predator mode.

Just as I bolted for the door to shout at the cat, the cat made her streaking pounce -- right at a SQUIRREL that was out of our line of sight but with the chickens eating the scratch!! Chickens scattered all over, squirrel made it up the nearest tree, cat came up empty. Cat had run right THROUGH the flock to try to get the squirrel. Boy was I relieved!!

I don't think putting the cat in the coop with chickens is mean at all, unless you let the chickens gang up and seriously injure it. I think the best way to handle animals is letting them handle it. Otherwise the cat will always be looking for a chance when humans aren't around to punish it. Of course you do have to have chickens bold enough to chase or peck the cat and teach it respect.

That is so funny about the cat and the squirrel...and how some cats just could care less about the chickens. Our big dog, Sawyer, just tries to eat their feed, and, disgustingly, their poop...so occasionally he follows them around like they are candy dispensers---gross!--but has never acted like they are prey to be chased. Our Springer Spaniel, meanwhile, naturally wants to grab a chicken anytime he can. Fortunately, with training, he has gotten a lot better and restrains himself when we are supervising him outside around the hens...its not his fault, its certainly what he was bred to do, go after birds.

I haven't seen Hansel pull anymore stalking attempts, I am guessing it helps that the chickens are larger now, almost full-grown. Still, if his predatory instinct to attack pops up again, I am trying the stick-him-in-the-coop trick!

Great stories.