can you have a cat and have chickens 2??

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Cats and Chickens .... Bad Idea!
I have lost over 70 + Chickens, Guineas to 3 cats ..... I advize you not to get a cat.

 

[Tala]

This should sum my answer up:

There is 1 cat, 1 dog and at lest 5 - 8week old chickens in the pic

When my first batch o' chickens were fairly small and outdoors at 12 weeks, two of my cats watched them very closely through the run fence all the time. Closer and closer they sat to the fencing.

Chickens are curious. They peck at the things about which they are curious.

Yes, both cats got an inquisitive peck right smack on the nose through the fence material, and neither one of them has ever bothered the chickens at all. The chickens now range freely in my yard and the cats don't even give them a second look.

^ sounds about how it went around here. The cats initially were very curious and interested, but they soon learned that mommy's birds were not like the wild birds, they were MEAN! lol The cats do not ever go into the coop as far as I can tell, but they "free range" the yard together just fine.​

 

[write2caroline]

I have cats and a water sprayer. When the chicks were smaller the cats were interested in stalking them and I had to squirt the cats to modify their behavior - now the cats ignore them.
Caroline

 

[featherz]

My cat sits and watches over my chickens and guineas. She is very outnumbered and she knows it!!

 

[Nostalchic]

Catwalk, what an awesome picture!!! That is so funny. I also have barn cats who are pretty amazing hunters - one regularly catches more-than-half-grown rabbits - but have never bothered the chickens. In fact, they make a wide circle around them for the most part. You'd need to keep them away from little chicks, unless you have a seriously protective mother hen, which we did, in which case it was no problem.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
I love that picture.

 

[emvickrey]

I also have a cat and she doesn't bother the chickens. She has had quail for dinner and breakfast but they broke loose and I can't blame her. She hunts for her food most of the time. If they get loose and I can't catch them, she's welcome to them. She is a good mouser and has even brought home a bunny or twelve for her meal. She had 4 kittens this past April and she taught them to leave the chickens alone also. If the chickens are roaming and I happen to give her something left over, she knows she had better grab it and run because the chickens will take it from her.

BTW, she's spayed now. No more kittens.

 

[emvickrey]

Quote:
^ sounds about how it went around here. The cats initially were very curious and interested, but they soon learned that mommy's birds were not like the wild birds, they were MEAN! lol The cats do not ever go into the coop as far as I can tell, but they "free range" the yard together just fine.

My dogs didn't bother them either. Well, the chihuahua would harrass the roosters but it was in fun. She wasn't trying to hurt them but she sure did get them mad. My lab would actually sleep with them. The first time I saw that I thought she had done and killed a bunch of my pullets. As I got closer to look they all got up and ran and the lab just raised her head and looked at me. I wish I had my camera then. My chow mix would actually get away form them and one had ran her behind our couch. We have a house chicken and he was feeling his oats or something an kept picking at the dogs. Sissy just kept trying to gt away from him and she ended up behind the couch. I had to put the chicken up. There is no way Sissy would have done anything to defend herself because I had told her to leave the chickens alone. She did what she was told. She was a good dog.

 

[8HesperiaChickens]

I have 10 feral cats in my yard and none of them bother the chickens...as a matter of fact, I have seen them eating chicken food with the chickens.

 

[crtrlovr]

I have 8 cats (mostly indoor, but do spend some daytime outside in the yard. Some of them totally ignore the chickens, and 3 of them like to hang out in the chicken pen / run and watch for mice. The pen is 6' chainlink fence, and if the cats don't walk in with me, they'll just climb that fence like it's a ladder. (which is a very good illustration of why chainlink does not keep your birds safe from all predators!) They never bother the chickens (including the tiny chicks of the bantam OEGBs or Silkies). I've seen the cats lie down beside or very near the chickens, and it doesn't seem to excite/bother the chickens whatsoever. If there are treats on the ground or coming shortly, the cats know to GET OUT OF THE WAY!!

They've learned it's not all that fun to be mowed down by a hoarde of chickens intent on scarfing up their share of the treats.

I wouldn't trust ALL my cats around unguarded, unattended, new baby chicks for any length of time, but I do think cats and chickens can definitely learn to peacefully coexist.