my cats killed one of my chickens, what now?

[notducky]

I'm heartbroken! They ganged up on her and killed her for sport. I don't know what to do. They are indoor/outdoor cats and my birds free range all day. I can never trust them around the birds again. What to do? Has anyone else had this happen? What did you do?

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I'm so sorry, usually a chicken can hold their own with a cat. Do you have a rooster? A roo might be better able to keep the cats in their place. But really, the only 100% solution is to keep one of the two species locked up.

 

[sourland]

I'm so sorry, usually a chicken can hold their own with a cat. Do you have a rooster? A roo might be better able to keep the cats in their place. But really, the only 100% solution is to keep one of the two species locked up.

X 2 Now that they have perfected the technique, they will hunt together again - it's their nature.

 

[notducky]

I'll get rid of the cats before I get rid of the chickens. I do have a roo but he's still young, maybe 20weeks old. They jumped the fence and killed the poor girl inside the run. I'm so disgusted with those furballs!

 

[lazy gardener]

Are you POSITIVE that the cats did it, and not an other predator??

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I'll get rid of the cats before I get rid of the chickens. I do have a roo but he's still young, maybe 20weeks old. They jumped the fence and killed the poor girl inside the run. I'm so disgusted with those furballs!

They're cats. You can't blame an animal for doing what it's designed to do. Can you cover the top of the run to keep them out? Can you install motion sprinklers to keep them away?

 

[sourland]

They're cats. You can't blame an animal for doing what it's designed to do. Can you cover the top of the run to keep them out? Can you install motion sprinklers to keep them away?

It's not the fault of the cats - they are just being cats. Make your run impregnable to predators and only allow monitored free ranging.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Are you POSITIVE that the cats did it, and not an other predator??

I was wondering the same. I've never, ever had cats do anything like this, much less as a team and that's in many years of owning chickens and many farm cats along the way. I'm sure not saying it can't happen, don't get me wrong I don't mean it like that, it's just unusual.

 

[lazy gardener]

Also, to my knowledge, house cats are lone hunters, not pack hunters.

 

[HighStreetCoop]

I was wondering the same. I've never, ever had cats do anything like this, much less as a team and that's in many years of owning chickens and many farm cats along the way. I'm sure not saying it can't happen, don't get me wrong I don't mean it like that, it's just unusual.

Yes, domestic cats are not pack hunters.