Just caught the neighbors cat trying to get into my chicken pen..... Now what?!

[Mraya]

We were given two cats once. One took up living in the chicken yard. Great mouser, never bothered a chicken or a chick. Later when both of those were gone we got a kitten to be a mouser. She was great. We have an electric netting fence around our chicken yard so we thought she would just stay out. Once chicks were born she became determined to get in and used the wood pole at the gate to do so. All my efforts to stop that failed because she was a very determined cat. She would even let herself get shocked in order to get in. I had to have her re-homed. Cats are different. No one individual experience with cats or dogs can be the rule for all cats or dogs. While it seems unlikely a cat will kill a grown chicken I wouldn't rule it out. Any cat that is a small animal hunter will likely kill chicks. Grown hens and roosters will probably not be able to stop that.
I asked an old timer once what to do about a dog that killed chickens. The only advice he offered was to kill the dog. Once upon a time when people were dependent on their livestock for food they wouldn't think twice about killing any predator that threatened their livestock. But now that people are not dependent on their flock and keep them as pets as much as for food, it becomes harder for people to make that choice. I am sure in most rural areas however it is still OK to kill any dog or cat on your property that is killing your livestock. Our electric netting fence mostly eliminates the danger and thus the need to make that choice. However a small determined cat could get through at the bottom and a large determined dog could just rumble over. And the electric netting is pretty pricey. We got ours after two dogs went on a rampage and killed 30 of our chickens. While it is not a guarantee it does provide us with a lot more protection.

 

[Mraya]

It is up to you. You need to do what will protect you flock. Only you know.

 

[Mommahentwins]

We free range our chickens and do see feral cats from time to time.

To our knowledge we've never had a cat attack or kill any of our birds. We do have roosters though that protect and watch our large flock.

If you're worried about it attacking if the cat is not eating enough you could always take over their care and feed them.

So I have feral cats but my chickens are used to seeing them however a new feral decided to go inside the coop with the usual visitor the squirrel. It was only inside the coop for a minute or two the cat that is and tonight none of my hens went into the coop.
Any suggestions I'm not home every
night and have an automatic door. Tonight was traumatic

 

[lagrange chicks]

Shoot the cat it's probably killing alot of song birds.

 

[No Coop No Problem]

Shoot the cat it's probably killing alot of song birds.

Natural selection. I have songbirds all over my property as well as outdoor cats. No need to murder random innocent animals

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

Shoot the cat it's probably killing alot of song birds.

2x. It seems like a sad thing to do, but defending innocent lives from a murdering animal is the best outcome.

 

[my spoiled chickens]

Use the hose

 

[lagrange chicks]

Natural selection. I have songbirds all over my property as well as outdoor cats. No need to murder random innocent animals

Unless it's a bobcat or Couger it is not a cat to be running around in the wild. It's more a shame that there are people that decide they don't want a animal anymore and drop them off somewhere for someone else to deal with, happens here all the time.

 

[my spoiled chickens]

Unless it's a bobcat or Couger it is not a cat to be running around in the wild. It's more a shame that there are people that decide they don't want a animal anymore and drop them off somewhere for someone else to deal with, happens here all the time.

We have 5 barn cats that way but we train them to only attack pests (mice rats moles)