Devastated dosn't even cover it

[marchick]

Mr. Shotgun is your friend. My barn cats occasionally grab a tiny chick or a new keet, but never a larger bird. I need the barn cats to keep the rodents down. I have had problems with fox and coon, but as I said Mr. Shotgun takes care of that.

Here my husband will take care of that! What else is he for? Building pens and protect!!! Making wife happy!!! Or else! Just don't tell him I said that! lol

 

[duckets]

I read where a wessels can fit through a 1 inch opening.I went with 1/2" to be safe! Years ago I had a large shed and we used 2x4 suspended from ceiling. Worked great.they could jump from window ledge to roost. Never lost a chicken from cat or wessel. Just a thought would save on need for hardware cloth.Its expensive!

marchick is absolutely right about the smaller vermin getting through 1 inch holes, I actually use chain link with 1/2 inch hardware cloth on the bottom 3 feet to guard against snakes.

 

[WillowWispFarm]

Mr. Shotgun is your friend. My barn cats occasionally grab a tiny chick or a new keet, but never a larger bird. I need the barn cats to keep the rodents down. I have had problems with fox and coon, but as I said Mr. Shotgun takes care of that.

Oh indeed. We have two cats, one indoor who dosn't hunt, and one in and out door cat who is a awesome hunter. This stray is not welcome so between me and my step dad and our artillery this cat will go by by.
Also knock on wood we dont have fox near us or coons. We saw a mink last year but thats about it, and the cyotes dont dare come this close to the house.

 

[enola]

Feral cats don't live long here either. Tired of my cat being attacked, tired of clothes on the line being sprayed with urine, tired of burying half eaten adult chickens, tired of fixing damaged flower gardens. Just plain tired of feral cats.

 

[WillowWispFarm]

Feral cats don't live long here either. Tired of my cat being attacked, tired of clothes on the line being sprayed with urine, tired of burying half eaten adult chickens, tired of fixing damaged flower gardens. Just plain tired of feral cats.

I'm missing 5 chickens out of 16. I know two are gone but I could only bury one of them, the others... got taken somewhere.

 

[Weehopper]

People love to dump unwanted pets in the country. Happens all of the time. Dogs, cats, ferrets, you name it. They actually believe that country folk will take them right in. Wrong.
You need to find out where and how said kitty is getting in and close it off. Be sure to check all around your coops often. Also, if you don't know what kind of varmint you have, look for hairs clinging to the edges of the hole in the wire or boards, to help give you a clue.
So sorry for your losses.

 

[slingshotandLAR]

This is such a stupid problem to have....

Completely not your fault but because of someone else's irresponsible reckless actions you are loosing your chickens. Not to mention your own cat was attacked.

There is no such thing as too far out in the country for stray cats, I call them drop offs. Everybody deals with them differently, my closest neighbor live traps them and takes them to the vet to get fixed. His wife likes cats so he deals with great expense doing this. We have a lady about a mile away who keeps strays in her barn, every few years someone calls animal control and they cart 50+ cats away. I use the lead approach, let's be clear these are not the " neighbors" cat that happened into our yard. This is farm county not suburbia, I think that gets lost on this forum a bit to much. Most don't survive my dog honestly. We saved a kitten last year I found living in the garage in February, she couldn't have been 3 months old. The meanest nastiest little thing you've ever seen. My inlaws took her in, to this day they have to trap her to handle her, it's ridiculous.

We have tried other approaches but the only one that works is zero tolerance. Hopefully you will get this problem solved soon, and not have to deal with again. Next time you see a strange cat you know what to do, it's not worth the risk to your animals.

 

[WillowWispFarm]

Another one, snatched right outside my window. I could hear her scream and I ran as fast as I could outside and it was already to late. Nothing but a few feather piles...
I"m sorry Delilah. You were the first chicken of mine to lay an egg, and although you were mouthy and always yelled at me you didn't deserve this...

 

[sbhkma]

It's going to keep happening until you can safely confine your chickens and get rid of the interloper cat. I'm sorry for your losses, but you really do need to proactively do something to protect them and to get rid of the cat who has discovered a free chicken dinner location.

 

[marchick]

Another one, snatched right outside my window. I could hear her scream and I ran as fast as I could outside and it was already to late. Nothing but a few feather piles...
I"m sorry Delilah. You were the first chicken of mine to lay an egg, and although you were mouthy and always yelled at me you didn't deserve this...

So sorry! I hope you get this taken care of soon! You need to call your step dad over for coffee and have him bring his friend!!! lol