Free range with working cats on the ranch?

[lonesomerider]

Hate to rain on your parade, Kids, but some cats can and WILL kill full grown chickens. A few years ago, I walked around the end of the barn in time to see a red female leap on the back of a young turkey that was just slightly larger than my large fowl hens, clamp its teeth on the back of the poults's head, and the bird dropped in its tracks with scarcely a kick. I took care of the problem with my .12 gauge Remington...eliminated the rest of the herd that city folks had seen fit to dump on my doorstep over the spring and summer, and lost no more birds for several months. Up until that time, I'd been blaming fox for siphoning off a couple of birds a week. Since I don't believe in coincidences, my money for all those previous losses was on the cats. Finding a big dog that liked chickens and hated cats....and encouraging her to take care of business....didn't hurt with cutting down the losses either.

Severe reaction? Nope. That's the real world. Either you protect your chickens, or you soon won't have any.

Have a good week-end.

 

[bobbi-j]

Hate to rain on your parade, Kids, but some cats can and WILL kill full grown chickens. A few years ago, I walked around the end of the barn in time to see a red female leap on the back of a young turkey that was just slightly larger than my large fowl hens, clamp its teeth on the back of the poults's head, and the bird dropped in its tracks with scarcely a kick. I took care of the problem with my .12 gauge Remington...eliminated the rest of the herd that city folks had seen fit to dump on my doorstep over the spring and summer, and lost no more birds for several months. Up until that time, I'd been blaming fox for siphoning off a couple of birds a week. Since I don't believe in coincidences, my money for all those previous losses was on the cats. Finding a big dog that liked chickens and hated cats....and encouraging her to take care of business....didn't hurt with cutting down the losses either.
Severe reaction? Nope. That's the real world. Either you protect your chickens, or you soon won't have any.
Have a good week-end.

Yes, SOME can and will attack and kill a full-grown chicken. I've never had it happen in 25 years with my free range flock and barn cats, but it could happen someday. The bottom line is, if you free range you can expect losses. Period. For some of us, it's worth the risk, for others it's not. Your call. If the cats don't get them, eventually something else will. I lost 2 to predators a couple of months ago - my first predator loss in a couple of years.

 

[rarely bored]

I have two cats, one which we have dubbed an assasin cat cuz he so effectively kills his prey. My cats will go after the young chicks, but will leave the older ones alone. The solution which works is to keep the young chicks penned up, unless they have a broody momma hen, but allow the large birds to free range. Of course our kitties are well fed so they don't need to kill to eat, but they do keep the gopher population way down (my garden does very well because of them), which is exactly what I want them to do. Sure wish they would catch the mouse in the kitchen though.

 

[guineatech]

IME a cat raised around poultry seems to understand that they are off-limits as prey. Cats are indivuals, so I know that comment isn't gonna cover all cats in all situations. Obviously, chicks are more vulnerable, but I have never had one of MY cats try to harm any poultry, including chickens, ducks, quail, turkeys, and guineas. The cats wouldn't even harm a baby rabbit that got out of the cage, though kits are surely the size and scent of prey to a cat. I really think the cats key off of their owner to see what is acceptable prey and what is not.

That isn't to say that the neighbor's cat, or a stray, wouldn't attack a chicken. I have had that problem, and they have killed turkey poults even though the momma turkey was there and angry.

Below: young tom cat walks through free ranging poults and chickens. Neither party is concerned.

 

[Kev]

My childhood place had "wild cats"- unapproachable, they only came within sight or 20 feet if somebody was dumping leftovers outside.

Majority of them left the chickens alone, including chicks. A very few did catch baby chicks, best to get rid of these.

Perhaps in your case start out with truly game American games- aka fighting games. They are very athletic, alert and reactive. Roosters will violently guard sqawking hens(if cat pounces on hen, he will flog the cat), mothers will even more violently guard their chicks and make SURE cats give mother and babies space around them. The cats won't touch chicks ever again.. and it kind of seems to become 'culture' so you can get standard breeds after the cats have their first round with games.

If you don't want to start with games, would recommend starting with large heavy breeds, protect until they are fully grown then let range. That way the cats would be 'habituated' to them growing up in the coop/run and they won't be such tempting small targets once loose.

Wild birds are very enticing to the usual cats, due to their jerky, flitty movements. Adult chickens generally don't do muuch of those movements, just the little baby chicks do.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

We have feral cats around here. More so this year, there is one that is bothering my chickens. Use to be two of them but a neighbor dispatched one for me. The rooster and chickens cluck up a storm and jump our fence to get away from it. We lost a 5 weeks old chick two years ago to a feral cat we didn't know was living under the shed. That one was dispatched too. Your going to have to keep your birds in a run until large enough. I like them to free range and if/when you do be prepared to take care of any of your cats that show more than curiosity toward your birds. Our large house cat watches grown birds in curiosity but then walks on. We don't let him near chicks.

 

[SouthernOregonChick]

As you can tell from all these posts, peoples' experiences vary a lot. IME, however, I have had no problems with chickens and cats. I have my own cats, and there are ferals on our property, too. My chickens free range all day long and I have had no losses or problems. My chickens seemed to understand that they needed to make the cats affraid of them, and whenever a cat walks by or gets too close they charge. In fact, my chickens run the yard. I have 2 dogs and cats all over, but the chickens will take anyone's food and do whatever they please. Generations of women in my family have had chickens who free ranged on the farm, with dogs and cats and all sorts of things running around them, and most of them were just fine. I am not trying to argue with anyone on here at all, but I really believe that grown chickens are a lot hardier than people give them credit for. Another thing to consider is a good protective dog. My heeler is outside all day with the chickens, and just his presence keeps a lot of strange animals away. I also agree with Kev ^, a good heavy breed would be good for this. Hahaha my big Buff Orp hen looks like she weighs a ton and nobody questions her. If only they knew it was just fluff ;-)
Good luck! I hope you find a situation that works for you, everyone needs some chickens in the yard!

(Note that this is all about grown chickens, I've never let little chicks free range)

 

[fancyfowl4ever]

Our farm has 4 "working" cats, all born and raised here. Our cats have free choice of going indoor/outdoor but they just come in for a snooze and go right back out. Our best hunter brings us gophers/ground squirrles/packrats half her size(2-3lb rat anyone?). The rest of our cats content themselfs with mice and songbirds. We have a very good bond with our cats, and they seem to know whats part of the family and what is not. I always have the odd bantam hen here or there that flies the fence and goes and broods out a bunch of chicks somewhere in the shubs in the yard. Those mommas get to free range with their brood until winter comes and our cats will not touch them. Our poor cats get treed on fence posts if the hens just see them way across the yard

so it is pretty ingrained that chicks are more trouble then they are worth.
The cats will spend most nights in the chicken coop too catching mice that go for the feeders. Bonny(gopher killer) even sits on the edge of the brooders in the barn hunting mice, she has never touched a chick in those brooders.

My cat that shares my cabin even differentiates between my house finches etc from wild birds. She is an excellent bird catcher, but doesn't even look twice at my finches and canaries when they free fly in my house. She is the only one tho, when Bonny comes in for a visit the finches better be behind wire...

Now our cats are pretty awesome(I think), and not all cats are that way. With ferals coming in I would be more worried(we have no ferals, "Magic"- our gueen-bee- kicks their behind into next week if they put 1 paw onto her turf).

 

[kbenz]

I would be highly concerned about daytime racoons. Racoons are typically nocturnal animals. They may be rabid

 

[PamelaTX]

FancyFowl, Wow, that's a great set up you have there. Everyone seems to get along and to know their place! We have a "queen bee" cat too. Her name is Braveheart. She was born here on the ranch under a wood pile behind the barn. She clearly considers the whole ranch her territory. She has just barely tolerated a semi-feral who recently came and had six kittens here. Braveheart has a litter of her own born just a couple of weeks earlier. Now that they are all on the move Braveheart's litter from the garden shed and the other cat's litter from the breezeway meet on the back porch of the Hunter's Cabin and we have our own little kitty West Side Story going on here. It's pretty funny. Anyway, I'm glad things are working out so well for you. I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do yet with regard to free range vs keeping the chickens in the run full time. But thanks for the post! I really enjoyed it.

Kbenz, I hadn't considered that the coons may be rabid! Yikes! Luckily ever since I've been careful about not leaving any cat food out for any period of time at all, I haven't seen the coons lately. I did see a couple a few weeks back but that was at night. What do you suggest? Have them "dispatched" (to use Egghead Jr.'s verb above)?