My neighbor has 15+ cats and I'm afraid to let my chickens free range!

[wsmoak]

If you have full grown chickens including roosters, I wouldn't worry too much about cats. I have several, and occasionally one of mine thinks about stalking a chicken. That ends pretty quickly when the hen chases it off, or worse, makes a noise that brings the rooster running. Unless they are starving, the cats are probably not going to risk getting on the wrong side of a protective rooster!

Still, some electric net fence would be fairly easy (if not cheap) to put up, and would give you some peace of mind.

-Wend

 

[chicmom]

Both of my neighbors feed outdoor cats. One will is very responsible with all of her animals, including her dogs, and the other neighbors are just horribly irresponsible with their pets.

I was terrified of a cat getting one of my chickens for a while there. Mainly I have learned that the cats are very curious, but large fowl adult chickens are at no risk around a cat.

My bantams are what I really worry about, and I have them in their own, private coop and run. I only let them out when I'm outside working in the yard, or for some "free range playtime" at night, because I know they're pretty small and a cat could kill and eat them easily.

The crappy neighbor's dog is another story, and has grabbed a hen once, and another time I caught him running up my lawn towards my hens, but I stopped him just in time. Still I catch him in my driveway quite often, and IT DRIVES ME NUTS!

We currently have a big tom cat sneaking into our garage and I believe he pees in there sometimes. We will trap him and put him down. He is feral for sure.

Good luck and I do hope you get to free range them,
Sharon

 

[moetrout]

My old nasty neighbor had like 7 cats. I sent a couple to take a dirt nap and yet a couple more went home with holes in them. I really don't think they even cared about them one bit. I myself won't chance it. Any cat in my back yard where the chickens free range is considered a predator and treated as such.

Lucky for me those neighbors were evicted a couple of months ago.

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

My cats have never harmed a full grown chicken, if you don't feel comfortable with them around your coop then fill em' with led. Maybe that will teach your nieghbour that you are dead serious about keeping your girls safe.

 

[centrarchid]

Allow cat to interact with birds. If it attacks, then problem; if no attack, then all the concerns not an issue. Domestic cat going after adult chicken is infrequent. My birds readily chase cats, especially when tending chicks. Games hens actually fly at cats and rooster takes them head on.

 

[nicokl502]

there are a few outdoor cats where i live and they have never come in to backyard where my chickens live i don't know if it is because i have dogs but they love the wood right behind me right where i had my chickens and never had a problem, now dogs i have had a big problem with not my dogs but the people next door dog killed most of my chickens , and so now i have to start a new and rebuild my run to where no dog can get in, i think the bigger the chickens get the harder it is for cats to get them

 

[Ole rooster]

My one experence with a cat was years ago. I had a hen, RIR, the wife brought home from school as a chick that stayed in the back yard. She got to laying those brown things and was just being a chicken. One day I saw a black cat jump over the fence and start the low crawl stalking. The cat creeped up to the Freida to within 8 feet and I thought, you stupid chicken, you gonna let that cat take your head off. I just start to grab the door handle to go out and that hen turned on that cat, charged straight at it with wings flapping and doing some sort of yoodle/chicken scream. That cat jumped straight up and turned in mid air, took 3 strides and sail over the fence never to be seen again, as long as we lived there. Chickens are not totaly helpless.

 

[kinsey228]

Check out this post. They had a neighbor with cats also.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=7271403#p7271403

 

[corancher]

I am an animals lover. I have cats that live within the poultry barn for mice control. The cats do not bother adult birds and believe me a few have gotten a pecking and beating from one of the birds that decides the cat is stepping out of line.

Baby birds are a totally different story for the cats. The cats see them as pray thus we have to be super careful with making are baby bird area cat proof.
I would rather put up with this problem than deal with rodents.

 

[Mattemma]

I have had a few cats in my yard.They just climb over the chainlink. I don't think they would bother the larger poultry,but the little ones are at possible risk.I don't like neighboring pets in my yard,and would recommend trapping them for relocation IF they become a problem for you. Live traps work well,or coax to you with kindness.

Unless you are outside with the chickens you will never be able to prove the neighbors cat killed one unless you see it.Even then many times neighbors say," No way could my pet have killed your chickens!"