Ok I've been thinking about the free range chicken. Our back yard is getting a new fence next year but the nieghbors have tons of cats, we also have two. Our cats wouldn't hurt the chickens, we have a Ginny pig roams the house,breed rats and they wouldn't even take the dead ones or chase the live ones. I am quite worried about the hawks too. my poor chicken's might not be able to free range at all
I had trouble with hawks. With cats, well, ever heard of airsoft guns. After a few hits, they won't come back.
Cats are rarely a problem for adult chickens. They will put a cat in its place. My ferals and strays are afraid of the chickens. You may need to protect the cats. That being said I wouldn't trust a cat around a chick. Occasionally someone will post that a cat went after one of their chickens. Imp- And if you feed your cats outside, you will need to feed in the dark. Chickens love cat food.
Quote:Exactly what Imp said. None of my cats bother the chickens, but they do an excelent job keeping the rodent population under control in the barn and coop. People are forever dumping thier "pets" out here and none of the poor half starved things have went for the chickens either. Hawks on the other hand can be a major problem. There are some good threads on deterring hawks with fishing line strung in the trees and/or cd's hung around the property. As far as the air soft gun goes it might work, but you could also be cited for animal cruelty.
This is my cat with an 8week old. They are free ranging with the adults now, and neither mine nor the neighborhood cats bother them. Having a roo helps - I think all the cats in the neighborhood are trained now
Wish we had pictures. 2 neighborhood cats actually lay around in the "dust bath" pit with our chickens. Sometimes, though, the chickens aren't in the mood for company and they have chased the cats. Maybe the cats looked too hunter-y on those days. But we are glad the cats help keep the chipmunk population down. After the initial "Wow! What kind of animal are you?" phase, the cats and the chickens worked it out. Mostly on the side of the chickens being in charge of the territory. We have also rescued a baby chipmunk from the chickens. So maybe the territory is decided by how many chipmunks are available that day?
Right now all we have are itty bitty chickens whick look a lot like doves which get eaten around here if cought, we plan on getting atleast 2 normal size chickens in the spring.
