Is there a breed of cat that is a better mouser?

[itsy]

Hey all. We recently moved and are going to be setting up our new chicken coop with 10 of our girls. The other night when we went out, we noticed a mouse running across the driveway and thought that we may see a problem in the future. Even before seeing the mouse, we were talking about getting a kitten or two. The place that we moved from had three active barn cats and we rarely saw little critters. Our chickens are used to free ranging with the cats, too.

So - Anyone know if any breed is particularly good at hunting? We were reading that female cats seem to wander less and stay home to hunt more. Will the cats help at deterring any other bigger predators? I know they wouldn't be taking down a large animal, but would their presence make some other animals think our place is less fun to visit?

Thanks for taking the time to share your opinions!

 

[CMV]

Quote:
No breed is better than another as far as I know. Yes, females seem to be better hunters from what I have observed. No, cats do not deter bigger predators. Their presence is actually an incentive to visit in the opinion of coyotes, foxes and fisher cats (who all love to eat unattended cats).

Good luck.

 

[bobbi-j]

Find a farmer who has an abundance of barn cats to get rid of. I don't know if there is any specific "breed" that would be better than another.

 

[Zonoma]

Quote:
We got lucky enough for a completely feral female to fall in love with our big, lazy tomcat. She taught him to hunt and he taught her that the chickens were off limits. Together, they are highly territorial and chase off racoons and other cats. I've even seen Diesel (our tomcat) stare down a large dog. As for who makes the best hunters? The kind that knows what hunger is. I recommend adopting one from a local shelter -ask for a kitten from a feral mama.


EDIT TO ADD: Or what bobbij said!

 

[clairabean]

Barn cats, or mixed mutts. I have had great luck with females, while the males seem a bit... lazier.

 

[War Chicken]

An integrated pest management program is better than cats. That means doing whatever you can to limit rodents' physical access, food, water, etc., while setting out traps.

When I lived overseas, I would come back from vacation to rat sign even though the useless cats had free reign of the house.

 

[itsy]

Quote:
Thanks for the tips everyone! Good point, War Chicken. We will do that as well, but we were going to be getting a couple kittens anyway and I figured I'd see if anyone knew of a better breed for the mousing because it wouldn't hurt.

It always frustrates me when the chickens eat less than what I give them and it ends up on the ground. I'm likely going to switch to pellets again because the crumbles get wasted and would attract critters.

 

[deserthens]

I had a 'mutt' neutered male cat that was a great mouser. Think it is an individual trait that some cats have and others don't. Good luck finding a mouser tht does not 'turn' on your chickens/baby chicks.

 

[bobbi-j]

The best mouser we have is our 95-lb black lab!

 

[itsy]

Quote:
You know what's interesting....but I'm sure not the "rule"... we got the chickens after living with those barn cats. Some were raised from chicks and others were adults. Those three male (neutered adult) cats never bothered the chickens and would even lay right beside them to sleep. The chickens had a favorite spot to take a dust bath and one of the cats would even come and roll around in the dust next to them when they bathed! We thought the cats would be a problem at first because we had seen them take down large rabbits, but they never bothered the chicks/chickens. I hope our luck doesn't change! We're keeping our eyes open for two female kitties.