how to keep chickens out of cat food

[joye]

i have some chickens that will fly over the fence; they ultimately at first wondered to the back porch but now come straight to it to eat my cat food. What is someway to devise a cat food eating place to keep the chicks out? i put the pan on top of grill but the chicks jump up there. Really frustrating to me. HELP!

 

[Folly's place]

I feed my barn cat while the chickens are still locked in; never leave the food out. He gets two meals daily of good quality food, so no waste and nobody else gets any. Mary

 

[Kelsie2290]

We also pretty much pick up the dog or cat food during the day and just have it out at night. If your cats are averaged sized and the chickens are standard sized, you maybe could also put the cat food in a box etc with a hole / pet door type thing in it that the cats can get in but the chickens can't/ won't. Are they your chickens or do they belong to a neighbor?
and Welcome to BYC!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I would let my hens eat all the cat food they wanted, it makes the eggs taste like the ocean, fishy.

 

[annagarret]

My hens loooooove cat food. I haven't noticed a different taste though. I will have to pay more attention.

 

[ShellyLynnW]

For me, it comes down to two options, either feed when they're (my chickens) put away for the night, or if possible before they are let out. Or the other option is to stand outside while the cats eat, keeping the chickens at bay until your cats finish and bring the bowls back in. I actually found this post looking to see if there was another option as I have a pregnant cat, and she wants more food! I guess I'm not the best cat "rescuer", rescued two cats last summer and had NO idea they could get pregnant this early! Yikes! Well, guess I'll have more mouths to feed here soon, hoping the kittens will actually hunt the rodents and keep them away, and hoping they are as good with my chickens as my two rescues! (I wasn't a chicken person, until I raised chickens. I was NOT a cat person until I found two kittens in desperate situations, NOW I'm a full fledged chicken, cat, dog, goat lady, lol, and excited about adding more animals to the mix!) Hoping to rescue from kill pens as well, so if anyone knows of any, particularly in Ohio & surrounding States, please let me know, but willing to go further if need be!