Chicken safe cat deterrents??

[MetroMutt]

Are there any chicken safe cat deterrents that are helpful to spray around yards? Our neighbors let their cats run around freely and I personally find that really unsavory along with I dont want them spreading disease to my chickens, I know that they will snoop around and piss in our yard and its just gross/neglectful on the owners part..

They dont help with mice either in our yard, though we took care of it ourselves with traps and seeking out any nests; they provide no benefit for us and only cause harm

One of the neighbors guilty of this arent the most stable and fed rat poison to mice at one point, if I didnt stop my girls from eating the dead mice my girls would have died; said neighbors also asked us if we had disease issues too as 2 of their chickens dropped dead.. they also had no general thoughts of their animals safety saying how "Oh yeah the hawks hang out in the trees above all the time" and not doing anything to prevent attacks and saying how they would just get more(and how they would get a rooster and more then our towns legal limit for hens, which would then make it harder with regulations for responsible chicken keepers)

Just in general I dont want to confront them as they will have really nasty fights with each other outdoors and im generally more blunt then I mean to be, I do not want to start a fight but their cats coming in our yard is not ok.

With deterrents for cats I dont even know where to begin with chicken safe options as generally we have not needed predator/pest repellants since our only predators are hawks and a fox that crosses by to get to the river(luckily has no interest in our girls) Would love links/advice!!





Also as far as cat stuff I dont want a debate or anything, I have my views on cats and you may have yours. I do not want to argue over it and will not change my mind. I am more then happy to have a civil conversation but im really just looking for help with this specific problem at this current moment.

 

[DukesDucks]

You could look into motion activated water sprayers. Lots of them on places like Amazon depending on your situation and finances. Cat generally hate getting wet. I picked one at random to show you what they look like.

TERRO Havahart 5277 Motion-Activated Animal Repellent and Sprinkler,​

 

[Geckolady]

My solution: A cat trap and trips to the humane society. You have the right to defend your flock.

 

[Mmanist]

Sounds like the poor cat isn't your problem, but the owner of said cat is..

 

[Ursuline Chick]

My chickens will group together and run the cat off, if it is in my yard and eating their food.
Of course, when we first got a large group of chickens, we had 1 that would just fly over the fence. One day I heard a terrible fuss and found the one hen on my neighbors car port with the neighbor's poor cat cornered. The cat was terrified.
So I guess sometimes it goes both ways. I had to trim the one hen's wing to keep her in my yard and stop stalking cats.
Sorry about your situation and that I wasn't any help.
Can you keep a rooster to keep the cats out of the chickens' territory?
Would those wireless dog fences work for a cat, (if your neighbor is willing to put the collar on the cats)?

 

[BlueBaby]

My solution: A cat trap and trips to the humane society. You have the right to defend your flock.

I agree. At least the cat's would be spayed or neutered.

 

[MetroMutt]

Sounds like the poor cat isn't your problem, but the owner of said cat is..

Unfortunately yes I have nothing against cats if they are kept indoors/taken care of and its by no means their faults for the damage they do when let outside, they are only following their instincts. I fear what they may do to my property and animals if I send their cats to a shelter though.

I also haven't seen any signs of their chickens in a few months so I'm assuming they either got bored of them and gave them away(hopefully to a better home) or they were killed by their owners ignorance.

 

[Suzz]

I have a stray cat I have to deal with but didn’t want to spend $50 on a trap so I called an equipment rental store and found I could rent a live trap for $20 for a week just something you might want to check into if you don’t want to sink a bunch of money into a trap

 

[Suzz]

It probably is illegal, even feral, cruelty is cruelty.

I certainly don’t want to argue or anything but you can‘t judge all people who have outdoor cats by the same standards cats are animals who are meant to live outdoors and done correctly its a beautiful thing I have 6 garage/ outside cats who enjoy the outdoors all day and are locked in the garage at night we do live in the country so maybe it is a little different situation and it is very sad some people don’t take responsibility for their animals but don’t make us all out to be criminals

 

[Ascholten]

In many jurisdictions, it is illegal. In this area, leash laws apply to both dogs and cats. However, if someone calls, regarding a dog, the poeleese are right on it, with heavy fines for the dog's owner. Yet, for cats running loose, the poeleese don't even respond. Even though that regulation/law applies to both dogs and cats.

It's that way in many areas and yes, it is annoying.
A dog gets loose and everyone is screaming and crying.
Cats get booted out the door at the end of the day, and nobody cares.
BOTH are illegal to be running free.
If you have a pet KEEP IT ON YOUR PROPERTY !
If you insist that kitty kitty needs to run free, then build a pet run on YOUR property for the cat to use. I do not want your pet spraying my car and house, nor harassing my poultry.

If you have a neighbor who does have cats they let run loose, you will need pictures of the animal on your property, at which point, you can file a complaint with code enforcement and they should warn / ticket the person.

I approach it as, out of sight, out of mind, if your cat running around is not causing issues for me, then I have no issues with it., but, if the animal is causing problems for me, then the issue gets treated like any other nuisance predator that is attacking my flock. Alligators need to eat too.

Aaron