Barn Kittens with rabbits and ducks

[emmec19]

We have had 2 rabbits for several years now. We recently decided to get 3 ducks as pets and therefore we upgraded our rabbit housing to a large shed type kids playhouse that also houses our ducks at night. The rabbits are locked separately in their own hutch at night but roam free inside the playhouse and its closed in porch during the day. The ducks free range in the day usually right at the shore of our pond, and are locked inside the main area of the playhouse at night.

We are getting 4 kittens in a few days that we intend to be friendly pets but will live outdoors as one of our children has bad pet allergies. My intent is that the cats will live in the loft area of our playhouse, locked up at night, but free to come and go during the day. My main concern is, will the cats want to hunt our rabbits and ducks when they are out free during the day? Our ducks are already full grown and our rabbits are a large type breed so they will be larger than the kittens when we get them. Does anyone have experience with kittens growing up to be friendly around their rabbits and ducks/chickens?

 

[cavemanrich]

My cats get along with my chickens. Don't have ducks or rabbits. Same cats also wanted to eat my pigeons.
As to housing 4 cats in a loft area,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, Not sure your cats will all want to be there. My cats are outdoor cats, and choose when they want to go into garage or not. One particular one only goes into garage and eats. Stays outdoors regardless of weather. It may be a territorial thing with the cats..
I lock up pop door for cats in the evening to keep other animals from crowding in at night. (opossum, skunks, raccoons).. Those in are in. Those out, stay until morning when I open up again.
Do you need to take all 4??? You may have your hand fuller than you expected.
Cats will also pee mark their territory inside the loft. You will have all sort of flavors coming out of your coop. You will also need to provide a litter box for cats. 4 cats can sure produce a pile of heep.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and

 

[emmec19]

Thank you cavemanrich for the reply! (it's my first post, so I was happy to get a response). I don't expect the cats to be in the loft very much beyond their initial lock up phase to get them to know where home is. We live deep in the woods with all sorts of predators and I would like to keep them safe (especially after paying for vaccines and fixing them) so I still plan to lock them up at night in there. It has a window I leave open for ventilation that is covered with bolted down hardware cloth. I thought about having a pet door for them that is triggered by a collar sensor, but after reading reviews of many kinds not actually being predator proof I decided against it. We will have a litter box in this loft that I will clean each morning. It's my routine cleaning up after the other animals already. I hope I'm not getting in over my head! We we're only going to get two, but then my cousin had a litter of 4, and they were all so cute we couldn't choose! Eeeek!

 

[redranger209]

Chicken math with cats... That’s a new one!

 

[cavemanrich]

The only predator for your cats to worry about would be coyotes. Most other predators would leave cats alone. Cats can also escape quite well from harms way....

 

[GentryGentleFeatherFarm]

My cats do not even acknowledge my rabbits and my ducks loud quacks deter any interaction, but my lovely townfolk think oh look they have a cat ...let's dump our unwanted furball here sooo....I'm overun with strays that I try to find homes for but some fall pray to the coyotes and I've seen an owl snatch up a kitten in my back field but I'm sure your rabbits will be fine and the ducks will for sure let them know keep away good luck with four little puffballs and watch out for eye infection it is common in kittens housed outdoors. Good luck

 

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

Have you ever had cats before? You seem to be thinking you can treat them like your birds and rabbits, but you'll soon find that you can't. For instance, there is no such thing as locking a cat into a place for it to learn that it is home. Cat's don't operate that way.

 

[GentryGentleFeatherFarm]

Have you ever had cats before? You seem to be thinking you can treat them like your birds and rabbits, but you'll soon find that you can't. For instance, there is no such thing as locking a cat into a place for it to learn that it is home. Cat's don't operate that way.

I have done this will several cats and after a few days they go explore but then viola they bed down in the hay loft out of the kennel of course but it has worked for me and my momma kitty even had kittens in the kennel all on her own ...maybe I just got lucky !!!

 

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

I'm very interested to see how well this plan works out.

 

[emmec19]

I thought I would come back with an update incase anyone ever does a search with a similar question. I was quite worried how it was all going to work out, and thankfully everything has been going as I hoped it would since adding kittens to our pets summer 2018.

The kittens are now around 8 months old. We kept them housed in a camping tent for the majority of the summer while they were still getting their vaccines and seemed too vulnerable to be left alone. Around early Sept we transitioned them to the small loft area which we intended to be their overnight quarters. We kept them locked in there for about a week and then started turning them loose in the day. Every night since then we have given them two cans of cat food at dusk for their dinner in this loft (dry food is available at all times). They all come running to me as soon as I go outside and jump right up into their loft. I set the food down and lock them in and they seem content with this plan. They have a litter box in the loft that they do use at night and I only have to clean it once a week since the majority of that mess is done outside. They are all fixed now and have never messed in the loft outside of the litter box.

They also view the ducks and the rabbits as their room mates. They don't mess with them at all, other than thinking their water and food is free for the taking.