Housing a feral cat inside the chicken run for rodent control?

[catfalls]

My land is a certified wildlife habitat and I have many birds, rabbits, fox, deer and more species that live here, so just having "barn cats" on the property is too much of a danger to my wildlife population.
I've kept chickens for 16 years, in a predator-proof run and coop (never been breached by anything other than rodents and snakes). I currently have 26 birds, both full-size and bantams. I keep my bulk feed in sealed containers in a separate storage cabinet and I use peppermint and other oils and cayenne in this enclosure, so no rodent problem there. But in the coop and run I still have an ongoing rodent problem and this scented deterrent requires constant refreshing and even then doesn't really have any effect in these large open-air spaces. I've tried different types of feeders, but none work well as feeders or rodent control. I keep a few traps but, again, this is labor intensive (forever) and doesn't provide a permanent solution. Because of my protected wildlife habitat, poisons are not in the conversation.
I am a "cat person" having had indoor cats for 48 years and a few outdoor feral cats as well. To my knowledge none of my feral cats ever bothered my chickens even when they free range, but eventually I have lost all outdoor-only cats to predators. So, I have been considering bringing in a young feral cat to live inside my enclosed cat run. This cat would have access to the run and the coop, in hopes it will reduce the rodent population. Hopefully keeping it inside their enclosure would negate its ability to kill the wildlife that live on my property. I'm thinking that if a get a young feral and it becomes accustomed to the chickens, it will not harm them. My run is approx 300 square feet and has a separate enclosed area (approx 60 sq.ft) that I can use as the "cat house" when I open the run up for free-range access. I'm wondering if anyone has experience housing a feral cat inside their chicken enclosure for rodent control.

 

[arianna7]

dosent sound like a good idea, just because you havent had problems in the past dosent mean you wont have problems when you let them live together!

 

[HollowOfWisps]

The feral cats in my barn have happily co-existed with my chickens and ducks ever since we moved in. They eat all of the mice, moles and rats. I will often see a rodent dangling from a cat’s mouth or left dead on my doorstep lol. They even will sleep with the chickens at night and have been great for keeping unwanted guests out. The only issue I had was with one of the tom cats. As my 7 year old put it “I think he thinks the chicks are chicken nuggets”, but that was solved by putting hardware cloth on my brooder floor to ceiling. Once the chicks were 2-3 weeks old he left them alone.

 

[arianna7]

ok lol i thoght they lived seprate, but if they ave lived together for a long time then i should be fine. sorry!!!

 

[arianna7]

btw in your profile pic your horses forlock is beautifu!!

 

[catfalls]

The feral cats in my barn have happily co-existed with my chickens and ducks ever since we moved in. They eat all of the mice, moles and rats. I will often see a rodent dangling from a cat’s mouth or left dead on my doorstep lol. They even will sleep with the chickens at night and have been great for keeping unwanted guests out. The only issue I had was with one of the tom cats. As my 7 year old put it “I think he thinks the chicks are chicken nuggets”, but that was solved by putting hardware cloth on my brooder floor to ceiling. Once the chicks were 2-3 weeks old he left them alone.
View attachment 3986179

I move my broody hens and their eggs into a brooder and they live there until they are at least 7-8 weeks old, so the cat wouldn't ever be exposed to them until they join the rest of the flock.

 

[catfalls]

btw in your profile pic your horses forlock is beautifu!!

???

 

[nuthatched]

???

I believe she was talking to hollow of wisps.

A cat should work, mine ignore the birds and sometimes the mice, so usually the birds usually get them.
Another thing I'd recommend is a product called mouse x, it's not a poison so it won't bother your chickens, cats, hawks etc or you. It's a type if salt that keeps rodents from sensing thirst so the die of dehydration, it's only affective on rodents, nothing else.

 

[catfalls]

The feral cats in my barn have happily co-existed with my chickens and ducks ever since we moved in. They eat all of the mice, moles and rats. I will often see a rodent dangling from a cat’s mouth or left dead on my doorstep lol. They even will sleep with the chickens at night and have been great for keeping unwanted guests out. The only issue I had was with one of the tom cats. As my 7 year old put it “I think he thinks the chicks are chicken nuggets”, but that was solved by putting hardware cloth on my brooder floor to ceiling. Once the chicks were 2-3 weeks old he left them alone.
View attachment 3986179

I move my broody chicks and their eggs into a brooder inside a separate building. They don't move out to the coop until they are at least 7-8 weeks old and, even then, they have "mom" to protect them.

 

[Ecarroll]

My land is a certified wildlife habitat and I have many birds, rabbits, fox, deer and more species that live here, so just having "barn cats" on the property is too much of a danger to my wildlife population.
I've kept chickens for 16 years, in a predator-proof run and coop (never been breached by anything other than rodents and snakes). I currently have 26 birds, both full-size and bantams. I keep my bulk feed in sealed containers in a separate storage cabinet and I use peppermint and other oils and cayenne in this enclosure, so no rodent problem there. But in the coop and run I still have an ongoing rodent problem and this scented deterrent requires constant refreshing and even then doesn't really have any effect in these large open-air spaces. I've tried different types of feeders, but none work well as feeders or rodent control. I keep a few traps but, again, this is labor intensive (forever) and doesn't provide a permanent solution. Because of my protected wildlife habitat, poisons are not in the conversation.
I am a "cat person" having had indoor cats for 48 years and a few outdoor feral cats as well. To my knowledge none of my feral cats ever bothered my chickens even when they free range, but eventually I have lost all outdoor-only cats to predators. So, I have been considering bringing in a young feral cat to live inside my enclosed cat run. This cat would have access to the run and the coop, in hopes it will reduce the rodent population. Hopefully keeping it inside their enclosure would negate its ability to kill the wildlife that live on my property. I'm thinking that if a get a young feral and it becomes accustomed to the chickens, it will not harm them. My run is approx 300 square feet and has a separate enclosed area (approx 60 sq.ft) that I can use as the "cat house" when I open the run up for free-range access. I'm wondering if anyone has experience housing a feral cat inside their chicken enclosure for rodent control.

I think it sounds like a cool idea, especially if you keep chicks separate until they are a bit older like you said. Please update us on how it goes if you try it!