I am able to keep cats out by adjusting gaps in fencing just a little. Three were coming into feed off carcass set out for owl when fence was off. When power brought back up cats started walking ways to find gap they could get through. Then I pushed wire a little closer to ground so they could not get through. Cats not going in now unless they walk almost all the way to other side of poultry yard. Going to shut down for a while. Cats may be need to help manage mice. Owl and bullfrog not up to task.
We had to put Gator down 2 days after Christmas. I don’t know if you know about Gator but he was our Black Lab/Great Pyrenees mix. He had an autoimmune disorder and started declining for about a year and a half up till he finally had to be put down and towards the end he started not being able to do his job properly and didn’t always notice everything, like he missed one fox (thankfully the birds were in the run) and missed delivery people (he used to hate them), etc. because he was sick and I think going a little deaf, but anyway, long story short, even if he didn’t always notice everything, he would still go outside and bark daily and pee on stuff, etc. so they knew he was still here and stayed away but now with him gone, it’s like they know and are back in full force. Going to need to be extra careful about not letting the cat out. Oh and Gator was a pet and lived inside but was protective of the home/property, car, us, etc. and when we got the chickens, he took protecting them seriously do and always alerted us, when he was in his prime, to anything trying to break in or bothering them. Usually a pesky fox. And if he heard any coyotes, he would go ballistic and I am sure they could hear him through the glass but we would also occasionally let him out at night to run off whatever was outside. It seemed to work. But now they are back.
