Neighbors cat hanging out around my chickens

[Bawkbok]

I have a Buff Orpington I could loan you - LOL- she'd chase that cat away. She chases everything away, including our 70 lb dog as he slowly lumbers by. He doesn't want anything to do with her as she tries to peck his butt while he's walking away. Fearless, that one.

 

[FrostRanger]

I have a Buff Orpington I could loan you - LOL- she'd chase that cat away. She chases everything away, including our 70 lb dog as he slowly lumbers by. He doesn't want anything to do with her as she tries to peck his butt while he's walking away. Fearless, that one.

Funny, I actually had to keep Ginkgo from chasing one of the cats who occasionally visits away. IG given she hasn't been around lately Ginkgo felt the need to assert her dominance, like ma'am, that kitty wasn't bothering you, she just wants to eat the cat food on the porch and leave xD

 

[lv9777]

I have a feral cat that would love to catch a baby chick, but he is no match for the mother hens and knows it. He watches and thinks about it, but the mothers won't let him within 10 feet of the chicks without flying at him and running him off. He has no interest in the adults and they will steal his food from his bowl if I let them. There is always an exception and maybe a less vigilant mother hen, but in my experience most cats are not a problem around large chickens.

 

[McChooky]

Cats won't be discouraged by a spray of water, a couple of large dual purpose chickens is the permanent solution to any cat problem.
My neighbor cats are great hunters. They always got along well, with the chickens ignoring the cats and the cats nearby minding their own business. When a cat started stalking a chicken, the chicken would immediately attack the cat. This summer, my chickens went broody and I let them hatch some chicks. I was already prepared to lose at least half the chicks to cats. This never happened. Instead, the cats disappeared completely and I never saw them again until I sold all the chicks and the hens stopped being broody.
I witnessed the local magpies coalizing with my chickens to beat up the cats. The magpies would signal the location of the cat to my dominant hen, and she would hide in the bushes, waiting for the cat to trespass the fence and beat him up.
My neighbor told me that the magpies hate his cats because the cats ate their fledgling baby.
Get large breeds of dual purpose chickens. Cat problem solved forever.

True!

 

[Zenmonkey]

Sounds like the cat is just one part of a much more complex issue.

Regarding the cat, I've lost a lot of pigeons to cats. I've lost more pigeons to weasels and raccoons, but cats are e about the 3rd biggest predator issue with pigeons.

As has been mentioned above, cats aren't much of an issue for (most) chickens. Cats have a specific prey size that interests them.

My quail are all fair game of they get out, but anything bigger than that isn't much at risk, and most of the roosters have no fear of putting an average size cat in its place. Young chicks that aren't under the protection of a hen or the flock rooster might be at risk.

Possibly if you've got very small bantams there might be a concern. Any decently grown chicken over about 1.5 to 2 lbs shouldn't have much to worry about from *most* cats.