I have had many barn cats over the years who have all gotten along great with all sorts of other critters! From rabbits and chickens to goats and horses!
Until now
From the shelter we recently picked up a very friendly cat, who is extremely energetic. He is quite hilarious and makes great company, he takes walks and hikes with us, he chases the dog when she fetches the ball, he tries to fetch the ball... anyway, he also LOVES to chase the chickens. My youngest five chickens were hatched in July so everyone is plenty big enough to get out of his way. I keep hoping they'll turn on him and give him a good peckin' but they just flutter and run which ads to his amusement. Through a serious of cat tossing, chasing, shooing & scolding events I've been able to get him to understand not to go in their coop (I need them to lay in there, not be terrified to use it!) and he is getting better about leaving them alone in the yard. We've only had him for maybe 6-8 weeks. He is a 10 month old, so fairly active teen years. Him in particular, I don't think he'd kill one, he just loves to cause them chaos. But he is 1 cat out of maybe 12+ ? and his personality really lends itself to the behavior, he likely ended up in the shelter for being an impossibly destructive indoor kitty lol.
I say all of that to say that yes, there may be problem cats. But I CERTAINLY think that they're the minority. Many farms have cats. You can try to work with the cat a bit if its posing an issue or rehome the cat and find another! Noone says that cat has to stay with you if it isn't working out.
Some advice would be, 1) get a kitten. That way its small and raised around the hens.
2) I would NOT suggest getting a feral cat! Personal preference, I want a friendly social animal. Secondly, a feral is used to eating whatever presents itself and I would think that would raise the chances of you have an issue with the chickens.
3) Females in my experience are the better mousers and calmer. I would suggest a female. I would also suggest that you plan to spay her
4) Do note that whatever cat you end up with, chicks and rabbit kits are snack sized. Though I would say that it is rare to have any cat to full sized fowl issues, unattended week old chicks are fair game. I keep our chicks in something with a cat proof lid on it, or in the tack room away from cats etc.. until they're big enough to go outside. Basically, if I think that they're to small to be dumped in with the hens and fend for themselves then they are to small to risk with a cat who is employed as rodent patrol. Though I've never had any cat/chick casualties myself!
