Cats...

[shodack]

There are two neighborhood cats who roam freely around our yard and neighborhood. The chicken coop will be inside a chain link fenced area, and my husband says I shouldn't worry, the chickens will defend themselves against these "city cats", but I am still worried. It will be a few weeks before the chicks are ready to go outside. Thoughts?

 

[forgetful]

Chain link won't stop a cat, or raccoon, or possum, from grabbing what they can reach and trying to pull it through the fence. While city cats are no different from country cats and can hunt equally, I would be more worried about raccoons and possums. If you could put chicken wire along the inside, it should make the holes much smaller and help. Normally I wouldn't recommend chicken wire, but the chain link is strong enough to offset its weakness.

 

[shodack]

Thanks forgetful... The chain link was there as a dog pen when we bought the house, so we are more using it to keep the chickens in than other things out. We will be reenforcing it when my husband completes the coop.
He also jokingly called them "city cats"!!

 

[Sonya9]

Cats don't need to inflict massive bodily injury to be fatal.

I love cats. Having said that a cat scratch/bite is usually lethal to birds even if the injury is tiny. I don't feel like looking up the links but exotic bird keepers make darn sure their cats cannot come in contact with the birds, kitties carry some hard core bacteria that will kill birds very quickly if a claw or tooth breaks the skin.

I doubt if the cats are out to get your birds but please be careful especially at night, keep the chicks/chickens from sleeping near the fence line.

 

[lazy gardener]

A raccoon will reach right through chicken wire, and pull even a full grown chicken to the wire, and eat it right through the wire. Young chicks are especially prone to attack by all predators.

 

[forgetful]

A raccoon will reach right through chicken wire, and pull even a full grown chicken to the wire, and eat it right through the wire. Young chicks are especially prone to attack by all predators.

I've found that when reinforced with chain-link, chicken wire can be useful in closing large holes. I've had raccoon problems in my area solved that way. Now if they are disregarding both barriers, I would use hardware cloth/welded wire instead of chicken wire. I personally suggest hardware cloth first, unless chain-link is already in place, then chicken wire is a low cost addition.

 

[Legern]

If you invest in a cage trap it might make you feel safer and depending on your laws you may be able to relocate it or just make it scared and they should not come back.

 

[Sonya9]

If you invest in a cage trap it might make you feel safer and depending on your laws you may be able to relocate it or just make it scared and they should not come back.

Thing is....relocating one or two possible predators doesn't make the chickens safer. There are tons of potential predators out there and you can't catch/relocate all of them.

If they are neighborhood cats trapping and relocating could be fatal to the kitties. Best to just secure the coop.

 

[shodack]

Thanks everyone, I have been feeling anxious since spring weather hit and the cats have been around. I hadn't even seen them until a couple weeks ago!
The girls will have a secure coop they'll be in at night, but I don't want to take any risks. I have wanted chickens my whole life, and now that I can finally have them, I won't let any critters take them from me! I'll check out options for reinforcing the pen.

 

[Legern]

I am not going to argue but if you leave it there it will fix your problem and local humane shelters will take cats off your hands and kitties will find new homes and not be on the streets