Cats and Chickens???

[SourRoses]

So my mom asked me this evening if I would post on here and ask her question for her. She wanted to know if anyone has ever been sucessful in teaching their cats not to bother their chickens. She has built a predator proof pen (with the help of info learned here) but she was thinking of free-range time. Our two kitties are the most funny kitties ever, they think they are dogs, play with the dogs, let them chew on themand bowl them over, and beg for food.

As my mom was asking me this, I looked at her doubtfully and said "They are going to tell you it can't be done!" and she started to protest about how she had seen pictures of peoples cats with their chickens on here at some point, then adds "Well they were big chickens in the pictures, so the cats probably learned they would get pecked pecked pecked with the big beaks and so the kitties said "Ohh Im a good kitty, dont hurt me chicken""
So then I suddenly came up with an idea, and said "Ohh I know! You need a human sized bird costume with a big beak, and you could go after the kitties going peck peck peck, and that would teach them to be respectful!"'

What do you guys think??????

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Well, I don't know about "training" a cat with chickens. I have 2 adult cats, one is about 6lbs and the other around 11lbs. They do not really bother the chickens. The bigger does stalk them, but my rooster chases her away if she comes near them. They have never attacked the chickens. If you want you could carry a spray bottle and put it on stream, and if they get too close to the chickens then squirt them. I hope this helps

 

[RainyPeeps]

If your cats think they are dogs then they should bother your chickens even less then a cat-like cat. My dog doesn't pay my chickens any mind. She is a chihuahua and my girls are bigger then her, so maybe that's why

As for my cat, she is only a few years old and still very frisky and playful. She's even brought me a dead bird in the past. I was worried about our chicks when we first got them and probably rightfully so. We brooded them in the house so I had to be diligent about keeping the door shut. I even found her once on top of the screen looking into the brooding box, tail twitching.

When it got warm enough to take them outside, I never left them unsupervised because our cat is also outdoors. But as they grew out of chickhood our cat lost interest. And especially now that the girls are full grown and bigger then the cat. Now the girls free-range several times a week and I don't worry about the cat one bit. Good luck!

 

[Frost Homestead]

I have two cats and they could care less about my chickens, even the chicks dont grab their attention. I think they can tell the chicks are mine, therefor off limits

 

[Frost Homestead]

Here's a pic I took last week of one of my cats near the water with our lone easter egger and oldest hen "Wattle". The cats roam around the property and completely ignore the chicks and chickens.

 

[redsoxs]

My cats are just like those of RainyPeeps. They wander around totally oblivious to the chickens. In fact, the cats occasionally get a peck from a chicken and skidaddle it safety! I'm getting chicks in about 3 weeks - we'll see how that goes!!

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Our smaller cat is scared to death of the chicks. She doesn't like to be in the same room as them. I don't trust the bigger one with chicks, pretty sure she would kill them. But she would only do that once.

 

[harveyhorses]

My two cats try to give my hens a wide path to cross, they hens will chase them at the drop of a hat, and the cats were VERY interested when
they were chics,

 

[Coop Deville]

My cat plays with the chickens.

 

[moetrout]

House cats, no problem. Ferrel cats need to be fed a healthy dose of lead before they are no longer a threat.