how do i teach two indoor cats to get along with chickies

[AKsmama]

You never, ever trust your cats around the chicks, that's what you do. I don't care how docile your cats are or how long they've been indoor cats- they're still predators and they WILL at some point take a swipe at a chick. Now when the chicks are grown it might be a different story. If they're standards, then the chickens can probably take care of themselves. Not sure about bantams as I don't have any. My chicks are 5 weeks old and in a coop and covered run full time, but my two youngest cats still hang around and watch, just like they did when they were little babies in the brooder. I don't trust them one little bit at this point. I have indoor cats too and never trusted them either.

 

[azygous]

I read somewhere that cats are the one domesticated animal that has retained almost all of its wild instincts. You would do well to heed this and understand that cats are almost 100% instinct, and do everything to protect baby chicks from your cats.

I have a sixteen year old cat who is terrified of the chickens. However, I know full well, should a small chick jump to the ground off my lap and take off running, my cat would instantly react with the instinct to chase after anything small that moves. Tragedy would certainly ensue.

No, do not think for even a second that you can teach a cat to ignore its instincts.

 

[nicoletm24]

Quote:
i agree! sorry, but my outside, wonderful cat, would just LOVE to catch a chicky! it'd be easy dinner to him. so i make sure i watch them VERY VERY close. i haven't let him in the house since the babies hatched, bc hed be trying to get them through the cage.


cats are very much like a normal wild animal...there isn't much training a cat. they learn what THEY want to learn...nothing more, nothing less...they have quite the "my way or the highway" attitude.

goodluck.

 

[VioletandBodie]

Quote:
i got my got my cat to learn a few tricks (with treats and toys to grab there attention, or else there gone) and if kitty trys to hurt one of my exotic kitty get squirted with water (even the site of a spray bottle sends them running) now even so i would never trust i cat even one who doesn't like chicks or birds or rodents it only takes one fast grab for a cat to get chick and brake its neck a dog to

 

[Cattitude]

I've had cats all my life, and I agree that they cannot be trusted with young chickens, especially without supervision. They might play nice when you're around, or even while you're not around (if it suits them) but just one swipe of a lightning-fast paw, even in play, means a bad outcome for the chick. Sigh. I love my cats, but in order to have them in my home, I have to arrange my house around *them*.

 

[featherz]

Yup /agree. I have WONDERFUL fat and lazy indoor cats but I think they'd eat a chick in a heartbeat. When I have chicks inside, it's in a LOCKED room. My cats can even turn doorknobs so I installed a lock on the door with the incubator and the brooder. As I said earlier my barn cats (even the unneutered male stray that comes by) will not go within 20 feet of my older chickens (16 weeks) but a chick would be a mouthful and gone in an instant.

 

[Chick_In_The_Burbs]

I have three cats and three six week old chicks in a brooder in my living room (No, I'm not crazy; they were going to go into the garage but it started hiting 100+ in there so I brought them in for temperature control) Anycase, I have one cat who is TERRIFIED of the chicks. Yep. Completely cowed. My DH tried to 'introduce' them on day one. He just held Sunny in his hands and held her out for Bonzai to sniff. Poor Bonzai got pecked right on the nose. Now he wont get within 5 ft of the brooder. Cat #2, General, doesn't care. At all. He's the mellowest cat I have ever met and at most he'll just look at them for a few minutes and then go back to napping. However, Cat #3 is my Siamese, Peek-a-Boo. Definate interest, even if it's obvious she has no clue what to do about them. Sleeps on top of the brooder and stares for the most part. We only allow this when we're home to watch. We've caught her with her paw in the brooder a few times (But Ma, I just wanna touch one!). Seriously, she's been an indoor cat her entire life and the only wildlife she's encountered was a mouse so she's at a loss as to what they are. No aggression, just curious. When we're gone we set up SScats which are motion activated and 'hiss' a stream of air at the interloper. We got ours at Petsmart but I'm sure other places carry them too.

 

[Katy]

Chicks that are 2 months old don't even need to be in the house.....they can be outside in the coop.

 

[woodmort]

I've had more than a dozen different cats that I kept around chickens. The only problem I ever had was one of the first times I brooded chicks in the house and that was with one cat and only while the chicks were small. She managed to get into the room with them and killed a couple that were under 2 weeks old. Once, however, the chicks completely feathered out she lost interest in them. I would imagine this is about where most cats loss interest--when the chicks stop being baby birds. All my other cats, including the 5 we currently have, either ignore the chickens or are scared of them. I do, however, have full sized birds.

 

[sharol]

This is my hunter:

He brings home rodents by the score (mostly mice and voles from the pasture) not birds so much. However, he is VERY interested in the residents of my Hen Hoop. I hope when they are adults, he will respect them as pets and not see them as potential prey. In any case, I plan to supervise their free ranging until I see how he (and his 3 dog friends) behave.