cat

[Dixiedoodle]

I have had cats before- and I would NOT have trusted my cats with any fowl! They are hunters by nature and would always bring home rabbits, birds and thing that moves..

I think you are asking for big time trouble..

 

[pdsavage]

i had a cat that i rescued and it killed 25+ chicks.This cat found any and everyway it could to get into the pen and coop.Now the cat is gone.....

 

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

With chicks, no. I dont trust my three. But when they are fully grown I am sure the cats wont bother them. I had a house rooster that would chase the cats when given the chance. I am sure they will remember that! When I get the chance to free range them in the yard, it is fenced and I will be out there to keep an eye on them.

My barn owner has a flock of 20 some odd chickens(more coming!) and has two cats. The cats dont touch the chickens and they are out with each other all day. She has lost chickens to her neighbors dogs and I think one of her own dogs, when it was younger

 

[yotetrapper]

I lost several full grown chickens to a feral cat last year... caught the cat in the coop, but it got away. Came back and got another chicken before I got the cat. Ya'll must have some really nice cats because I've never seen one that wouldnt kill a chicken, especially a younger one. My uncle had a cat that was a great pheasant hunter. About once a week it would bring in a full grown pheasant. Several times a week, rabbits.

 

[Anny]

Honestly it depends on your cat. Some are afraid of the chickens, some love the chickens, some want to eat or chase the chickens. Some try to play with the chickens and end up hurting them. I would give them SUPER supervised "play" time to see what they do.

For the first month or so I wouldn't leave them alone together till you were sure your cat wouldn't do anything.

If it were me I wouldn't give them any alone time, but that is just cus I know my cat and as soon as my back is turned anything is free game.

Beware some cats like to roll in the chicken poop.

 

[johnmayersquare]

Quote:
I agree 100%!

 

[Farmer Frye]

My outside cat is deathly afraid of my chickens. She was once curious, then she got pecked in the face. My chickens will chase her around the yard pecking at her tail, now.

I know some other people whom had a cat that actually slept in and near their coop.

I would have to agree whole-heartedly that it depends entirely on the individual cat. When I first brought my chickens home, I watched her like a hawk. To my surprise, she never showed any signs of aggression.

Then again, she seems to be an unusually well behaved cat. She will let my 13 wk/old cocker spaniel pounce all over her.

 

[LynneP]

We host a feral cat colony in the same barn as the coop. See link below. To accomplish this we isolated the coop and roofed run with an indoor porch and 1/2" hardware cloth on the run plus the whole thing should be predator proof for the cats, raccoons, weasels, skunks, raptors. It can be done but trusting a cat with a chick is, um, tempting the worst kind of fate.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

I can understand why a cat would like to sleep with a flock of hens.... they generate a lot of heat!

But I'm in the group that feels nervous re: cat & chick.

Carla

 

[Wraith]

I saw a video on you tube where a cat would get in the chicken coop at night and sleep with a hen, then leave the next morning. It was strictly plutonic, but pretty funny.