house cats attacking grown hens

[libertyfarmhens]

we just got day old chicks 5 weeks ago, we only have one chick left. our cat ate the others. we then purchased four 5 month old barred rock hens and my husband found our cat in the pen this morning... what to do????????????

 

[Imp]

Usually cats won't bother full grown chickens, chicks on the other hand are cat snack size.
You will need to protect the chickens from the cat until they are older, bigger and meaner, then you might need to protect the cat from the chickens.

Imp

ETA- Welcome to BYC

 

[redhen]

Yup.. ya gotta secure the chicks better..until they get big enough to give the cat a good old peck!
And Also, Welcome to BYC!!

 

[mmaddie's mom]

Introduce the cat to your biggest toughest roo...

 

[honeydoll]

SO true. My cat sits on our fully enclosed run looking lustfully....

But he jumped into our coop of our full grown chickens one day I was cleaning it, and it was him I had to save. All 7 of them ran at him like I gave them a treat. Poor cat didn't know what to do. Wait until their bigger, he'll learn the hard way or be smart enough to just stay away. All the cats in my area slink and sneak past any of my chickens free ranging LOL, they want nothing to do with them.

 

[Coreyboy18]

Quote:
My cats don't bother with my birds either. They used to, but now that they're a little bigger, they don't want anything to do with them...and the oldest are only ten weeks. However, my dog and rooster have started playing...my dog barks at him and my little roo starts to chase her. It's adorable!

 

[Sunshyne276]

Sorry to hear your cat got the babies. I know that my cats were a little more than curious about the chickens, when I first got them.
They chased my poor rooster all over the place, trying to leap on him, at first. lol
They are all very used to the chickens now, and I have no problems. The chickens even eat out of the cat feeder with the cats, no problem. lol
It will just take time.