Mean Kittens Bloodied my Hen :(

[shmccarthy]

Whenever I cut meat for jerky, I save the fat trimmings and use them for my live traps. Really any kind of meat would do, tuna would probably work the best for your trap but you want to be careful you don't attract any more unwanted visitors by the smell of it. Good luck, I hope you can catch them.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I'm sorry to hear about your hen. If you can't trap the cat, have your garden hose ready to squirt it. That will usually keep a cat away. If you live in Tucson, the cat problem will likely go away soon as the coyotes are very effective at keeping the population down. Of course you'll very soon be dealing with coyotes too. If you haven't found us already, drop in and say hello on our BYC AZ thread.

 

[sandovaljose214]

shot those stupid cats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[enola]

I never said cats don't attack chickens. I just have never had any personal experience with it or know of anyone who has. Especially kittens.

I was not referring to anyone in particular...... I did not intend to offend you or anyone else. I was referring to a former post where someone asked if it was possible that their neighbor's cat was attacking their chickens.

 

[sandovaljose214]

i never heard that

 

[shmccarthy]

shot those stupid cats !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know that may be the first feeling web something like that happens, but it is not a good idea what so ever. Cats are protected in a lot of areas, whether they are stray, feral or domesticated. Shooting/killing a cat is against the law in most places, that I know of at least, and someone could get into some trouble for shooting one. Not to mention, there are a lot of better ways of solving predator problems than shooting the antaganizor. Cats are protected under the "right to roam" act and although a lot of animals can be killed/shot if they are killing/worrying livestock, cats are not one of them..

 

[War Chicken]

There is no "right to roam act" and cats are shot all the time for bothering livestock.

Legal or not, if you're discrete you can just kill and dispose of them in whatever manner is most convenient for you.

 

[aart]

'Right to Roam' act??

 

[enola]

If cats are bothering my chickens his right to roam days are over. I practice SSS here. It works wonders!

 

[shmccarthy]

I should've been more specific, sorry. The "right to roam" is mainly practiced in the UK but the same ideas are in the United States and district of Colombia.
http://www.alleycat.org/page.aspx?pid=302
It is a crime to kill a cat in all 50 states

It's kind of a shady area and not a lot of information is available for it for one reason or another. Cats were considered an invasive species because of being brought over by the Europeans. I do not agree with the law and I think that cats should be treated like dogs when worrying or killing livestock and be shot with no repercussions. But I have read and have had people tell me that there are laws against it. I posted it because I dot want the OP to get into legal trouble for something that was suggested.
There are animals that cannot be killed on your property even if they are harming your animals, unfortunately. Some of those animals (in my state) include; birds of prey, owls, fox, cats and opossums. I looked this up on the DNR website a few weeks ago because I was curious. Farmers can get special permits to kill some of those animals but not all of them. Some of the farmers here have permits to kill sandhill cranes even though they are technically protected. There's a lot of grey areas and special circumstances for where you live and what the conditions are and I didn't even know half of this until I started digging. I always thought it was okay to shoot a cat on my property until someone told me it was illegal and I found out it was. I'm not trying to be *that person* but I'm just putting that information out there. Again, I want to reiterate that I don't agree with it, but that's just what I know. And I may be wrong but I wouldn't want the OP to get into legal trouble over taking advice and doing something as menial as shooting a cat attacking the chickens.



An article about free roaming cats and how to handle them
http://www.mchumane.org/documents/Free-RoamingCats.pdf

Edit: after further reading, opossums are not on that list. I read it in a brochure upstate, but I think I was mistaken.