Cat Pees in Chicken Feed

[Phoenix Collins]

I need to know if cat urine can make my chickens sick if it’s in their food? AI says that it’s possible, but I want to hear from experienced chicken parents. I, Phoenix, have two indoor pet chickens and I have three ex-feral cats. Two of my cats are well behaved but one, Cinderella, is quite a trouble maker. I have been wondering why the bird food would be wet every now and then. For a while there I thought that it was just water overflow from the chickens and would just empty the container and put in fresh scratch. But then I had a sneaking suspicion that one of my cats was peeing in their scratch containers. Today I witnessed Cinderella peeing in their food. I know Fae and Mystery don’t because they have never peed in places where they weren’t supposed to and I have never witnessed them misbehaving like this. Also I have had birds who would get sick and die in the house. Most of them it was obvious why, but two were sick with things that were kind of unknown. Doctor said that they were having liver and kidney issues, but never ran tests to confirm. Now I am wondering and worried that the cat pee was the issue. Should I be concerned about my chickens health? I know that I need to take precautions to protect my chickens food but I am wondering if there is something I can do to deter the cat from their food. Or somehow discourage her behavior. So what do you think?

 

[dawg53]

Since you have chickens and cats inside your house, put your chickens in one room and shut the door preventing the cats from entering the room. Ensure your chickens have fresh feed and water.

 

[Phoenix Collins]

Since you have chickens and cats inside your house, put your chickens in one room and shut the door preventing the cats from entering the room. Ensure your chickens have fresh feed and water.

It would be nice to isolate their food like that but I have an open floor plan home. Plus the birds have free access to the house. They enjoy hanging out with us.