A feral cat should be trapped. Even if you are planning to keep it around you should first get a good look at it to be sure it's not sick or harboring parasites or pregnant or intact. And if you're not in the market for a new pet cat, then it should be sent to a Better Place. Whatever that means to you. I don't think feral cats live very pleasant lives, exposed to weather & predators and other risks.
Besides, you don't know if this particular cat can/will injure your chickens.
They're not always easy to trap. Try wet cat food, or tuna, or canned sardines. Also put some catnip in the trap for bait, that seems to help lure them in.
And pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasePLEASE do NOT everneverevernevereverNEVER release a trapped feral cat, or ANY pest/predator animal, anywhere else. What may seem like deep remote woods to you may be the back edge of someone else's property. Someone who will not appreciate having new predators or pest animals added to their burdens. It's not a nice thing to do to other people, and not nice to the animal too. There probably are other predators already claiming that area, releasing new predators there will cause them to have less food, and may cause them to fight. Plus there is the very real possibility of introducing rabies or other diseases to that new area.
