Outdoor Cat...bad idea for a nearby chicken coop

[chris_m90731]

Hey BYCers...
just wondering if it's advisable to allow a new cat we're about to adopt to go outside and traipse around our chicken coop...??
the coop is secure, but for some reason my gf keeps thinking we're going to have a Dien Bien Phu on our hands...

 

[AZKat]

You might, chickens can be pretty rough on cats

There are about 5 neighborhood cats that wander through our yard, plus our own cat. When the chickens are running around the yard, they gang up on any cat who gets too close. I've actually seen them chase a cat out of the yard. And none of the cats have been stupid enough to try to get into the run. I'm sure that a cat would eat a chick, given the chance, or even a banty that was alone. But a flock of chickens can deal with any cat.

 

[SilverPhoenix]

I have an outdoor cat and a chicken coop (and my chickens free range a few times a week, too), and I've never had a problem at all. My chickens and cats keep a distance from one another. Back when my chickens free-ranged all the time my cats would sometimes stalk my smaller chickens, but if they got closer than, oh, twenty feet from the chicken, they'd realize they were afraid of the chicken and go running off.

Chickens aren't generally afraid to give a cat a good peck if one comes too close, they can hold their own fairly well. Unless you happen to have one of those cats that kills anything and everything, I wouldn't worry--especially not with a secure coop.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

And here I was thinkin it would be a bad idea...of course, I don't own a cat(and a cat doesn't own me), so that would explain that

Good luck on that little experiment then!!!

 

[ole-crone]

We have 10 cats that are allowed to roam outside whenever they please. We've even had wild barn cats - none have ever bothered our chickens - not even mothers with babies. I think chickens tell cats who's boss fairly quickly.

 

[dichotomymom]

We have 3 outdoor cats and the only time it has been an issue is when they are still young and I've just gotten them out of the brooder (the cats have tried to slip in and catch one). As adults though, like others mentioned, it would be my cats' heads if they tried that nonsense.....

 

[domino7]

Personally, I think it's a bad idea to let cats run free. My neighbor lets their two cats run the neighborhood. They kill indiscriminately, and use my garden as a litter box. I've mentioned it to them, but they think it's funny. Oh well. It can't be good for the cat either.

 

[silkieflock]

My cat just had a run-in with our new silkie rooster. He got a little too close to the hens and wound up getting laid into by the rooster. I havn't seen him around them lately!

 

[Guinea Goonie]

We have two cats. They were born here and raised here by the dog.

The dog and them play and sleep together, yes the dog is a traitor.

The two cats and the dog follow me to the barn when I put the chickens up at night.

The dog follows me to the horse barn.

The cats remain in the chicken barn and stalk mice for the evening.

The cats are at the front door for their morning chow and the dog for her "treats".

Never had a problem with the cats hurting the chickens. The chickens free range all day.

The Guineas WILL move a cat from their territory, but not the chickens.

 

[bibliophile birds]

Quote:
i have a dog traitor too! he adopted one of our cats as a kitten and they became inseparable. he even thought her kittens were his children.

the happy family

as for the cat and chickens thing, i've got 5 and they haven't gone after the chickens yet. when the chickies were small i would take them out to the dog pen that was empty and let them run around. the cats would creep around and were WAY to interested for my tastes, so i got a supersoaker and sprayed them everytime they went into attack mode (even though they couldn't actually get to the chicks). this set us up for a no nonsense relationship.

when the chickens went out to the their run, i put a low voltage hot wire around the bottom. it was meant for predators (and the dogs), but each cat seems to have gotten into it at least once. when i would let the chickens out to free range in the yard, 3 of the cats would find a good vantage point and watch them obsessively but they never made any move to attack. the other 2 (a full grown male and a little boy kitten) would run and hide the moment the chickens got let out. they were TERRIFIED! and they hadn't even been the ones that got supersoaked!

typical behavior now (please ignore the mess, i was cleaning the garage)