next door's cat sleeping in the coop/nest box

[Xtineart]

Next door's cat is obsessed with watching my birds, fortunately she hasn't tried to attack them, but what she does do is creep into the coop when the chickens are in the garden and curl up for a cosy sleep in the nest box. As you can imagine this bothers the chickens who don't want to go in with the cat, the cat does not want to come out, and horribly the cat has been scent marking the box.

I want to know if there is a way of deterring the cat from going in there at all. I know cats hate oranges, and some spices, but then so do chickens so I don't want to upset my girls and I definitely don't want to use anything poisonous or scary for the birds.

So far I've just been chasing the cat, but although she runs off I think she now thinks it's a game and might be trying to go in there more often.

what do I do?

 

[memphis]

Explain the situation to the owner & ask them to keep it off your property. If that doesn't work do what I've had to do....trap it in a live trap & drop it off at a shelter. I had neighborhood cats invading my gardens & stalking my birds. Neighbor couldn't control the cats, or wouldn't, & I finally had enough with the situation so just took care of it myself.

 

[Xtineart]

no chance of getting the neighbour to keep it off my property as it's an outdoor cat and roams through all the gardens, TBH it was there before the birds ever were and at least this seems to have stopped it's other favourite habit of digging up my plants then shitting in the hole. I really don't think 'stealing' the cat would be very nice. Its not as though I live in the country where that wouldn't be noticed, I'm in a terraced house, the cat is from 2 doors down!

there must be a way to chase it away though, surely??

 

[thomasboyle]

Get a SuperSoaker water cannon, and let the cat have it whenever it comes around the coop. It will learn to go elsewhere!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Is *your* garden/yard fully fenced? If so, you can add either a hot wire or a nice "no climb" barrier to the top of your perimeter - this will help deter not only THIS cat, but also other cats who may desire more than a nice snooze in your coop.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

no chance of getting the neighbour to keep it off my property as it's an outdoor cat and roams through all the gardens, TBH it was there before the birds ever were and at least this seems to have stopped it's other favourite habit of digging up my plants then shitting in the hole. I really don't think 'stealing' the cat would be very nice. Its not as though I live in the country where that wouldn't be noticed, I'm in a terraced house, the cat is from 2 doors down!

there must be a way to chase it away though, surely??

You aren't "stealing" the cat - you are giving the owner a fair warning that their pet is becoming a nuisance on your property -- if they choose to do nothing to correct the situation you are fully within your rights to do what is necessary to protect your birds who are staying in their yard where they belong. The only person who should feel bad in this situation would be the cat owner who is made aware of a problem being caused by their pet and doing nothing about it.

 

[Folly's place]

x2. Also, hot wire would be a good deterrant. Mary

 

[gander007]

I use a box trap and they do not hurt the cat's .....

 

[chickengeorgeto]

An automotive ignition condenser charged off of a 12 volt battery for only a second then CAREFULLY set in the cats preferred nest with the wire lead un grounded and exposed so that kitty can come into contact with it, may convince kitty that it has very important business elsewhere. The shock is about the same as getting "bit" by a spark plug wire.

 

[Xtineart]

ok that last one sounds a bit err, complicated, mental, expensive and not exactly the sort of thing I could erect in a normal suburban garden (where do you even get that sort of stuff from??!!). (Also how would you even control that, what if my poor chickies got fried?)

What's a hot wire? I've never heard of that? Do you mean an electric fence? Yes In some ways it may be possible, hellishly expensive for a wee garden, but not illegal to erect provided it's within my garden, and not on top of the existing 6ft fence. However this is Scotland, and the laws here dont take kindly to such things, given that we have free access laws. If someone touched the fence, even if they were trying to break in, they could sue me for negligence and damages. It's probably not worth it.

Ditto guns. Absolutely NOT legal.

A super soaker on the other hand.....that might work? I'll try getting one at the weekend. Might help with the squirrels too.
thanks for the suggestion