do cats harm chickens??

[50-45-1]

I had a feral tom cat flush a mama hen off the nest and eat all 9 baby chicks right in the brooder box she was raising them in.
This happened way back before i had the secure coop i have now.
Shot the tom the next night when he came back for more.
I dont think they would be a danger to adult, full size birds but... it depends on the cat, and how hungry and determined he was.
at night chickens can not see and are very vunerable to anything that can get in there coop.
If a strange cat can get to your birds how do you know it was not a raccoon or something else?

 

[CluckerFamily]

I have three roosters as well, my rooster was just being noisy, he didn't actually protect but it was night time, so I think he couldn't see? No idea but the cat wasn't afraid of us, didn't even move when we came close to her or threaten her with a broom, it was buffling ngl

Oh no!
Chickens aren't good at seeing at night. That isn't a good thing that she wasn't scared of you. Do you have a no-kill animal shelter near you that you could catch her? It would be good to get her out of the area especially if she is the only cat that has attacked your flock.

 

[50-45-1]

May i ask where you are located?
A place where there are no racoons is interesting.
Are you un the USA?

 

[Gonzalezfam]

My sister has 50 chickens and about 15 barn cats. None of them attack any chickens but then again she has 3 roosters that protect the flock.

I had a big orange Tom cat back in the day, my neighbor had a derby winning RIR from La. when derbies were legal and a hatch hen that was aggressive. Bastian my cat was eyeballing them one day as we were hanging out talking chickens when he says “my rooster would whoop your cat any day”. I said, “ that guy wouldn’t hunt birds anyway just rats”, the next day bastian was kinda weird just laying there with his belly bigger than before, oooops long story short he ate the breasts and I had to get him a sweater rooster and a Kelso hen he wanted.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Yes, I did see her jumping on a hen, but I was too slow to move her she wasn't scared of me at all, even when I was holding the broom it was kinda weird?? We don't have any predators here, Google always said that cats are no harm for chickens so I never really had to secure my hens since we don't have racoons or anything and I thought cats are fine when the chickens are grown up enough

Thank you for confirming! Very sorry for your experience.

I'm not actually surprised at all that it COULD happen despite not being super common. Another member actually SAW a vulture attack one of their chickens and said they too would never have believed it had not their own eye witnessed it.

All animals are free thinking in nature.. and may try something new at any time.. if they are successful, they WILL teach it to their offspring given the chance.. As I creationist.. behaviors do evolve with time and it only takes ONE to figure it out.

My feral barn cat (at least 2nd-3rd generation feral, now trapped, fixed, released) hunts all kinds of things including squirrel and duck.. usually the babies.. I saw a nest she found this season and failed those left behind despite trying hard to save them for release. I even leave rats my (once feral but tamed) domestic cats kill but don't eat and ANY whole chicken/chick.. whatever that is dispatched or passes but not going on the table for whatever reason.. too small, too you, not enough time.. It's very much a risk I take, noting birds are locked up with multiple layers of security at night due to very high likelihood of predator visitation AND my daytime pasture is more dominated by human and canine activity.

As you see roosters are only mostly helpful during the daytime, if even then. Most often they are just a front line sacrifice. They are NO match, even if they try for most of my local predators.

I would not say the cat didn't fear you.. just that it didn't respond in a manner that you perceived as fearful. If cornered with no where to go or means of avoidance they will fight.. if a light is suddenly blinding them or they can't see their escape route.. hissing, spitting, clawing, even growling viciously to CONVINCE you this pint sized animal is a threat and you should back off... completely normal.. an animal is just as if not more prone to biting out of FEAR than aggression.. in MY experience!

Plain and simple.. cat's DON'T hunt things sitting still for fun.. they hunt things they can chase.. YES this cat would have eaten your bird, were it not interrupted and was NOT doing this for game. A well fed feral cat that hunts for game is NOT going to hunt a still target that would be pointless.. not any fun, not honing a skill.. so IMHO.. the cat was indeed hungry.. and I'm sorry that the threat was understated! Apparently, despite it not often being an issue.. these things DO happen.. thank you for sharing, so we can start to realize that and maybe even consider and share it when needed!

Now why were there 3 of them injured is another question.. tries and fails, confused animal about which is the best target, someone else was on seen and the cat was left holding the evidence bag

Yes, it's hard for me too to image a place where only feral cats are the top predator.. Many things love chicken.. skunk, rats, domestic dog.. you name it.. I think like cat island is that in Japan?

Hunting rats and even gophers takes skill.. my dog's been bit inside her mouth a few times.. this is why domesticated TAME cats are often not adept rodent hunters and go after lots of birds or mice at best but not rats.

I'm more likely to believe that you haven't seen any of the mentioned predator than you don't have any of them. BUT.. I am here to learn and find something new every day! I have not seen the majority of predators that I KNOW exist in my area.

Please.. do consider better security since clearly you do have this unexpected problem if you wish to continue keeping birds safely. Knowing your location would help make appropriate suggestions!

Did you need help caring for your injured birds? Or have you started another thread about it if you do?

 

[SarahGfa]

Why do you even need to ask this question if you already saw a cat kill your hen and attack two more?

 

[ILoveBabyChicks00994]

Why do you even need to ask this question if you already saw a cat kill your hen and attack two more?

Because I needed to know if the cat is sick or so I kinda thought she had rabies at first and thought about taking her down since I really found no online evidence about them usually attacking adult hens but yeah found out it's just a normal feral behaviour

 

[swampfox440]

Cats only know what the owner teaches them . I like cats a lot but when left to nature they revert back to the way of the beast !

 

[momofseven]

We can’t have our chickens roam. The cats will go after them.
the ducks for that matter

 

[cmom]

Chicken is not a natural prey for cats. I think they are into rats, mice, wild birds, squirrels, chipmunks, etc. I think a feral cat is more likely to try for a chicken.