Feral cats - chicken predators?

[hillbilly91]

Jeez, how hard is it to drop the cat off at the shelter? Why are you even asking? Give the cat a chance. It probably was after mice anyway.

Some places charge a intake fee just a heads up. Some will pay others like me wont

 

[cmom]

There are cats that come on to my property mostly during the night. I have seen them and caught them on one of my game cameras. They have not bothered my birds and are probably after rats and mice. I do shut the younger birds in their coop at night.

I also see a couple of Great Pyrenees roaming on my property too.

 

[cmom]

Maybe if you have taken the cat to a shelter, maybe it has a tag or chip. Doubtful though.

 

[Compost King]

I live in a small city and we have strays but not feral, they will kill and eat a chicken if hungry enough but I have yet to have them get into a Coop. They strike during the day. I just feed them on an end o the property where the Chickens can not access and I stopped having cat problems. Some people hate them I like them because they keep down the population of small animals which can be a problem. We have too many wild birds here and with over population I have a Bird Flu. Too many mice and rats from time to time but since cats started getting fed that problem was reduced. I have 2 cats of my own who never harm domestic pets like chicks and Quail and they catch mice and leave them on the carport every morning for me to feed the chickens. Some people hate them I like having cats around. Not sure if a Feral Cat will ever respect domesticated live stock but cats that bond with humans will, and a cat that is not hungry will not put up with a chicken that fights back.

I know a lady I bought seramas from who said she catches cats in a have a heart trap and holds them for 24 hours with no food or water, when she lets them go they never return. Probably the best way to get rid of them without killing them. I could never do that to a cat, its about the only animal outside of chickens that I can bond with so I go out of my way to be nice to them. Let's just hope I never encounter a Mountain Lion because my instinct would be to walk up to it and pet it and then you can read about me on the Darwin Awards.

 

[rod5591]

Hi all:

I kept the cat overnight. She was a pretty and well nourished young calico so I decided to either find the owner or keep her myself. in the morning I asked my neighbor across the road, who told me the cat belonged to the farm down the road, so I drove her back there. The owner didn’t answer the door so I released the kitty there on the front pouch. I assume all is well. I am a cat lover and wouldn’t harm a cat unless it was maurading with intent to kill one of my birds. My thanks to all who answered.

 

[rod5591]

Depends on the cat. I have a bunch of cats around here and only one in many years has killed a chicken. It was a male I’ve never seen before. That cat won’t be eating anything again. What were you using for bait? It’s not wise to put the trap inside the hen yard. If your setting traps with bait or lure of any kind keep it farther away and move closer if you need too. Putting the trap inside with the chickens could just draw in animals that weren’t bothering the chickens to begin with.

Bait was a slice of bacon. Actually the trap was just outside the fence of the hen yard, not inside like I said, my bad.

 

[rod5591]

How old are your chickens? If they're at least 3 or 4 months old, I doubt very seriously a well fed cat is going after your chickens. I free range my chickens daily and there are plenty of feral cats around, but none have ever bothered my chickens.

Chickens are 6 months old now. I have 17 hens and get a dozen eggs a day.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Bait was a slice of bacon. Actually the trap was just outside the fence of the hen yard, not inside like I said, my bad.

Put your traps further away so you won’t draw stuff to the chickens. Cause if you do and don’t catch them then you’ve just taught them.

 

[hillbilly91]

Very true in my experience traping. Also spend time observing the property and use according bait.

 

[Grits&Eggs]

we have LOTS of CATS around here - none of them have tried to stalk the chickens, but thank heavens they have started killing off the rats that I can't seem to kill myself. I love the neighborhood cats!