Found a Cat in the Yard with My Chickens!!

[Sunnysimplelife]

You are right it is a tough balance. The cat is owned by one of our neighbors I found out so hopefully it is not starving. Cats are hunters though so you never know.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Feral cats are an ecological disaster too. They kill all small game, bugs, lizards, snakes, birds, you name it. When's the last time you saw a bunny rabbit in suberbia? I think pet cats are fine, but they shouldn't be out roaming around...and really with the proper entertainment and enclosure, they don't need to.

 

[jak2002003]

I agree. I never understood why governments allow people to let their pet cat out free to do as it pleases. Its very irresponsible to let a pet out to take care of itself. Imagine if I started letting my dog out to roam - what a fuss my neighbours would make if it started killing their pet rabbits, pooping in their kids play sand box, peeing over their front garden and making lots of noise at night fighting with other dogs! Also getting into their trash cans and spreading rubbish all over the driveway ........

......that is what my neighbours cat is doing now!

Also a cat will kill much wildlife like songbirds and reptiles - some of which may be endangered.

A cat can also get killed on the roads or even cause an accident when someone tried to avoid running the cat over.

I have a Siamese Cat - which I love dearly. I would never take the chance of letting her roam about freely on the streets because of all the dangers and also maybe some one would steal her. I think is people really care about their cat they would never let it out to roam.

 

[chooniecat]

Normal cat will be curious and even ferals are not often a threat. Problem here is the ferals(ANY unaltered cat) need altering and they ARE domestic so please at LEAST try to find out if this poor cat in unaltered(ferals ARE domestic- WE have caused the problem) PLZ try to help the cat. And fed cats aren't likely to bother too large of "prey". Letting the chi run is a great idea.

 

[jak2002003]

Normal cat will be curious and even ferals are not often a threat. Problem here is the ferals(ANY unaltered cat) need altering and they ARE domestic so please at LEAST try to find out if this poor cat in unaltered(ferals ARE domestic- WE have caused the problem) PLZ try to help the cat. And fed cats aren't likely to bother too large of "prey". Letting the chi run is a great idea.

This is your experience. I have found feral cats to be a big problem to my chickens. What on earth does it matter if they are unaltered or not? That will only stop them having more kittens, not stop them killing other animals. Its their nature to kill as they are predators. Don't believe me - just let a canary out in you living room when you cat has just finished its dinner. It will still try to catch the bird. Its the cats instincts. Its not good or bad, but its just nature.

You are correct in the fact that humans are to blame - as usual. If we are serious about the feral cat population we need governments to take serious action - sadly this will not happen in the near future as its not causing the governments and money - nor can they make money from it.

I think the moral, but unrealistic, answer is to capture each feral cat and alter it to stop it having more kittens. At the same time impose laws to stop people letting their cats free range unsupervised. This is totally unrealistic - despite how much I would like this to happen.

The more realistic (I hate this though) would be to cull all the feral cats and start capturing all stray or wandering cats. If they are not claimed then they must be culled. Any owners found to be letting their cats roam should be fined.

Imagine if I was so let my hamster, budgie, or snake out to go where it liked. I would be called a bad pet owner (correctly). So why not the same with cats?

 

[wvtim]

Wow - I had no idea that shooting wild cats that tried to kill my chickens made me such a bad person

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Only if you're a lousy shot Tim.

 

[chickortreat]

Wow - I had no idea that shooting wild cats that tried to kill my chickens made me such a bad person

It doesn't, so far as normal folk are concerned.