How to catch a feral cat?

[Chickenman1994]

.17 hmr does a load of good when it comes to predators.

 

[featherhead007]

I would protect my hens at any cost. They can't defend themselves, whereas a stray cat becomes a predator and disease carrier and WILL BE ELIMINATED. Sorry stray cat lovers, but such is farm life!

 

[Chickenman1994]

I would protect my hens at any cost. They can't defend themselves, whereas a stray cat becomes a predator and disease carrier and WILL BE ELIMINATED. Sorry stray cat lovers, but such is farm life!

Agreed work to hard on the chickens for a old diseased cat kills em I’ll take matters into my own hands

 

[Hidrainja4]

Each area has there own resources. I have a no kill shelter and an animal warden that is very nice. Most people don't have those kind of resources. My shelter does not want anybody to know where they are, they only take strays through the animal warden or police department because they don't want baskets of puppies and kittens dumped on there door steps overnight. So speak to the animal warden or local vet they might know of a shelter if you can't find it online.

 

[sniper338]

Shoot it.

 

[Jimin]

Update: I just wanted to say thank you to those who responded after reading my entire post; greatly appreciate it. I spread clementine peels around the entire run and coop and tonight I didn’t hear a single meow ^^

On another note, to all the boomers who suggested I shoot the cat... I don’t own a gun. I don’t want to own a gun. I don’t want to kill the cat let alone shoot the thing. Regardless, I live in a suburban area where it is illegal for residents to kill stray/feral cats.

If your first mentality is to kill the thing that’s just trying to survive, please [redact] yourselves from this discussion. We’re humans. We are /the/ apex predator and some of us actually have something called logical reasoning. You think that the cat asked to be born? Do you think it knew that when it tried to get dinner, their human mother would Naruto run outside in the rain with nothing but a flashlight and a pair of scissors!?huh?! Do you?! Exactly. If you couldn’t see through my sarcasm, I was looking for the more humane alternatives other than killing the thing but clearly some of you just jumped to ammunition sizes.

Btw if y’all couldn’t read: I asked how to catch the thing not what bullet I should use luckily I found a temporary alternative that does not involve killing the thing. I’m shocked at some of your responses...

 

[qopt]

Chickens and cats hate citrus. The chickens won’t mess with it and it will keep any cats generally away. A good solution! But sadly temporary. While the citrus peels won’t rot quickly, the whole citrusy smell and overall effect will go away, I used citrus to keep feral cats away from the sandy part in my yard.. they were using it as their own yard sized kitty box. However it only lasted for a week give or take and the cats quickly returned. Then I had to deal with rats coming up and eating the leftover peels. Ick!
I agree with everyone saying to trap and take the feral cat to a feral cat shelter were it will be treated and rehomed. Seems like the best and most humane option. Good luck!

 

[Jimin]

Chickens and cats hate citrus. The chickens won’t mess with it and it will keep any cats generally away. A good solution! But sadly temporary. While the citrus peels won’t rot quickly, the whole citrusy smell and overall effect will go away, I used citrus to keep feral cats away from the sandy part in my yard.. they were using it as their own yard sized kitty box. However it only lasted for a week give or take and the cats quickly returned. Then I had to deal with rats coming up and eating the leftover peels. Ick!
I agree with everyone saying to trap and take the feral cat to a feral cat shelter were it will be treated and rehomed. Seems like the best and most humane option. Good luck!

Yeah I’m waiting for a response from my local animal control to borrow a trap and hopefully they take it away. I might start spreading leftover coffee grounds around the circumference of the run since coffee is less likely to attract pests. Might just cover the citrus peels with coffee too until animal control get back to me.

And thank you for including your experience! I’ve never had a problem with rats before but I’ll keep that in mind. I had one mouse show up but according to my dad, my girls ruthlessly pecked the thing to death.

 

[BGcoop]

One reason your neighbor cats don't bother your chickens may be due to the fact that they are well fed and not looking for any meal they can find.

 

[Manhen]

If that "feral cat" is like you described, malnourished, injured, and sick you need to let animal control do their job. It may seem cruel, but it has a very small chance of survival, and it is likely to be aggressive. I have caught cats in a live trap, accidentally. I was after a possum and it turns out an empty tuna tin is a bad idea. That poor animal lost half it's hair while in the cage less than a whole night due to nerves. The rhinestone collar made me feel much worse. If you can trap it without its demise it will take experienced care for it to recover. Isolation, quiet, and food it will probably recover from most problems. It will likely run off at the first opportunity. I would name it "Peter Rabbit" these days. Good luck.