Consolidated Kansas

[OkieQueenBee]

My cat loves to spend time with the chickens, (see the pic I posted of hey napping in the nest boxes). She eats the FF and dry feed no matter that her bowl is always full, except when the chickens get in and eat her food. So I guess turn about is fair play. She loves to play with the chickens too, but lately I've caught the turkeys chasing her. This past fall when she would catch a mouse the guineas would take it from her.

Trish, glad the prognosis wasn't as bad as it could have been. Let me know what day you would like for me to come help you with your chores. We could try to coordinate it so I could head on down to Okie land.
My chickens are all enjoying this beautiful day, lots of running around and laying in the sun. The mud is a mess, but like I said we need the moisture. We had a brief, but beautiful snow last night. Most of it is gone now. KKB helped me tie a rope on some trees going down to the creek to feed the ducks. He hasn't let me go down there to feed since Trish's accident, he knows what a clutz I am. This Kansas mud is slicker than goose poop.

 

[KsKingBee]

In case you missed it there is a mostly dead rat in this picture that the Guineans are checking out.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

And small rabbits, and quail, and pheasants, and prairie chickens, and killdeer, and sandpipers, and every ground dwelling bird and small mammal. They also rob young from nests in trees. Feral cats are the most devastating problem to natural wildlife there is, they should all be extinguished. People that think it is a good idea to have them in the wild are sorely mistaken and do not understand the harm they do to the environment.

Sorry, I love wildlife and cats do not belong in it.

Our humane society desperately seeks property to release the feral cats... We have a lot of open land around here for miles and miles and miles... also marsh areas for the feral cats to find all kinds of critters for food. It is a program the humane society has...

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I know how you feel

I have artful shooting fever and am obsessing over garden planning currently

We are going to do some serious gardening this year! And will also be getting a large area ready for hay planting as well... is sure going to be a busy (and hopefully productive) spring!

 

[Trish44]

Oh yeah, as many cats as Trish has I totally get it. Also, dogs love cat food so there has to be a way to prevent the dogs getting to it if leaving it out all the time. I was able to prop the door on our three season room open wide enough that the cat can get in and out Bit the dogs and birds can't and that is the only way I can leave it out all the time for the outside cat. Out inside Is not a problem since we don't have any other pets in the house except for her.

Trish, that's interesting that the cats like the FF too. Did they also used to eat the food when you fed dry feed?

No actually they didn't pay much attention to the feed when I was feeding dry, they seem to be attracted to the FF though. It was the dogs I had trouble with when I fed dry food & if given the chance they still will get in that & eat grain.

And small rabbits, and quail, and pheasants, and prairie chickens, and killdeer, and sandpipers, and every ground dwelling bird and small mammal. They also rob young from nests in trees. Feral cats are the most devastating problem to natural wildlife there is, they should all be extinguished. People that think it is a good idea to have them in the wild are sorely mistaken and do not understand the harm they do to the environment.

Sorry, I love wildlife and cats do not belong in it.

KKB my cats are not feral, we just have a lot of them that live outside whose job is to keep the rats & mice at bay. They have multiplied over time & I have tried to give some of them away to other homes, but we still have about 15 at present. We had a neighbor who rented the trailer next door catty-corner to our property & they dumped household trash on the hill for years & years so now it is a huge trash dump there. Nobody lives there now, the place is not inhabitable & the owner of the land won't clean it up. So you can imagine how many wild animals dig around through that trash all the time. There are two trailers there that now have been stripped & are just junk as well. One was a travel trailer & the other was a mobile home before it was stripped down. They've been open to all of the elements for a long time now & animals live in them, it's really a mess. The neighbors have tried to get something done about it, but after the county tried to get some people in Ark City to clean up their properties & charged them for the cleanup they sued & won. Now the county just says there is nothing they can do. It really is a health hazard over there & someone is eventually going to fall in a big hole that is there & get hurt. Then there will be big trouble for the owner. She is one of those people who have multiple properties around town & nobody likes her or her family.

OQB I sent you a PM. Aren't those guineas the funniest, goofiest birds you ever have seen? I just can't believe the things they do sometimes.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

Mine either. I think any cat willing to eat chicken food probably doesn't have access to enough else to eat, since I can't imagine it would be their preferred diet.

My cats love the chicken feed I use (It is a mix from the co-op that I get from a friend of mine... ) They also like pig feed They get fed a bit of cat food twice a day, plus chicken hearts/livers/etc. daily (I have an entire freezer full of all that from butchering over 1000 chickens this past summer). My cats get more than their share of food, but seem to enjoy chicken feed a lot!

 

[KsKingBee]

KKB my cats are not feral, we just have a lot of them that live outside whose job is to keep the rats & mice at bay.

I draw a distinction between kept cats and feral cats although too many in one location can cause a problem. My two sisters live a couple hundred yards downstream from here and they have about 50 cats between them, all spayed and neutered, all well fed but they still kill little animals. Last year they killed most of the killdeer hatchlings in the driveway and I am sure much more than that. I agree that kept cats have a place, it's just the cats that have no place I have a problem with.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I draw a distinction between kept cats and feral cats although too many in one location can cause a problem. My two sisters live a couple hundred yards downstream from here and they have about 50 cats between them, all spayed and neutered, all well fed but they still kill little animals. Last year they killed most of the killdeer hatchlings in the driveway and I am sure much more than that. I agree that kept cats have a place, it's just the cats that have no place I have a problem with.

Maybe someone could call our Humane Society and explain to them that their feral cat program is causing more harm than good? Seriously.. I'm just helping them out with a need and program they have - I also foster little kittens for them until they are old enough to be fixed and adopted out. Right now I have 4 little kittens that almost weigh a lb each! They have to be 2 lbs before they'll be fixed and adopted out. They sure are cute and rambunctious!

 

[chicken danz]

I have to agree with you Kingbee. I love cats probably as much or more than anyone. But I also was the head of animal control for about a year in Oklahoma City. Feral cats ARE a real problem and I can't see any humane society promoting anything other than euthanizing them. Stray cats may be rehomed and spayed or neutered. But feral cats are wild animals. I personally dealt with some neighborhoods that had problems with feral cats. These animals were mean and would attack you if you cornered them. They would literally jump at you and try to scratch and bite you, growling like a wild animal. Even little babies that were just weaned were never able to be tamed. I tried with a couple and they were nasty little creatures. There was one particular vicious Tom cat that was keeping residents from going out into their own back yards because he would come running toward them trying to attack.
We finally caught him in a trap, but then the techs couldn't euthanize him for some time. He would jump at the sides of the trap and broke a couple needles before they could inject him.
Now granted this was in the city and people feared for their children and their own pets. Feral cats are not something you mess with at all.
In the country they might be out there catching mice and rats but they also could present problems to birds and rabbits. I'm thinking if cats were released and they weren't seen they were probably owl, hawk, or coyote dinner. Just my opinion mind you.
There is nothing sweeter than a well cared for domesticated cat. And if kept healthy they are worth their weight in gold for controlling rodents and such on a farm. I can't really imagine life without a cat. But in my world it is going to be neutered and fed well and vetted.
Been a busy day today. I got two tin whistles moved to the goose pen for shelter. I had to move the fence temporarily and get it put back in place. One of these huts was just a big quarter circle with a steel pipe frame with no sides. I got it pushed up along side the peafowl building which filled in one side then mounted a piece of steel siding on the other side. There's a gap at the top but it's on the East side and should just let some air flow through when it gets hot out. I need to trim off the back edge where it's sticking up but I'll do that another day. It got dark on me. The other one is a half circle with metal sides so it kind of went in the middle of the pen. That gives the geese 3 different houses to lay and one more small shelter to escape the sun in summer. I'll get some straw out there for them tomorrow.
While I was out, I discovered that my English Orpingtons and/or my second set of partridge brahmas are now laying. I found three eggs. It put an urgency in me to get another pen ready for the birds. Been waiting on those eggs and I need to get them separated so I can hatch some high dollar birds. DH finally agreed after me talking about it for the last few years that I need a poultry building. Of course he said I needed to win the lottery so I could pay for it. The birds are not his thing so all expenses are mine alone.

 

[sunflowerparrot]

I can't see any humane society promoting anything other than euthanizing them.

They do Maybe they need someone to tell them they're doing it wrong....