? adult chickens V cat

[cary 1973]

Hello I have ? but here is some back ground

* I live Henderson/Las Vegas Nevada (big city)
* I have 4 chickens 7 months almost 8 months old
* they have a 8foot by 4 foot coop about 5 foot high made of wood and hard wire cloth
*they have a run that is 6 foot high brick wall on 2 1/2 sides and my house the other (the half side had the gate to the rest of yard
* there is no top on run that is work in progress as money or wood comes avilable
* My chickens are never locked in there run they free range in back yard all day till I put there buts in at 8pm every night
* I have 3 big dogs that love my chickens and have made them a part of the pac
* becasue of dogs I have never seen a cat in my back yard

Now my ? I heard one of my chikens making a noise over in the run and when I got there my dog duke had chased a cat over the 6 foot brick wall (I think becase the wild birds try and steel from my chickens it was after that) Can an adult chicken hold its won to a adult cat till the dogs come to the recue? or do I need to reallly start to stress out now.

 

[spanky1205]

We have a cat (Lucky) who does a great job of killing everything he can (birds, mice, rats, etc.). So far he had not got one of our birds. He did take after a baby chick one day but the momma fixed that in short order (much to my amusement). A couple of weeks ago Lucky and one of my roosters were staring each other down, but nothing happened. They both went their seperate ways, no harm no fowl. I do not worry about the cats and the adult chickens.

 

[janinepeters]

Depends on the chicken and the cat. Bantam chickens are more at risk, as are those whose vision is partially obstructed, such as Polish. Big male cats in their prime are those most motivated and capable of taking an adult chicken. It's rare for a cat to take an adult, standard sized chicken of most breeds, and I personally would not worry about it, but it has happened, as I believe I've read in past threads.

 

[cary 1973]

I have one buff orphington 2 e. leghorns and 1 unknown mutt mix she is same size as leghorns. this was a simese cat from what i saw of it the size of my buff orphington. as long as my dogs are out there and they see the cat there will be no prob i just worry if there is nesting box pooping out a egg and the cat finds them before the dog does.

 

[Paul3874]

Running around the outside yard are about 8 or nine cats. They are very friendly,get fed well, and do their job of keeping field rats and ?? away. Chickens ( the oldest ones, 9 mos. to a year old ) are let out of their pen when my wife goes out in the morning. I have never seen the cats develop an attitude towards the chickens and the chickens sometimes step on them. Baby chicks on the other hand will be stolen and eaten in a sec. if roaming. I do have about 150 to 200 chicks, various ages and breeds, very expensive, growing and ready for the spring. Have to do something at my age. Good luck with your chicks, I love free range eggs. Paul

 

[janinepeters]

I have one buff orphington 2 e. leghorns and 1 unknown mutt mix she is same size as leghorns. this was a simese cat from what i saw of it the size of my buff orphington. as long as my dogs are out there and they see the cat there will be no prob i just worry if there is nesting box pooping out a egg and the cat finds them before the dog does.

Since you have full sized chickens, it is very unlikely that a cat would kill one, even if the bird is in the nestbox "pooping out a egg"

 

[LaynaDon95]

A cat could very easily kill even a full sized chicken. Especially with them being smaller breeds like leghorns. We have a cat we raised since he was born, and we were very careful to expose him to chickens from a very young age so he would leave them alone. He went through a weird hormonal stage a few months ago and started pouncing on the chickens. (We have gotten him to stop and he's good with them again. I guess it was just him going through kitty puberty.) It was very clear that he could have killed them and he wasn't even full grown. You do have to be careful with cats. Hunting is what they do and most of them are very good at it.

 

[litmisredneck]

My cats got a great lesson from my old rooster, Dumpling, that we had for a while ( too aggressive and mean and flogged my child one too many times). My cat, when we got the chickens would go and try to sneak up on them. Well when Dumpling saw what Bella, the cat, was doing, he went after her. This went on for many weeks. One day Bella, the cat, was minding her own business for once but was near the coop, got her lesson on messing with Dumpling. He came out of no where when Bella's back was turned and Dumpling the Rooster was very quiet and flogged the hell out of her. He jumped on her back and did not let go. It was funny as hell to see my full grown cat haul butt in the backyard with a Rooster on her back. She has never, ever tried to mess with the chickens again. Wish I had gotten it on video! I could have won AFV!

 

[cary 1973]

My cats got a great lesson from my old rooster, Dumpling, that we had for a while ( too aggressive and mean and flogged my child one too many times). My cat, when we got the chickens would go and try to sneak up on them. Well when Dumpling saw what Bella, the cat, was doing, he went after her. This went on for many weeks. One day Bella, the cat, was minding her own business for once but was near the coop, got her lesson on messing with Dumpling. He came out of no where when Bella's back was turned and Dumpling the Rooster was very quiet and flogged the hell out of her. He jumped on her back and did not let go. It was funny as hell to see my full grown cat haul butt in the backyard with a Rooster on her back. She has never, ever tried to mess with the chickens again. Wish I had gotten it on video! I could have won AFV!

that would of made one funny video.