How would you scare off a cat?

[jessandlucy]

During the last 2 weeks or so, next doors cat has realised we have a hen in the backyard. How good are cats at catching chickens? So far we have heard her start clucking and come outside to chase the cat off, but it keeps coming back. I threw water on it today.

The neighbours will come out if they hear the clucking and I assume either call the cat back or come into the backyard and grab it. I'm just worried it will come into the yard one day when no one is home in either house.

I threw water at it today. If I keep doing that, do you think it will get the message? It's only a young cat, I think.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome! how old/ large is your chicken? Only one? Most cats will be happy to catch small chicks, and uninterested or wary of standard hens. Young birds need protection, and predator protection is a constant struggle when keeping chickens. Mary

 

[BIggoMamma]

Cats eat birds. Cats are predators. Cats have not been domesticated nearly as long as dogs and have wilder habits. Cats are nocturnal and the cat may come back to eat your chickens when they are asleep on the roost. I would talk with my neighbor and see if it is an indoor cat (nasty) or outdoor cat and ask the neighbor to keep it at home.

 

[BIggoMamma]

Cats eat birds. Cats are predators. Cats have not been domesticated nearly as long as dogs and have wilder habits. Cats are nocturnal and the cat may come back to eat your chickens when they are asleep on the roost. I would talk with my neighbor and see if it is an indoor cat (nasty) or outdoor cat and ask the neighbor to keep it at home.

 

[JaeG]

Cats might try catching a bantam but not a larger hen. Cats prefer small, fluttery or scurrying prey. My chickens are kept in a large roofed run - that way I can ensure their safety. I did have some Orpington pullets free ranging until I found a hawk circling them. So they got integrated with the others pretty quick!

 

[Woytgirl]

if that cat tried to mess with my hens, i'd either kick it, scream at it, or blast it with the hose on jet setting

 

[Messica]

I'm not sure where you live, but if I catch a cat on our property I drop if off at the local shelter. If someone wants to let their cat outside that's their business, but if it strays onto my yard that becomes my business. Especially if the straying directly impacts the safety of my critters. Having to pay a fee to reclaim their cat once may not be enough to teach the lesson, but two, three or four times they'll eventually find a way to keep better control of where it goes.

 

[Messica]

Scaring it or spraying it will only work when you're around. Cats are incredibly smart and will eventually just figure out when you're not there supervising to then do what they're going to do.

There's no way I'd put all my eggs in that basket so to speak.

 

[Wandercreek]

I've always had barn cats. They are neither nasty, nor bad. They've co-existed with my chickens for years and the chickens are perfectly calm and secure around them.
They've never killed a chick, but I have no doubt that they would, given the opportunity. They are uninterested in grown chickens.
You can try to scare it off, but it will come back if it wants to.

If your chickens are small enough to be cat prey, they are small enough to be taken by quite a few other predators as well. Best that you protect the young with secure housing. If you let grown chickens outside unsupervised, I would say that the cat is the very least of your worries as far as predators go.

 

[LovesAGoodYolk]

I have lots of cats and lots of chickens. I can't imagine that a fully grown standard size chicken could be overcome by the average cat. Your chicken just needs to teach it a good lesson in neighborly manners. If you know how it is betting into your yard, try an electrified wire. I hope you have more than one chicken, as it needs other chickens.