I need advice. my housemate wants to get a cat.

[danielbrown]

My cat is scared if the chickens. she is also scared of little chicks be cause she got flogged by a broody hen once.

 

[2DogsFarm]

Quote:
No offense taken

I have a housecat and a barncat & never the twain shall meet.
I had the housecat when I moved to the farm and she has always been an indoor cat.

Barncat wandered onto my farm with her brother when they were about 8 weeks old. Since I needed rodent control for the barn I was building, they got to stay.
I kept the kittens isolated in my basement until I could get them to a vet for shots & a onceover. Then they lived in the garden shed with acess to the fenced (unoccupied) henyard until the barn was finished.
Sadly he became roadkill at 6mos, she is quite happy being the sole Verminator at the barn.

ALL my cats are neutered, get annual shots - rabies, FeLu - and Revolution in flea season. Barncat is also treated for tapeworms each Spring & again if I see signs of infestation.

I see her 3X daily when I feed the horses. Then she gets fed too and most mornings & evenings she DEMANDS 15min of laptime which I am happy to oblige her.
In return my barn is vermin-free, all I ever see are the uneaten gallbladders (bitter!) of whatever she has killed and eaten and the occasional leftover 1/2 bunny - some near her size!
She has not impacted the rabbit population as far as I can tell and has only killed a few birds from the evidence left in my barn.

I worry when she disappears for more than a night as we have varmints - raccoons & coyotes - who would be more than a match for her. But that is the tradeoff for having a working outdoor cat.

I am confident she is too smart to try messing with my hens once they are loose all day in the (roofed) henyard while I'm at work. But I'll keep an eye on her anyhow at first.

 

[horsejody]

My barn cats have never bothered the chickens, not even the tiny little bantam that I used to have. She wasn't much bigger than a pigeon, and the cats ignored her. These cats have hunted and brought home quail and pheasants. They seem to know the difference.

 

[kittyariel]

My cats LOOOOVEEEE my birds!!!! they love to lay out back under the tree with them when they are out of their run

 

[Kitsap Cluckers]

My 9 year old cat was introduced to chickens for the first time this year, and he's terribly afraid of them. I would never let him around youngsters, though, because I know they would be a snack.

We have had three incidents with stray cats. The first two were adult cats that killed juvenile chickens. The third was a terribly hungry feral kitten that weighed less than a pound. It chased nearly grown chickens all over the yard. We were lucky enough to trap all the cats.

I think if a cat were starving it would go after a grown chicken, but as long as the cat is fed, it should be alright!

 

[Judy]

My cat pretends to stalk the chickens, who mostly ignore her. If she gets a bit close or startles them, they charge her, and she runs away, fast. I figure she has been pecked. She was full grown when I got my chicks last year. I've had chickens 3 or 4 times in past years and have always had at least one cat. Never had a cat attack a chicken. Doubt it would happen unless it was feral and quite hungry, as mentioned. Much less painful to take a mouse, rabbit, or similar. Oh, my cat does kill and eat mice.

 

[Kat'sChicks]

I have house cats and barn cats plus 28 chickens. My cats had never seen a chicken until a few months ago when I got a pair of Silkies. The first few weeks they were in the house (garage area), and the house cats could care less. When they moved out to their new coop, the barn cats were curious, but were told by the roo that they were NOT dinner!. After that, the cats would lay down near the silkies when they'd get let out for the day.
My BO chicks were sent out to the coop at 5 weeks after deciding to let themselves out of the pen in the garage and exploring the house unsupervised

. After a few days of acclimation I turned them loose with the Silkies (no problems at all), and the barn cats flocked over to check them out. Keep in mind there were 25 BO chicks all over the place, and a handfull of cats. I stayed outside to keep an eye on things just in case. I had a couple of kitties attempt to catch them, but they'd turn and run as soon as the chicks flapped and squawked. (That was followed by a swat on the butt from me along with a sharp "NO"). A couple of days later I saw 2 of the cats curled up in the pile at nap time. Now when I put them to bed at night, the Silkie roo stands in the roost by the ladder and supervises everyone going in to bed. He won't go in until all the others are inside, and then he stands in the doorway and crows

. I need to chase the cats out of the coop because they want to sleep with the chickens.
No problems here...lol.

 

[LaSombra]

I have 4 outdoor cats (not barn, but shed cats

) Two are just kittens but boy, when I had those chicks, Nacho, our fierce hunter, was very interested in them. I had to be very careful when cleaning their cage. The first time I did so, I put all the little chicks in one of those cat carrier boxes with the little holes in it while I cleaned the cage. Well, Nacho managed to get a finger/claw in a hole and grab a chick. The chick ended up being fine but after that, I have not trusted Nacho at all around my chicks. They're now 2 months old and almost as big as him but... Well, he likes to peek in their run and watch them.

It does totally depend on the cat, I'm sure. Our other adult cat, Oreo, is interested in watching them but at this age, I don't think she'd attempt a pounce. She did manage to sneak in the hen house when the kids left the door open once when the chicks were 1 month old. I, luckily, saw her right before she pounced and blocked her mid-pounce, sent her packing out the door.

All I can say is watch them closely when together at first to see how they interact. Be ready for blocking an attack. Cats are excellent hunters.

 

[Cheryl]

I have a maine coon cat, he eats everything and leaves the remains at my door...(unfortunately) I was very worried when I first got the girls, but they walk right up to him and peck him...so no problem!!! The girls rule, even the youngest and smallest !

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

New to chickens but I have four cats and a cockatiel. Each cat has been individually conditioned to leave the cockatiel alone - easier with some than others. Worst guy is our orange rescue; took him a long time to stop stalking the bird. The Himalayans would not be seen doing anything as undignified or energy-sapping as trying to kill the cockatiel and our black domestic shorthair has always just ignored him. All these cats will go after a bird outside, but seem to understand to leave the cockatiel alone.

They're all fascinated by our 3-week-old chicks. I'm not letting them get close to them until the birds are full-grown. I think the chickens will be able to hold their own then. We'll see.