Housing for barn cats and their kittens

[Elsveta641]

I am always on the lookout for ways to better my animals housing situations. The cats are someday going to have their own little building, but that depends upon my other house selling and as of yet that has not happened. And here I am in the middle of kitten season, unsatisfied with the arrangements.
I'm mostly concerned about predators, we've had a lot of raccoons lately. The cats sleep where they please, the barns or garage etc. And when someone has babies, she gets to stay in the house about a month before she and her litter graduate to the enclosed porch. During that time, the extra kittens are rehomed before the keepers and mama eventually are turned loose so she can teach them to hunt. Unfortunately this last litter is homely as all get out, and I haven't managed to give any away. So all 5 need to go outside with mama. They've pooped all over my porch for too long, they're 8 weeks old.
I'm curious what other people on farms do to minimize losses of baby mousers to predators. This litter also has the disadvantage of the father was a wanderer, normally the ones we keep has a father around who helps (at least part of the time) the queen train and defend the kittens. These poor ugly little babies do not.

 

[cavemanrich]

I rescue feral cats. I then have them all fixed. If I did not do that,,, I would have an Overpopulation in no time.
I don't see any easy solutions to protecting you kittens from predators. If you are on a farm, then maybe dedicate an outbuilding for them, if you have one.
As long as you are able to rehome all your extra kittens, then keep up what you are doing.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[Elsveta641]

Yes our barn cats were originally years ago chosen for traits that are desirable in our area so any barn kittens would be easy to find homes for. Dominant white, colorpoint and hairless genes. But of course this Siamese found a stray male and couldn't resist apparently. The resulting kittens are your typical ones you see overwhelming farms. Torti, bicolor and brown tabby. We are good about getting them altered. Only 2 males and 2 females are capable of reproducing here at this time out of 13 cats. We aim for 1-2 litters a year and this is the first time we have had any problems. Never thought I'd consider sweet little kittens a problem, but my oh my it is a lot of poops to clean up!

 

[chrissynemetz]

I'm just curious, how many mousers do you usually keep around? I have three at the moment, but I'm thinking this year three isn't enough to keep the mouse population in check

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Yes our barn cats were originally years ago chosen for traits that are desirable in our area so any barn kittens would be easy to find homes for. Dominant white, colorpoint and hairless genes. But of course this Siamese found a stray male and couldn't resist apparently. The resulting kittens are your typical ones you see overwhelming farms. Torti, bicolor and brown tabby. We are good about getting them altered. Only 2 males and 2 females are capable of reproducing here at this time out of 13 cats. We aim for 1-2 litters a year and this is the first time we have had any problems. Never thought I'd consider sweet little kittens a problem, but my oh my it is a lot of poops to clean up!

Do you usually sell the kittens? What's the advantage of letting those cats have litters?

 

[Elsveta641]

Do you usually sell the kittens? What's the advantage of letting those cats have litters?

I rehome them for 10 usd or a grocery sack full of non moldy bread or vegetables/fruits for the chickens. Not free ever, I've heard too many horror stories of free pets used for bait. Cats are the best hunters the first few years of life. After around 3 years old they begone to lose interest and only hunt if it is necessary to their survival (here it is not and they indeed quit). This is not a rule of course but a generalization. So to ensure a fresh batch of hunters each year I allow one or two litters. I only leave the best hunters unaltered and each queen is only allowed to give me 3 litters, if she is chosen to breed, before she is altered. I need about 4-5 prolific hunters at all times to not get over run with vermin.

People also take cats, not kittens, from my farm at the rate of 3-5 a year. People come to buy birds or for the construction business and say "omg what a beautiful cat!" And off they go. I never deny a barn cat a chance to be a housecat. 1-2 litters a year is the amount we need to keep our population stable. It is controlled and planned breeding of livestock. We do not adopt random cats for this purpose because we want the best hunters possible so we breed them, it is just good business. I dont want to be feeding a (bigger) gang of rescued freeloaders or gamble on whether or not a rescue will hunt. We did have some feral rescues from a shelter but they left after about 3 months.

Hope that information helps you

 

[Elsveta641]

I'm just curious, how many mousers do you usually keep around? I have three at the moment, but I'm thinking this year three isn't enough to keep the mouse population in check

I need a minimum of about 5 to keep our farm vermin free. Some years, like during the mink invasion last year, it's all hands on deck! Most of our adult cats are altered pets approaching old age and altered cats we've taken in for people in bad situations. Those rarely hunt unfortunately lol. Our best hunters are always young males 9 months to 3 years old and queens with kittens. Its gorgeous to watch a mother cat teach her babies to round up mice in the poultry barn. It's like a ballet mixed with a little rodeo!

 

[chrissynemetz]

My best mouser is a 2 year old rescue. He even gets the occasional prairie dog, but we're seriously overrun with mice this year.

 

[chrissynemetz]

Clyde does love his naps though

 

[Elsveta641]

My best mouser is a 2 year old rescue. He even gets the occasional prairie dog, but we're seriously overrun with mice this year.
View attachment 1857581

This is Alice Cooper. My cousin lives in the city and found him as a kitten. Shed made a post on Facebook that if no one could take him he would have to go to the shelter as her landlord didn't allow pets. No one could take him and I watched as several posted comments that black cats were bad luck. Yeah in 2018 and people still honestly believed that.
Well of course I caved and took him home. By 3 months old he was killing mice. Shortly before his first birthday I watched him kill an adult raccoon. Unfortunately he occasionally took a chicken, but I seemed to have taught him to stop. He was technically a rescue and has been one of my best hunters ever. He is one of our 2 unaltered Tom's. Once he slows in his work or has provided us a litter he will be fixed, whichever comes first.