Anyone Ever Had Anything Like This??

[21hens-incharge]

My old set up years ago was in the barn. My cats were indoor/outdoor cats and spent a lot of time catching mice. Never attacked a chicken. I think a flogging even by a hen would deter most cats from giving it a go.
x2 on the getting her vetted. My uncle learned the hard way that rabies can be an issue in barn cats.

I would think having a mouser around would be a good thing. Just be safe and get her vetted/spayed.

I would also think that if you are planning to hatch chicks out that would be a concern.

 

[MesMama]

Thanks all! Well we haven't seen her for several days now, so not sure if something happened to her or what. It's been deathly cold here, so maybe she froze to death? Probably under my coop! :/

If she shows up again we're going to work on taking her and try to catch her to take her to the vet-I didn't think about that. Good suggestion!

 

[21hens-incharge]

If you do see her again a Hav-a-hart live trap is both safe for you and for her. No one gets all scratched up that way.
PLEASE take cat bites and scratches seriously. If you do get bit you should go to a doctor immediately. DO NOT WAIT a cat bite can lead to blood poisoning within 24 hours. I know as I have seen this happen to a guy I worked with. It was his own cat that was never allowed outside.

She may actually have a home somewhere and when it got cold decided to go home. It happens sometimes with the wanderers.

 

[bobbi-j]

Cats will occasionally kill bantams, but LF is really rare.


There's probably mice in/around the coop.

That was my thought, too. She's probably cleaning up the rodent population. If she's around in the spring, and you hatch or get chicks, I'd keep her away from them. I had a cat that would hang around my coop, too, and was a great mouser. Left the adult birds alone. Unfortunately, she also thought the little fuzzy peepers were also fair game. I think it's just an instinctive thing for a hunting cat to do. They don't know that you're really not setting up a buffet for them when you get those babies.