Cat

[Bejep714]

We have seen a small cat for the past 3 days. Its actually a lot smaller than an adult, but not a kitten. It's been seen around the time I put our chickens away around the cooper area and past our fence. Today when we got back to our house after an hour our chickens seemed really spooked. Then our dogs started chasing something, and it was the cat. It got away and jumped over our yard fence. I was wondering if that's a bad sign? Are cats dangerous for chickens? And if so what should I do.

 

[TheCluckyClucker2]

Are your chickens in a coop? If so, pictures. If not, yes, cats will eat chickens. They will also stick their paws through chicken wire.

 

[Bejep714]

Here

 

[Bejep714]

It's the picture of the coop and run. It's in our yard and we have another fence around it. The cat hasn't gotten inside the run yet, and I hope the dogs chasing it away did something to scare it. We have had another cat that never came close to the chickens, but we think he left. This is a totally different cat. Whats the best way to keep it away?

 

[cmom]

I agree a cat will kill a bird if given the chance. I have electric wires around my coops and pens. I have seen a lot of different predators including cats but nothing has gotten past the electric wires. A few predators have tested the hot wires and once is enough they don't test them again. I also have several cameras up and see predators most nights when they roam here on at least one of the cameras. Good luck...
http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/tips-for-protecting-poultry-from-predators

 

[Bejep714]

I have a scarecrow that I have never put out before. I might as well try that. Hopefully the cat won't bother our birds because of how much bigger some of them are compared to it.

 

[Bejep714]

I went out to check our chickens late tonight and saw the cat. The cat hasn't done anything to our chickens at all. It doesn't seem like a threat considering how its had plenty of opportunities to get them during the day, but I dont like knowing it's around and that could attack whenever it wants. The scarecrow might be working, but probably not. Any other suggestions toward keeping the cat away? We can't get electric fencing, so I was wondering if propping anything up of spraying anything could work.

 

[McChooky]

Put cayenne pepper powder around the base of the run .It will deter anything trying to dig in or crawl up on the coop. You can buy commercially prepared sprays as well.(You can also add it to water and strain it good and make a liquid spray)It will set anything on fire that gets it on their paws or mouth.

 

[raingarden]

Trap the cat and relocate it. It is probably hungry which which will make it easy to catch.

 

[McChooky]

Trap the cat and relocate it. It is probably hungry which which will make it easy to catch.

Its unlawful to trap someones cat and relocate it even a stray.They're not wild predators .At the very least trap it and turn it into a shelter.Never trap and release domestic cats.Thats horrid.