Chickens and Cats for Rodent Control?

[AmieD]

I had cats for years, but my husband developed an allergy and we had to keep them in our garage until the grew old and passed away. After they passed, we developed a rodent problem in the garage which we took care of. Now, we have chickens and another rodent problem. I am finding droppings in the coops even after taking up their food at night. I was wondering if anyone has experience with raising a cat with chickens to keep the pests down. I would love to adopt a cat/kitten, but it would have to remain outside due to allergies. I was wondering if I could let it sleep in the coop. I would not let it around small chicks. What are your thoughts/experiences? Thanks.

 

[Kiki]

I had cats for years, but my husband developed an allergy and we had to keep them in our garage until the grew old and passed away. After they passed, we developed a rodent problem in the garage which we took care of. Now, we have chickens and another rodent problem. I am finding droppings in the coops even after taking up their food at night. I was wondering if anyone has experience with raising a cat with chickens to keep the pests down. I would love to adopt a cat/kitten, but it would have to remain outside due to allergies. I was wondering if I could let it sleep in the coop. I would not let it around small chicks. What are your thoughts/experiences? Thanks.

Welcome to BYC

I do not own a cat but I can tell you that many chicken people own outdoor cats for this exact reason!
I doubt it can sleep in the coop.

 

[AmieD]

Thanks.

 

[donrae]

We've had barn cats for years. A few years ago, one decided to be a coop cat. He's an intact male who spends most of his time in the run. We have the netting from an old trampoline as a shade cover over part of the run and Pete feels that is his personal hammock

. He wanders around the run and helps himself to the scraps I toss out there, he's in and out of the coop at night, and also sleeps on the roof of the coop in the blackberries that are taking over.

No rodent problems in the coop.

I do think he helped himself to some chicks earlier this summer, though. A broody kept losing babies and I'm pretty sure it was Pete. I now separate my broodies until the chicks are about 6 weeks and things have been fine.

We didn't train or intend for him to be a coop cat, so I'm not sure how you'd go about encouraging one to be there except feed it in the coop. You'd have to do something to keep the chickens from eating the cat food, though.

 

[kajira]

My cats won't go *near* the chickens, and depending on the type of rodent, it may not kill it. My cats won't kill anything bigger then a small field mouse. We have roof rats, and my boston terrier takes care of them and other rodents.... He can't get into the goat pen with the chickens though. I wouldn't trust my dogs not to kill my chickens.

However, if you got a small farm-dog, and raised it with the chickens and taught it to guard/protect them, some of the farm dogs do really well with chickens and can kill rats/mice and will protect your chickens from any other predators.

 

[AmieD]

Thanks. We decided to go for it and adopted a kitten yesterday. I have been bringing him into the backyard with the chickens and letting him explore the coop. The chickens are curious about him and he is intimidated by them. I have one lap chicken that loves to be held. Today, I held her and the kitten together and they seemed quite comfortable. My husband, who loves cats, hasn't shown any signs of allergies yet and the kitten slept on him all night. Hopefully, the cat can be an indoor/outdoor cat and still keep the rodents down. At this point, I have no worries that he will harm them. I tried feeding the kitten outside and the chickens did try the food and looked at me as if I'd given them the nasty treats ever. lol. Now, I just need to get the dog to accept the kitten...

 

[donrae]

If your honey is a real cat lover, he might try Zyrtec or similar for the allergies. it works great for some folks and doesn't really have side effects for most.

 

[AmieD]

Well, I guess I didn't need the cat after all. Peepers is on the job! And she ate it too, yuck. lol.

 

[aart]

Go Peepers!!

Problem is mice are most active at night when chickens can't see.....still need the cat.