Cats and chicks/ chickens

[Rose Quartz]

I have 25, 4 week old chicks. At the moment.

I have 2 cats indoor/outdoor(pets) and 2 ferral cats + thier babies of undetermined number, that live in the that live in the neighbors barn.

I thought the ferrals would be a problem but so far they've completely ignored my birds. My own cats though think the chicks are fair game. So far none have died, but yesterday i had a chick brought to me as a "gift". I have a huge building im intending to use as a coop but it needs repair. Until it's fixed I'm stuck with daytime free-ranging and locking them up at night.

I have 13 bantam and 12 LF divided with some of each size, in a 16 sqft, and 20sqft brooder/tiny coop building.

Until I can get the 20'x16' building fixed, is there anything i can do to keep the cats from eating my birds?

 

[azygous]

I'd guess that more than half the folks here on BYC have cats. I had one for 21 years, and I'd handle by baby chicks while sitting beside him.

However, I'd be very surprised if anyone comes up with any easy method of convincing a cat not to think of baby chicks as fair game. Most of us have taken precautions to keep our chicks in a cat proof brooder while they are small enough to be easy prey.

I must admit that playing with my chicks right next to my cat may have conditioned him to be so disgusted with chicks that he decided he didn't want to have anything whatsoever to do with them, including hunting them down for sport.

 

[Rose Quartz]

I'd guess that more than half the folks here on BYC have cats. I had one for 21 years, and I'd handle by baby chicks while sitting beside him.

However, I'd be very surprised if anyone comes up with any easy method of convincing a cat not to think of baby chicks as fair game. Most of us have taken precautions to keep our chicks in a cat proof brooder while they are small enough to be easy prey.

I must admit that playing with my chicks right next to my cat may have conditioned him to be so disgusted with chicks that he decided he didn't want to have anything whatsoever to do with them, including hunting them down for sport.

They were in the house in very secure brooders. And were handled around the cats. I'm hoping me chasing them around the yard and scolding them when they're caught is enough to deter them. But... I'm wondering if there are any other suggestions i could try.

 

[Smolfarmcatlady]

You may need to keep your cats inside for a couple of weeks. My cats were obsessed with our chicks until they got a little bigger, probably between 6-7 weeks for my LF chicks and now they enjoy watching them but no longer view them as prey or toys.

 

[Rose Quartz]

You may need to keep your cats inside for a couple of weeks. My cats were obsessed with our chicks until they got a little bigger, probably between 6-7 weeks for my LF chicks and now they enjoy watching them but no longer view them as prey or toys.

We might just. It'll be hard to convince the kids to keep them in.