Introducing dogs & cats to chicken life...?

[KattyKillFish]

depends on your cat and dog. some cats and dogs just want to eat, some just want to cuddle.

 

[crooked stripe]

The barn cats have nothing to do with them. I do have heavy breed chickens though.

 

[faithweaver]

We have twenty five two week old chicks that are very healthy and happy in their oversized brooder. Currently, it is in the garage on a tarp with wood chips. The draft guard was 18 inches high, but we noticed one of the chicks had actually flown to the top of the edge at a little over a week old, so we have added a kind of plastic fencing to the outside to extend. We have a dog - australian shepherd and a cat. We have introduced the dog, but not the cat. The cat goes in and outdoors and has caught birds and chipmunks even though he does not have front claws. We are getting ready to move our chicks to a chicken coop, which will have a large fenced in area out the back. Ideally, we would like to have the chickens free range, but are worried about the cat. We also live in a wooded area and have raccoons, opossum and fox. Do you think we could range feed during the day and call them in to the coop in the evening for safety or should we keep them fenced day and night? Thank you for your input and advice.

 

[aidenbaby]

I have a dog (mixed herding group) and 4 cats. Of the 4 cats, 3 are mousers... excellent mousers. I'm really only worried about the chicks as they are young. Once the chicks are full grown I'll be more likely to trust the cats around them around the birds. My cats seem to know which animals are "friends" and which are dinner. I've attempted to rescue a baby mouse before and my best mouser would only sniff it. I would never trust them alone though so my birds will never be allowed to run the back yard unless I am out there too.