Do Cats Eat Chickens?

[2468Guess]

I think your definition is spot on.

 

[Game]

a cat would never get a fullgrown malay.............

they might grab and oeg but they fly very well

 

[GasMenagerie]

ok..now that the shock is wearing off, I want to share my story and ask for advise. I got up this morning to find 2 of my hens and my Guinea dead in the chicken run. I have (had) a flock of 16 chickens and 1 Guinea. The Guinea and 10 of my hens were raised by me from chicks. Little miss Guinea thought she was a chicken and was very protective of the flock-always announcing trouble. We live on a farm and have all sorts of predators-hawks, owls,fox, dogs and cats that I have seen. Our chicken run is secured with 10 foot high fencing (2x4 inch hard wire), aviary netting on top, and chicken wire sunk 2 feet under ground. I haven't had any problem keeping them secure until now. After I cleaned up the bodies, I checked the perimeter. Nothing ground level was disturbed. The only chink in the armour I noticed was a a small 6 x 8 inch section of aviary netting that wasn't secured to the fence line. (the zip tie broke at a seam) and that was at the 10 feet mark-up the fence/run. The foxes haven't bothered trying to dig to get in as there seems to be ample rodents and rabbits around for them. Hawks will circle but not land. There IS the neighbors cat that runs wild and is always stalking around the coop. I'm thinking it may have jumped along the fence line and gotten in through that one unsecured spot. The condition of the birds leaves me confused. Guinea put up one heck of a fight. None of their meat was gone-just a lot of feathers. It is as if the kill was for sport. 7 of my remaining birds are in various shapes of injury. I have put probiotics in their water and moved the injured birds inside the coop to keep warm. All except 2 are drinking and willing to be hand fed mealworms. My questions for you out there, is could a cat have done this much damage? I don't mind the kill so much if the predator had eaten the ladies (circle of life...) but this seems senseless. I am in Northern Virginia and haven't seen other predators. Was it the cat? Can I put antibiotics in the ladies water- and if so- what and how much? Any help is greatly appreciated. Tonight I will close their trap door. I haven't had to do that in the 2 years I have had chickens.

Has there been a repeat attack? That sounds like it could be raccoons.

 

[ehecatl]

I have a tabby cat with sharp claws and teeth and lots of hunting instinct. The chicks that were about half adult size seemed able to defend themselves, barely, although he would pin them down and "play" with them sometimes.

Now I've got a hen that is brooding on a clutch of eggs that may be fertile (because one of those chicks turned out to be a rooster and started mating), and I will be curious to see if the mother will be able to protect the chicks if they hatch.

 

[FeatheredFreind]

My neighbors cats attacked and killed 13 silkies the first weekend I went away. They had silkie body parts stretching from the coop to their house where a lot of the half eaten silkies laid. Because it was such a massacre and little feets and wings and such everywhere the smell of dead was in the air. So for the next two weeks I was trapping everything that came in shot and buried it. Including my neighbors 3 cats. MY neighbor also had 2 kittens in which she promised to keep in at night and buy them food. Well the kittens grew up and the neighbors hubby said get them out and of coarse she didn't provide food for them. So One day earlier this week I wake up and find I am missing several silkies. However this morning I woke up to find 1 of her cats in my trap. One down now one to go and then I can relax at my weekend get away. I have had more problems with cats then anything else. The way I see it; if it is around your coop and could be a possible threat then eliminate it before it has the opportunity to eliminate your flock.

 

[el pollo rey]

My neighbors cats attacked and killed 13 silkies the first weekend I went away. They had silkie body parts stretching from the coop to their house where a lot of the half eaten silkies laid. Because it was such a massacre and little feets and wings and such everywhere the smell of dead was in the air. So for the next two weeks I was trapping everything that came in shot and buried it. Including my neighbors 3 cats. MY neighbor also had 2 kittens in which she promised to keep in at night and buy them food. Well the kittens grew up and the neighbors hubby said get them out and of coarse she didn't provide food for them. So One day earlier this week I wake up and find I am missing several silkies. However this morning I woke up to find 1 of her cats in my trap. One down now one to go and then I can relax at my weekend get away. I have had more problems with cats then anything else. The way I see it; if it is around your coop and could be a possible threat then eliminate it before it has the opportunity to eliminate your flock.

. I could not agree more ! Remington and marlin have been providing poultry men with ferel cat solutions for 125 'years ,,,,,,,

 

[wstavers]

I find some of the comments in this thread about killing and injuring cats quite distasteful. Cats like humans are born hunters.
I have five cats, pit bull, turtle, chickens and lots of fish. If I loose any of them to any of my cats, I would blame myself for been irresponsible, not the cat for following it's instinct.
Maybe you should evaluate you coop before worrying about predators. If you cannot provide a safe environment for your chickens, you have no right keeping them.
And Just for the record if any of my neighbours hurt any of my cats for doing what they do naturally, their ***** would be in court in a heartbeat.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

I find some of the comments in this thread about killing and injuring cats quite distasteful. Cats like humans are born hunters.
I have five cats, pit bull, turtle, chickens and lots of fish. If I loose any of them to any of my cats, I would blame myself for been irresponsible, not the cat for following it's instinct.
Maybe you should evaluate you coop before worrying about predators. If you cannot provide a safe environment for your chickens, you have no right keeping them.
And Just for the record if any of my neighbours hurt any of my cats for doing what they do naturally, their ***** would be in court in a heartbeat.

Lettme start off with well fed, domestic cats have the highest killing % of any cat.
Know why? Because they are doing it for fun. For the joy of killing. So if your cat killed my silkie, I'd gladly point out that they killed it simply because 'oh that'd be fun to kill then tear apart and then leave to die!! Ooh yay!!!!'
Seriously. That's what a cat is thinking (domestic, not feral, ferals usually hunt to eat) when it kills a silkie or a Serema or a mouse or just anything.
My puppy killed our Serema, and yes, it was our fault because the fencing was bad.
But our fencing to contain the puppies from the neighborhood is fine, so they can't kill any NEIGHBOR pets. (Not that there's anything to kill)
Now, if your cat was outside of your property, then suddenly, anything or anyone could kill it for any reason. Throwing your neighbors butt in court for defending birds is ridiculous since they could have heavy duty netting all around, chicken wire and a sturdy coop. But say, one hole. One weak spot and the cats in since cats are very stubborn and WILL get in.
So really, if your neighbor killed your cat whilst defending their chickens, it's your fault for being irresponsible and letting the cat just roam.
Our cat roams, but no one has anything it could kill (not that she's ever killed anything), and there aren't any predators. But if it was eaten by say, a fox or was killed by a neighbors dog, it'd be our fault. Granite I wouldn't care much since I hate our cat, but she simply wanders our yard and our roof. If we thought she'd be in any danger we wouldn't, and if something happens its OUR fault and no, I won't sue someone over a cat.

But anywho, bottom point is, if its on your property hurting your animals, you have full right to kill it, since its YOUR fault for letting it roam. Now unless the cat is actively killing or attacking you or something then if you know who the owners are and it's never done this before then yes, you should let them know next time a bullet is going through the cats head. But if it looks like a stray or you have no idea who the owner is, then typically the cats gonna be killed, since any good owner won't let their cat just roam the city. And LOTS of people let their chickens free range. This is a great way to save money on chicken feed, but one of the things that comes with free ranging is managing predators, and cats are apart of the predator system.


Eta ;;
We have a giant, covered coop and run, very sturdy, and rarely loose any chickens. But if a cat decide to come and kill all of them it could. I'd also decide to kill the cat since it would take about 10 + more tarps, or way to much netting to completely cat proof our entire 1 1/2 acres, plus the backwoods no one owns, cause cats are extremely hard to defend from. A raven? Tarps, plenty of hide places, something big to maybe intimidate him, like a Tom(though he doesn't bug much). Fox? High walls. Cat? Well let's see, about 12 ft high wood walls. No cracks otherwise they can climb. EXTREMELY heavy duty wire or rope or heavy duty tarps covering every square inch of roaming spot the chickens have access too. Nadda single hole.
Cats are very good predators, and very hard to get rid of, like hawks, except hunting and killing cats is legal. Seriously, if you owned 3 acres or so, that all of your chickens had access to, would you be able to afford to completely cat proof it? It'd be extremely expensive, since cats can bite and climb, fit through tiny holes. Or would you either tell someone to lock up your cat or kill a feral? I mean, really?

 

[wstavers]

Unfortunately domestic cats kill for amusement not to eat what they kill. It breaks my heart to see full grown rabbits etc been brought home by my cats. My only advice is to ask your neighbours to put bells on their cats and make sure your chickens are firmly locked/caged up when your not there.
Domestic cats kill more animals per year than any other animal. In the United States domestic cats kill 1.4–3.7 billion birds and 6.9–20.7 billion mammals annually

 

[wstavers]

Love how this thread seems to be kill everything that kills your chickens. let me know when you get caught shooting a bald eagle for been on your property.
Pen them well in the first place and avoid having conversations like this.