I have this area in my barn where there is a big table built in the corner. I have a huge cage sitting on the table and on the roof of the cage is where I keep my cat food and water. Well, we have 32 acres and the lazy cats crap under the table..... Anyway the area under the table is a awesome place/space for another cage to be built, which I am working on finishing today. The chooks spent their first night in it last night. I let them out to play in the barn all day. Left the door open and there was yet another huge pile of cat crap in there. I cleaned it out before I built the cage and sprinkled DE, I wanted to use lime but was afraid it ould hurt the chooks. It is a dirt floor. I just cleaned it again. I guess my ?s R... Is the lingering cat waste going to hurt my chicks? How can I deture the cats? I know moltballs would not be healthy for my chooks..???
cats hate citrus they use it in the cat be gone sprays... you can get some at the pet store or maybe try rubbing lemon peel on the cage bars?
Quote:they do? um...someone better tell my cat Newton that....he LOVES oranges, lemons, and grapefruits. Seriously...he licks the rinds and will scarf down the insides if he can get it open. And if you have mandarin oranges in the area, better eat them behind closed doors cos he WILL find you to try to steal them.
Well...I doubt the cat feces would hurt the chicks/chickens any unless the cat has worms. But how to discourage the cat from using that corner as a litter box when the cage door is open.... I know with multiple acres this will sound stupid, but could you put a temporary litter box in the barn somewhere and make sure the cats know where it is (put a waste sample in it so they knew the scent)??? You're not going to convince the cat that trying to dig in frozen or muddy ground is a better deal than digging in the warm, dry dirt of a barn floor. My cats use our house litter box a LOT more in the winter than in warmer months, even my mostly outdoor cat who rarely uses the litter boxes during the other seasons. You could also try some Critter Ridder spray in that corner. But I don't know whether it would bother your chickens....I think it's peppery, and chickens supposedly aren't bothered by pepper... Good luck!
I'd add a litterbox too, but I wouldn't make it temporary or fancy. Since they are barn cats, they might not like the added smells of normal cat litter, so just use plain sand...ideally with some of the dirt from where they were going before.
It would have been best to dump enzyme cleaner like they sell at pet stores or at minimum vinegar in that spot and then letting it air out well while keeping the cage shut before putting chickens there. So long as any odor remains the cats will keep using the same spot. We've had those problems at my mom's house after litters of kittens because the kittens would pee or poop in random places and then the rest of the cats would follow along. I also have that problem with the basement of this house because the previous owner just let some fairly wild cats live down there not always using the litterbox. You have to descent the spot first or no matter what you do they will keep using that spot even if they sometimes use another you provide. They may still do it if you don't block them off from it for awhile. Anything you put down that is really effective at deterring cats will probably be harmful to chickens.
Sometimes, all it takes is the placement of a litter box in an area to keep the cats away. I have found that alot of cats will actually do thier business beside a letter box rather than in it. Go figure. Put a litter box down and the cats will be like, "Crap! Now we gotta go poop somewhere else!"
