Shadrach's Ex Battery and Rescued chickens thread.

[Mother of Chaos]

Her insurance conpany said they wouldn't cover damages, which is on brand for that industry.

Yep, very true. I’ve been with USAA since I was a kid, and even with them, I don’t always bother to file. (Laying low in this newly-recognized hurricane country, hundreds of miles from the Gulf of Mexico, trying to keep the premiums from exploding.)

 

[fuzzi]

Happy birthday to one of the best threads on BYC!

One of the best? I vote THE BEST!

 

[Perris]

I confess I feel only passing sorrow at the mice my 90%-indoor cats lay out on the kitchen floor for me to admire.

I am still thinking about this one. I appreciate Vulpes' point that domestic cats didn't make the world they're brought into and up in; and it's natural that young wild cat family members learn how to hunt for food by playing with specimens mum brings in; so maybe we turn domestic cats into eternal children or grumpy teens.

And I'm glad the feral ginger tom turns up periodically and keeps the rat population under control. And I suspect the chickens are too, because while they'll have a go at any size rat that tries to crash their mealtime, or snatch a chick - and Lulea is living proof that they'll try that if opportunity presents itself - ordinarily the chickens can only catch very young rats. That ginger tom never leaves bodies lying around btw, and I have assumed he is eating what he catches; but maybe he's taking them to someone who does appreciate his gifts. How do the cat owners here react to their cats giving them dead or dying presents? Do you reward the behaviour, consciously or unconsciously?

So, issue still unresolved, I guess I'm just like the roos, who gather and shout at the cat till it leaves I missed what would have been a great photo of that a few weeks ago, when I responded (minus camera) to such a cacophony to see Killay, Hensol, and 4 of their lieutenants stood in a line and shouting at the ginger tom, who had parked his butt on the terrace steps overlooking the lawn, the bottom of which is a rat run between dense foliage cover. He scarpered when I joined in

 

[Perris]

Wild bobcat got in a friend's turkey yard. He had heavy 2 inch gamebird netting on top.... which it tore up to get in and kill all 5 turkeys. Ate part of one and came back the next night so they were able to get a game camera picture. With that picture, they were able to get a permit to trap it.

I assume he wanted to eat, and one would have been fine, but he couldn't carry that one out, or eat in peace with the others trapped in close proximity, so he killed the rest. Confinement kills again.

 

[Vulpes vulpes]

How do the cat owners here react to their cats giving them dead or dying presents? Do you reward the behaviour, consciously or unconsciously?

Personally, I've never gotten a gift because I don't let my cat out unsupervised. I really wish it didn't have to be that way, but my neighborhood already hosts an unnatural concentration of pet cats and I don't want to add to the problem. We still have lots of birds, but I wonder how many more we'd have if everyone kept their cats inside.

It is a shame that she needs to lose that source of mental stimulation, but I try to encourage people to view cats more similarly to dogs: they're a large time commitment that need daily interaction and stimulation. They just don't show it when they're bored the same as dogs do. I still wish that she could have the autonomy that a captive animal lacks, but I'm looking into ways to mitigate that.

This isn't about chickens though, so I'll get off my soapbox and resist derailing the thread further. I'll hopefully have more chicken pictures tomorrow, but for now I'll pay taxes with this. Don't tell Shad that it's counterfeit

 

[BDutch]

Personally, I've never gotten a gift because I don't let my cat out unsupervised. I really wish it didn't have to be that way, but my neighborhood already hosts an unnatural concentration of pet cats and I don't want to add to the problem. We still have lots of birds, but I wonder how many more we'd have if everyone kept their cats inside.

It is a shame that she needs to lose that source of mental stimulation, but I try to encourage people to view cats more similarly to dogs: they're a large time commitment that need daily interaction and stimulation. They just don't show it when they're bored the same as dogs do. I still wish that she could have the autonomy that a captive animal lacks, but I'm looking into ways to mitigate that.

This isn't about chickens though, so I'll get off my soapbox and resist derailing the thread further. I'll hopefully have more chicken pictures tomorrow, but for now I'll pay taxes with this. Don't tell Shad that it's counterfeit

View attachment 4257534

We don’t have cats ourselves. But 5 nextdoor cats from 3 different neighbours visit our garden daily. I know one cat is not a hunter. The other 4 cats are. We have barely any songbirds probably bc of these cats. No mice or rat problems either. Maybe for the same reason. These are not my cats and don’t leave me ‘presents’. I know they do for the owners.

There are more predators in the neighbourhood. Some members of the weasel family live around here too.

I don’t mind if cats are free ranging during the day. But I don’t like it when people make cat doors in their back doors so the cats can go in and out during the night too. One neighbour feeds the cats every evening and their cats have to stay inside after that. I do like their approach.
I do feel sorry for the ‘all time’ house cats. There is a live outside to enjoy too.
I felt very sorry for the one black&white cat who got outside by accident and wasn’t able to return home. He was lost and outside for about 3 months. She came here to steal chick feed and got through the neighbours cat door to steel cat feed too.


Our chickens don’t like cats, but they know these 5 are not a threat for them. And they get pissed if a cat comes in the run to steal their food.

A while back, Katrientje was standing guard in front if the run door regularly , to prevent that the cat who doesn’t hunt would get inside to steal their food. But she gave up after a while.

Left over yoghurt from me for the chickens.

And left over yoghurt from the chickens for a neighbour cat.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I fully realize and agree that domestic cats kill many, many songbirds, but I would suggest that the decimation of the insect population plays a very large role as well. Insecticides, sterile hybrid flowering plants, loss of habitat - there’s a lot going on out there beyond cats.

 

[RoyalChick]

Personally, I've never gotten a gift because I don't let my cat out unsupervised. I really wish it didn't have to be that way, but my neighborhood already hosts an unnatural concentration of pet cats and I don't want to add to the problem. We still have lots of birds, but I wonder how many more we'd have if everyone kept their cats inside.

It is a shame that she needs to lose that source of mental stimulation, but I try to encourage people to view cats more similarly to dogs: they're a large time commitment that need daily interaction and stimulation. They just don't show it when they're bored the same as dogs do. I still wish that she could have the autonomy that a captive animal lacks, but I'm looking into ways to mitigate that.

This isn't about chickens though, so I'll get off my soapbox and resist derailing the thread further. I'll hopefully have more chicken pictures tomorrow, but for now I'll pay taxes with this. Don't tell Shad that it's counterfeit

View attachment 4257534

I don’t let my cats out unsupervised either. The gifts of dead mice are from mice they catch in the house.
They once caught a bat in the house and we all had to go for rabies shots. And once a flying squirrel which gave as good as it got successfully terrifying the cats and sinking its teeth into my thumb while I was relocating it back outside.
When out, mine seem largely uninterested in birds but fascinated by chipmunks. My main ‘hunter’ has no teeth left so I can always rescue the chipmunks who are typically sopping wet but unharmed after being ‘gummed’.
Cat talk tax: Mr. Chips is growing up fast. He has totally mastered crowing and yesterday was showing the pullets (specifically Geronimo) the nest boxes. He preferred the lower level. I could have told him that Geronimo would much prefer the upper level!

 

[no fly zone]

happy thanksgiving.

and i tried one of my little peppers this morning. damn they have some kick! not to the point where it's sadistic though. can't wait til next year when i can grow enough to make my own fermented hot sauce.