Neighbor's pet cats, barn cats or feral cats...

[ShinShien]

I can't tell the difference, but when they threaten my chickens, it doesn't matter. So yesterday, I'm heading for Wednesday bible study, it's only 4:30. The chickens are happily wandering in the yard, picking, pecking, etc...I thought about locking them up early but didn't. Fast-forward to when I get home at 8pm. I go out to close the coop, and there's a SS off the roost, SS feathers sparsely scattered around the coop. I go around to the run, where the chicken door is to close it, and there're two cats on the outside watching. There's a cat INSIDE the run! That's the one who attacked the SS. I've already lost chickens to these cats before. If any of you were me, would you start thinning them out?

 

[sourland]

I would eliminate them without hesitation.

 

[DonnerSurvivor]

Cats dont belong outdoors out of their owners yards, They are not a native part of our ecosystem and are responsible for the extinction of a few species. Dont hesitate take care of the problem.

 

[Majd]

I think building a safer run is a better option.... as it's almost impossible to keep all cats away... only if u had to kill them I'm sorry for what happened.... are the chickens mature?

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote: Did you SEE the cat attack the bird, or was the cat simply in the run?

My cats go in the coop and run to hunt mice, but have never harmed even a small chick

 

[bobbi-j]

My wild barn cats hang out around the chickens, but have never attacked them. Not saying that these didn't kill yours, just sharing my experience. If I knew for sure that a cat killed my chickens, it would be eliminated. Personally, I prefer to keep them around for rodent control. To answer your original question - if you know for sure you have lost birds to these cats, then yes - I'd start thinning them out if I were you. Even if you don't know for sure that they're killing your birds and you don't want them hanging around, get rid of them if you don't want them. Trap them and take them to a shelter, kill them, find them homes. Whatever you need to do.

 

[ChickenLegs13]

I usually have 8-12 barn cats with no problems but this summer I suspected 1 particular cat was the cause of my dissappearing young chickens. I didn't want to shoot the cat because it had 5 kittens nursing, plus I had no hard evidence. By the time I finally caught the cat in the act a month later it had killed 15 bitys & almost fully feathered young birds. It was running away with Victim #16, a 3 day old bitty when I shot it. The bitty survived, the cat didn't. Point is, if I had taken action sooner I'd have 15 more chickens right now.