Do chickens and cats mix?

[araeihrig]

The "stray" cats here leave the birds alone. The kitten used to practice his hunting skills but would always stop a few feet short of the birds. If anything, it's the birds that chase the cats.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

I, too, am glad you've decided to keep the kitten

I have 2 cats. One I've had for 3 years (he's a huge Bengal mix, and sweet as can be). The other we got from the flea market, he was a "free to a good home" deal. My older cat avoids the chickens, turkeys and guineas at all costs. Probably because he's been mangled by a turkey hen with poults on more than one occasion. Our newest cat, well, I think he genuinely believes he IS one of them. When I throw out scraps, he'll push his way right into the middle of the flock and eat with them. And its very common to find him curled up sleeping in the nest boxes in my Silkie coop or rolling around in the dirt with them. If the turkeys and guineas are free ranging, which is pretty much the whole time they're awake, he's usually with them, no matter how far they are from the house.
And we had a HUGE mouse problem when we moved into our current house. Not any more!

 

[trsturself]

We had our cat when we first got our chickens. He was an indoor cat and killed two of the chicks (he broke into the brooder). He didn't eat them but liked the squeaky things until they stopped squeaking. He has since become an indoor outdoor cat and he doesn't mess with the chickens at all, though the rodents aren't so lucky. We have since fortified our brooder and he has seen so many sets go through that he ignores them now.

We now also have a barn kitten outside to keep the mouse population down. He is scared of the chickens. I think you can tell by his personality if he'll bother them. If he ignores them you're pretty safe. If he sees them and gets into a crouched position I'd worry more.

I agree, keep him around, barn cats are handy!