Ah ha maybe that

[WindingRoad]

Maine coon cat is not so bad after all. I've stopped feeding my birds outside recently mostly because it has been so cold and windy. From the NW that's a very cold wind. And yesterday it poured rain all day. Warm, almost 50F, but too wet for them outside.

So I have this big Maine coon cat lurking around. I think it's male. Quite big. He sits outside the hen house just waiting and is here most days. He makes no attempt to get in the hen house. Mostly cuz I have it banked up about 3 feet. Leave the upper part for the sunshine to warm the run. It is 35F right now supposed to get to 38F. Well I kinda chased off the cat because I just didn't want any foreign animals around my chickens. KWIM.

Just now I saw a commotion on my walk. Too much snow to see what was really going on. But then the cat climbed the edge with a squirrel in his mouth. Lucky for the squirrel he got away. Maybe not the next time. The wet snow from yesterday froze overnight and the cat can walk on the top of the show. 14-16" of snow in my front yard. I'm hoping he'll keep the squirrels away. Maybe I'll buy some cat food today. LOL.

 

[MissChick@dee]

Well good luck with the cat. My concern would be he’s showing a hunting technique. They wait until the prey gets comfortable with their presence and feel less threatened. A large kitty will kill your chickens as sure as they would any bird. Just a cat bite carry’s enough bacteria in its saliva to cause infection. They can “play with them” to death with no intentions of having a meal.
Stray/feral cats in my yard get trapped and removed. I’ve trapped my neighbors cats (pets) they get soaked by the hose after spending a night in the trap. So far they run home and don’t come back.
I have seen owners who have cats and chickens but they were raised together.
It’s your choice I hope you don’t find out the hard way that feeding a stray was a bad idea. Best wishes

 

[WindingRoad]

Well good luck with the cat. My concern would be he’s showing a hunting technique. They wait until the prey gets comfortable with their presence and feel less threatened. A large kitty will kill your chickens as sure as they would any bird. Just a cat bite carry’s enough bacteria in its saliva to cause infection. They can “play with them” to death with no intentions of having a meal.
Stray/feral cats in my yard get trapped and removed. I’ve trapped my neighbors cats (pets) they get soaked by the hose after spending a night in the trap. So far they run home and don’t come back.
I have seen owners who have cats and chickens but they were raised together.
It’s your choice I hope you don’t find out the hard way that feeding a stray was a bad idea. Best wishes

The cat food idea was a joke. I don't really like cats. He is not a stray belongs to the neighbors. I did like that he got that squirrel I was surprised because every time I've encountered him he's been slow as cold molasses running up hill in January. He almost seems retarded. OH I won't keep him around. My hen house is secure.But you can't be too careful. I'm retired so I'm around. Thinking of getting a camera. IDK. I never leave my birds unattended out side. All my birds spend more time "alerting" then they do ranging. LOL.

 

[WindingRoad]

The cat food idea was a joke. I don't really like cats. He is not a stray belongs to the neighbors. I did like that he got that squirrel I was surprised because every time I've encountered him he's been slow as cold molasses running up hill in January. He almost seems retarded. OH I won't keep him around. My hen house is secure.But you can't be too careful. I'm retired so I'm around. Thinking of getting a camera. IDK. I never leave my birds unattended out side. All my birds spend more time "alerting" then they do ranging. LOL.

BTW I've seen many a bite with scratch cat fever. Nasty. I think it's the rubbing thing on your leg that I don't like about cats. MY GF asked me to watch her cat once while she was gone. Cat rubbed up against my leg and turned around as I went to pet him and bit me. Damn cat.

 

[MissChick@dee]

The cat food idea was a joke. I don't really like cats. He is not a stray belongs to the neighbors. I did like that he got that squirrel I was surprised because every time I've encountered him he's been slow as cold molasses running up hill in January. He almost seems retarded. OH I won't keep him around. My hen house is secure.But you can't be too careful. I'm retired so I'm around. Thinking of getting a camera. IDK. I never leave my birds unattended out side. All my birds spend more time "alerting" then they do ranging. LOL.

I misunderstood sorry ~ try the trap & water boarding! My neighbors cat was a pain! I had to move my humming bird feeders because of him. The owner said “well if he gets shot he gets shot I’m not going to keep him in”

Nice huh?
We have truly feral cats. So inbred they look disfigured. I get rid of them. They can really stress the birds even when they are safe in the run.
Sigh....if it’s not one predator it’s another.