Do Cats Eat Chickens?

[Lane McCarty]

I just saw a cat pacing around my coop a moment ago (around 10PM), and this is the first time I've seen a cat in my yard. I'm just wondering if anyone here has experience with cats eating their chickens. I'm not concerned at night, since my hens are always locked in and secured, but I'm kind of worried about the day time when they're free ranging. Any info on this would be much appreciated!

It is possible, but I've never seen a how cat take down a hen. It matters what your cat is like. Good luck!

 

[newfarmgirl]

ok..now that the shock is wearing off, I want to share my story and ask for advise. I got up this morning to find 2 of my hens and my Guinea dead in the chicken run. I have (had) a flock of 16 chickens and 1 Guinea. The Guinea and 10 of my hens were raised by me from chicks. Little miss Guinea thought she was a chicken and was very protective of the flock-always announcing trouble. We live on a farm and have all sorts of predators-hawks, owls,fox, dogs and cats that I have seen. Our chicken run is secured with 10 foot high fencing (2x4 inch hard wire), aviary netting on top, and chicken wire sunk 2 feet under ground. I haven't had any problem keeping them secure until now. After I cleaned up the bodies, I checked the perimeter. Nothing ground level was disturbed. The only chink in the armour I noticed was a a small 6 x 8 inch section of aviary netting that wasn't secured to the fence line. (the zip tie broke at a seam) and that was at the 10 feet mark-up the fence/run. The foxes haven't bothered trying to dig to get in as there seems to be ample rodents and rabbits around for them. Hawks will circle but not land. There IS the neighbors cat that runs wild and is always stalking around the coop. I'm thinking it may have jumped along the fence line and gotten in through that one unsecured spot. The condition of the birds leaves me confused. Guinea put up one heck of a fight. None of their meat was gone-just a lot of feathers. It is as if the kill was for sport. 7 of my remaining birds are in various shapes of injury. I have put probiotics in their water and moved the injured birds inside the coop to keep warm. All except 2 are drinking and willing to be hand fed mealworms. My questions for you out there, is could a cat have done this much damage? I don't mind the kill so much if the predator had eaten the ladies (circle of life...) but this seems senseless. I am in Northern Virginia and haven't seen other predators. Was it the cat? Can I put antibiotics in the ladies water- and if so- what and how much? Any help is greatly appreciated. Tonight I will close their trap door. I haven't had to do that in the 2 years I have had chickens.

 

[animals1981]

My parents have seramas and for the first time they had an incident. They came home and a dead chicken was in the mudroom. I'm pretty sure it was their bengal cat. He's the one that chases the chickens. He'll be kept inside from now on!

send the cat to me wow they are worth more than a 100 chickens lol

I went to a breeder and for a nice looking one with spots they want 600!!! If you try to get a rescue one they have serious issues like aggression or somesthing.

 

[ehecatl]

I adopted a little tabby cat to control rodents, around the same time I purchased two small chicks.

For several weeks the cat grew faster than the chicks, and started "playing" with them, with its sharp claws and teeth.

I gave the cat a few swats at first, and squirts of water later.

The kitten still plays, but with more respect, and the chicks seem to be learning how to deal with it, so maybe we are getting over the hump.

 

[littlechick1005]

I never really thought about it...funny thing about my cat - hes a hunter by nature, he spends hours out on the farm hunting, he brings home mice all summer long...on the flip side...we have smaller pets in our house, at one time a hamster, my lizard, fishes..he does nothing to them..he watches them like hed like to but he doesnt...I was mostly concerned for my chicks when they were babies but I locked them in my room to keep them safe til they were able to move outside...they are almost a yr old now, my cat watches them like hed like to hunt them but its like he knows they are my pets and stops himself...its pretty cool that he knows the difference between my pets and his hunting game.

 

[animals1981]

yeah a cats prey drive is not as scary as a dogs when it comes to attacking things


they have a nice hunt drive that is why they are good at pest control but prey drive like attacking domestic animals is really poor thats why people let their guinea pigs, hamsters rats, parrots free with their cats and never have problems because there is nothing to hunt

thats why its so hard to believe seeing a cat take a big domestic chicken, they dont act like wild prey something a cat has to stalk and hunt. Dogs on the other hand will kill everything and anything. All dog sizes.

Remember though dogs came from wolves a wolf is a LARGE game specialist of huge animals when its not hunt giants like moose and bison it hunts small animals like pigs, geese and anything it can catch

cats come from african wild cats, african wild cat is a small animal specialist it was not meant to hunt large animals like the size of a chicken. African wild cats are rodent and reptile specialists. They kill rats, mice lizards anything that is at least half the size smaller than it.

The domestic cat was never meant to hunt animals that were its size. Many hunt rabbits i think they evolved to that though.


The african wild cat can hunt anything small in the weasel family and small bird species also. But so do domestic cats. It is their specialization. A domestic cat will know how to deal with a bird the size of a pigeon or a weasel but when it meets a standard sized chicken it will be lost. It has no idea how to dispatch it. They were not made to kill large birds. Some might kill chicks but i dont believe a domestic cat will take a chick if the mother is there.

Just like feral cats and muscovy ducks I have never seen a feral cat go after a baby duck when the mother is with it.

The only time i see cats turn nasty and vicious and dangerous is in self defense. But even then if the cat is not larger than the predator it is fighting the cat needs to get out of there quick or it can die.

I agree with dogs though dogs have the ability to take out adult men, horses, cows etc.. Dogs are the most dangerous domestic animal in the world. I saw a german shepherd pull an adult female cow down over ice and start killing it I went into shock. No it was not my dog thank god. But at the sametime dogs are the best domestic animals that can save lives of your livestock and yourself.

 

[JadeRahl]

I had a 6lb cat that could climb to crazy heights and slam crows to the ground. He would then play soccer with their heads. If a cat wants it they get it.
I live in the city now and let the chickens rule my backyard. You would be surprised at how many cats I see around here. I let my Manx outside. He is 17lbs and he guards the hens. He will fight all other cats and chase them out of the yard to protect the girls. I'm training our other cat to do the same with daily visits to the yard to meet the hens and he will soon be allowed out as well.
Cats are territorial creatures. If you have a cat that has marked your yard as his territory other cats will be more cautious about entering the area.
Be careful when choosing a guard cat though. The Manx breed is not like any other cat so it works.
I hope this helps!

 

[GasMenagerie]

None of my cats bothered my chickens until my latest cat. He's part Maine Coon and is big and playful. He hasn't hunted them seriously (yet) but I keep an eye on him. The two banties are the ones I worry about the most when I let the flock out for ranging, but they are able to fly up into a tree and get away, The heavy breeds are just too big for him to consider. My roo is a polish, though, so he's been chased by the cat. I wish he'd fight instead of running away, though. That might cure the cat.

This same cat sits and purrs at the brooder where my chicks are. Those I know he'd get for certain if I allowed it. (I made a locking top for the thing.) I worry about when they are set out with the others. Perhaps they will have to stay in the run until they are large enough to not be so tempting.

 

[shmccarthy]

It's definitely a possibility. I've never had trouble with it, not even with my own cat. She is a Maine coon, so she's a pretty big girl. And she is vicious when it comes to hunting. I've seen her catch rabbits, snakes, squirrel, songbirds, and just about everything inbetween. She ran up to one of my chickens once but my rooster ran at her(didn't attack or anything) and now she completely leaves them alone. I let her outside when they're free ranging and I think she watches over them.
I can easily see other cats going after chickens though.

And as I'm typing this she is laying on my hedgehog cage, reaching her paws in. Not because she wants to get him, but because he eats catfood and she wants it. What a goof haha

 

[2468Guess]

I've lost more chickens to barn cats than any other predator, so yes, cats will eat chickens.

Thank you for proving a certain someone that I know wrong. I knew it. Thanks for the information.