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

[PirateGirl]

I would spend the $5 to fix your trash cans. It will help with rodents too. A gate latch and carabiner can secure most type of lids. Or with my round can I just take a bungee cord and run it diagonal across the lid from handle to handle.

Also if we know your location, country and/or state/province we might be able to suggest a cat rescue group that would help you trap them and get the homes where they get fed and/or educate the current owners at no cost to you.

 

[User395221]

And this may not have been my best decision ever, but during the winter I even set up a little shelter and provided them with cheap cat food at the far edge of our property

They'll be thinking that your property is part of their territory, unfortunately.
Definitely squirting them with the hose should deter any you see around and about, but if they are really looking for food at your place, that desire might exceed the not wanting to get squirted one.
How many are there? Have the neighbours been letting them interbreed or are they neutered? Are you sure they belong to the neighbours and aren't feral? How many of them are roaming about?
Difficult situation. As a first step, I'd increase security so they can't get in to the coop or your shed. Cats aren't the only ones who might be marauding around, if you live in the country. I saw videos of those raccoons, you need to keep them out if you live where they are.

 

[LDSmama]

I had a dog who regularly jumped our 6-foot, wooden fence.

And because I'm curious, if you don't have trash service, what do you do with it? I'm assuming you don't just keep it in your garage forever? Do you have to transport it to the dump yourself?

 

[Zinjifrah]

If you're worried about the cats in the coop, a hot wire around the bottom should be pretty effective, as well. Not many cats will even try for a large bird, and if they did, they'd get their butt kicked - by the bird. My cats stare longingly up at the Serama chick cage, but the little one-month-old Sebrights terrify them already.

 

[PollyGirl21]

If your neighbors are starving their cat to the point that it gets desperate, that is animal abuse. You should catch the cat and call an animal shelter. Starving an animal is never okay. The cat should be put in a better home, were it will be well cared for by someone who DOESN'T have chickens!

 

[KettermanHillCoop]

Cats drive me insane! I have to have my dogs licensed, leashed, contained, under control...yada, yada, yada or face legal ramifications...but cats...and their dang owners? Nothing! Free to roam, crap, piss, spray... They use your garden as a cat box. Rip apart trash. Oh...and that God-awful smelling spray! I'm not a fan of the cat...

 

[PollyGirl21]

Cats can drive some people insane, I know. But no animal should be starved. The neighbors should take better care of their cats, so they don't bother other people, or hurt their chickens.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Does your coop have a roof? We have a cat and he climbs all over our coop but can't get in.
On another note, this may sound weird, but we have found that our cats won't climb on anything that has tinfoil on it. I have no idea if it works for other cats, but we had the cats scratching on our door frame and the cet suggested tinfoil. We covered it and they stopped scratching. After about a month, we took it down and they still don't scratch.
Although if they are starving, they may not care.

 

[CannedMonster]

Our cat came to us as a feral kitten. My husband slowly tamed her.
We got her spayed and vaccinated.
She is very bonded to my husband and he to her.
She goes outside and hunts rodents and birds.
Now that we have chickens, I wasn’t sure how she would be.
She’s terrified of them lol.
She won’t leave the house til the chooks go to bed and comes in before we let them out.
I’ve been reading on BYC for a couple of years now and I’ve never heard of a cat going for an adult standard sized chicken.
The chicken would beat up the cat lol.
Especially if there’s a roo in the flock!

 

[Mckennas poultry]

Do what you want to do, a cat can’t kill a fully grown chicken especially when you have a rooster in the flock

If anything happens than talk to the neighbor about it, in my opinion the cat was just looking for small birds, mice etc as mice and small birds frequently visit all chicken runs for food