Keeping my chicks safe from my cat

[mrbstephens]

I have 7 week old chicks and am working on a coop and run for them. The run will be for day time use only and they get locked up at night. My neighbor gave me free wire fencing. It's that green kind with the 2 or 3 inch spacing. It'll keep the chicks in, but from time to time they'll stick their heads through the openings to peck at some vines nearby. I'm wondering if they're in danger of getting their heads bitten off by my cat.

My cat killed one last week when I let the chicks out to free range and didn't realize my cat was also out.

He pounced on it and bit it once on the top of it's head and it died almost instantly. Also my fencing is only 4 feet high. I have part of it divided right now and covered so the chicks won't fly out. How long will it be before I can let them be in the entire run with no cover.....I mean when will they be too heavy to be able to fly over the fence?

 

[Judy]

You didn't say what breed they are, but most chickens can fly at least 5' high. And predators can easily reach through fencing with holes that large. Safest is 1/2" hardware cloth. Sorry, I know that is not what you want to hear.

 

[mrbstephens]

No not what I wanted to hear. The run IS just for day time use. The only day time predator I have here is my cat. I have 1 partridge rock(pretty sure it's a rooster), 1 light brahma, 1 austrolorp, 1 RIR, and 2 EEs.

 

[mrbstephens]

Are they still in danger when they are grown chickens???

 

[gwennym]

I have 3 cats (down from 8 --- the rest were coyote chow, I think).
They barely looked at my baby chicks until they chicks were on their own and no longer dependent on my brooder hen. From that time on, my cats stalked those baby chicks every time I let them out. So, I now leave the chicks in the run until they are large enough to either fly from the cats or the cats no longer think they are an easy target. My 3 cats LOVE to hunt birds around our place (6 acres), so if it's small enough, it's fair game.

My advice -- use hardware cloth around the inside of the run to keep the little ones from either sneaking out or sticking their heads through the large fencing. Then leave them in the run until they are big enough to fend for themselves.

Gwen

 

[mrbstephens]

How high should the hardware cloth be? Is 2 feet enough? Trying to save on $$$! If the wire fencing is 4' and I add 2 ' of hardware cloth along the bottom would that due? Thanks.

 

[StupidBird]

My hens (?) are 3 1/2 months old, and my cat was predatory towards them from day one to just recently still always hanging around to see what's going on. Yesterday I let them out to wander the garden with me and while shoo - ing them back into the run afterwards, they crowded down the same path the cat sat in. For a moment it was a standoff, the birds not wanting to pass the cat and the cat not wanting to move. Then one jumped/flew over the cat and the cat completely flipped out in panic, slamming its body through the tomato cages and raced off to the house! I think mine are now officially not cat bait anymore.

 

[mrbstephens]

Good luck with that! Don't let your guard down like I did. My cat was just chasing them around from time to time. I thought he was just harassing them and that the chicks were already too big(7 weeks old) for my cat to get them. Next thing I know, one was dead.

I don't think my cat wanted to eat it. He pounced once and bit it's head leaving it there it rot(so to speak).

 

[Jolyn]

We built a run that is completely enclosed mostly because of my cat. (nickname KILLER) At one point we had the chicks in the coop and they could stick their heads out a place where there was chicken wire.....had i not been walking around the corner right as my cat was stalking them i think he would have torn off their heads.

My hens are now over a year old and they can free range and the cat won't bother them. Once he slipped into the run and they pecked his butt pretty good. He was not happy!!

Seven weeks is too young to be let out alone imo. They are still too young and small to defend themselves. I say if you are going to let them free range at such an early age be prepared for them to be eaten up.

Like StupidBird says bellow hardware cloth around the bottom of a coop is a must!

 

[StupidBird]

Ooops, a little off topic up there...my cat could easily reach a full leg length through the chicken wire to go chick-fishing. Wish I had a photo of that! Immediately I added hardware cloth - about 2 feet high - around the bottom of the chicken wire enclosure to prevent that. Luckily I did, because two weeks after that a loose dog went beserk trying to tear through to the birds. (no harm except to my shoulder from trying to beat the dog with a shovel) I think it would've torn right through the chicken wire alone The birds are locked up in the chicken house part at night.