Chickens & cats

[hcppam]

I had written on another post how good my cats were with My pullets...well last week my 5 week old blue maran had squeezed under the gate? while I was gone all day, as always when I got home I went out to see the girls...counted heads and she was missing, finally found her next the fence dead looked like one of the cats had got her. Didn't eat her, I'm sure her trying to find a way back in proved too enticing for one of the felines

so I don't take it for granted any more that the cats look at the chickens as family.

 

[Annabella]

Quote:
No offense taken. No one was more surprised than me when I saw what she had in her mouth. She's gone to kitty heaven now (brown snake got her in her old age), but she taught me the lesson, that you just never know what they are capable of.

 

[Gullygarden]

My cats have mostly been ok with adult chickens but dangerous to even quite large chicks. However, back in the days before I had a camera, my Banty rooster used to sleep with a cat curled up next to him on top of a box on our porch.

 

[Gullygarden]

they only don't chase them if they get firmly chased back. I don't think the chicks know enough to do it, even big ones. they need to be confident adults to handle a cat.

 

[poseygrace]

I'm more worried about my cat than the chickens. I have a VERY aggressive Buff Minorca pullet (Chicken Little) that chases and harasses the cat to no end. I watched her STALK the cat the other day, and then chase her at full speed until the cat ran under my car. I swear Chicken Little stood there "laughing" at the cat until I chased her off.

 

[spikennipper]

My cat is also put in place by my two chickens Bella a light Sussex bantam and Ruby a Rhode Island red, Bella in particular will not hesitate to face him off if he pushes his luck, she is also smaller than him, the other day he sat inside her straw basket where she usually lays, as soon as she realised he was in there she was on to him, a few claw kicks and a sharp peck and he was straight out that basket and was chased halfway up the garden! I find that if a chicken is younger or nervous around cats and runs nervously away the cat picks up on this and will chase, as soon as it turns and starts to fend for itself the cat will stop, of course smaller breed chickens in particular will be much more vulnerable to cat predation than the larger birds.

 

[azpenguin]

We had a stray cat decide to stalk our chickens the other day while the birds were free-ranging in the yard. Bad move. The Ameracuna treed the cat, and walked around the base of the tree staring up at the cat for a couple of minutes. Chickens... they're more entertaining than cable TV.

 

[prairiehen74369]

My adult cats don't show any interest but my young half grown cats would take a free meal if it came available baby chick to half grown .......I don't trust any of them because cats DO EAT BIRDS. My peacock was doing his fan dance and acting aggressive toward one of the kittens the kitten didn't take it that way and was playing with the peacocks feathers.

Ya never know.