cats and chickens?

[arabookworm]

according to one of the stickies, cats can keep the rodent population at bay. but wouldn't a cat attack your birds?

would this cat be kept in the coop, or just nearby?

how do you train the cat to leave your birds alone?

 

[RockyToggRanch]

I have never heard of anyone keeping a cat in the coop and I can't imagine a cat would be happy there.
I have 2 cats that go outside to hunt and they don't bother the chickens. They were very interested in the chicks, but momma hen kept watch.
The mice are bad here this year and my 2 cats would rather hunt chipmonks and rabbits, so I adopted 2 feral cats to keep in the new barn where the coop will be built. I don't know whether these 2 will be as chicken friendly as the others, since they are more wild. They are in a cage for 3 weeks until they are used to their new home and then I'll watch them carefully when they are released.

I try to keep all feed in metal containers, but you know mice will find something to eat anyway. Those dirty rotten buggers!

 

[freemotion]

I would keep a small barn cat, one of those little 6-7 lb ones, that would not likely bother with a full-grown chicken. But not inside the coop. I would keep any chicks safe from all sides, including top and bottom, as predators come from all directions. Cats are predators. Cats can be trained, but it is pretty impossible to spend enough time with an outdoor cat to reliably train it to do anything.

Cats will reach through wire and grab a baby animal. Years ago, our spoiled and well-fed house cat was caught pulling a baby rabbit through an un-noticed broken wire in the back of the cage. Until then, we couldn't figure out what was happening to the babies. The cat viewed the hutch as his own private snack box.

If you are in a colder climate, please provide a snug place for the cat to sleep, and get two cats that get along. Provide feed and water to the cats. A healthy barn cat will prefer fresh mice over dry kibble any day, but needs strength to hunt when pickin's are lean....which they will be, if the cat does a good job. HAVE THEM NEUTERED/SPAYED!! PLEASE!!!

The two monster cats I have in the house could probably take down a full-grown chicken. If they were so inclined.

I bring my poodle into the coop when I clean it, and he cleans up the mice nests that are in there. He is trained to leave the hens alone, but I would not leave him in their pen unattended. The rooster starts it, and the dog must defend himself. Almost killed the roo one day....in self-defense. George's beak is still crooked from having his head in the dog's jaws.

Where there are chickens, there are rodents! Go get 'em! >^^<

 

[ScoobyRoo]

I would say that it depends on the nature of the cat. I have 3 and 2 of them will sleep in the coop even with the hens in there laying. They don't seem to bother each other except if a cat is sleeping in their nest area. Not sure how the cats can even nap with the constant bwack-bwack!

 

[Feathered Wings]

Well i have tried haveing a cat for the rats all the cat did was sleep and go to the neighbors and fill up on their cats food. Must of not bought the right butt flavored cat food he liked.

He eventually fell in love with another neighbors cat and abandoned me

 

[freemotion]

Henry, can we have a picture of a cat in the nestbox???

 

[ScoobyRoo]

I'm lucky to know how to post let alone trying to put a pic on here.

I already took 'Lily' out of the box today (she's in right now, raining) spoiled cat! But next time when one of the cats in there with the hens laying, I'll have one of my duaghters do the work on taking the pic and posting for me. They are smarter on this puter than I am!

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

I'm not Henry, but here's a picture...

My two outdoor cats sleep in the coop at night, but they have been living in the coop since they were 10 weeks old or so. The chickens figured out pretty early on that they were bigger than the kittens and are they are quick to pop them on the head should they act out of line. Truthfully, I think the chickens see them as sadly mishaped chicks. They are fast to correct their behavior and when one of them got stuck up in a tree the chickens were distraught. Even funnier was when that same kitten decided to try climbing the other tree by the coop. The chickens went crazy clucking and fussing at him.

Once we have chicks hatching, I will not allow the cats in that coop. But they are fine with grown chickens (and again this is entirely because they have been raised in among them). I wouldn't dare try a full grown cat in there.

 

[luvmychicknkids]

My mother has several stray cats that hang out with her chickens. They honestly seem to love them. We have even seen them snuggling together. One really old little cat used to insist on sleeping in the coop at night. She was even careful not to potty in the coop and would wait until she was let out in the morning. I am sure, like most have said, baby chicks would be in danger, but I would worry more about the chickens hurting the cats with adults.

 

[ScoobyRoo]

Citygril, that is a cuuute picture! My 3 cats are 3+ years old and this is our first year with chickens. I wasn't sure how aggresive the cats would be towards the chickens as they are outside cats. I agree with you about not letting the cats around the baby chicks but as they get older they seem to be able to hold thier own and put the cats in their place. I can just see the chickens bwauking at the kittens to get down from the tree before they fall and get hurt.

Mother nature works in odd ways somethimes, doesn't she?!