stray cats

[Eva Haley-Lock]

so, I'm new to the chicken keeping thing, i have a lot of stray cats roaming around my yard, they like to kill large birds and squirrels. i plan on having my hens free range, and i want to make sure that the cats wont be a problem. I will be raising the hens alone; i can't always be in the yard to make sure the hens are safe, how tall should my fence be? i also have lots of hawks in my neighborhood too.

edited by staff to remove personal informaion

 

[falconertomt]

For Hawks im going to point you here: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/858950/avian-predators-or-how-to-prevent-the-hawk-owl-attack mostly because I am lazy and do not want to type.

I had a stray cat problem in my yard, until they all went to live at the shelter. Cats may or may not be an issue. I have heard of chickens beating the snot out of cats, and I have heard of cats killing chickens. If you cannot enclose the chickens, then you will need to get rid of the cats. Unlike dogs, cats cannot be trained to not chase something. They can also not be trained to stay out of your yard. Most cities have an animal control, and they will come, set traps and take the animals away for you, for free. This is my recomendation if you cannot remove them on your own.

Good luck!

 

[Eva Haley-Lock]

so, i have decided to build a fence. how tall should it be? i know cats can jump really high.

 

[falconertomt]

What materials are you planning on using? I have seen cats scale a 12' wood fence with out an issue. I have seen them climb 6' chain link fences.

If you can, I would add a roof to the enclosure, either solid or of the same fencing material, to make it fully enclosed, at that point height will not matter.

 

[Eva Haley-Lock]

i plan on using very strong wires, supported by wooden posts, possibly up to 8 ft? my dad wants it to be like.. 6 ft, but i told him the cats would hop over that. he still wants a 6 ft fence.
i plan to string yarn across the top of the enclosure since its not that big. its almost like a huge run... but too big to make it into a huge run. a scarecrow maybe, some cds and a nice big tree for the hens to hide under.

 

[Eva Haley-Lock]

when i say enclosure, i mean the free ranging space, not the run. the run will have a metal roof and serious wireing.

 

[Wrooster]

Build your enclosure to keep chickens in, not to keep cats out. A determined cat will get over anything you can reasonably build. We've had very few escapees from 4' but 5 or 6' is more secure of course. I wouldn't worry about adult chickens and average cats but if the birds are small or the cats are big you could have a problem.

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[memphis]

With a Have A Heart trap I trapped 13 stray cats & they all went to the Animal Shelter. I wasn't taking any chances with my birds. They were a problem in the neighborhood for us all. Trapping & getting rid of them was the only solution.

 

[LostNConfused]

When trapping stray cats please be certain of shelter rules as most no-kill shelters will put down any cats that do not seem tame (I'll admit to being a cat lady with 8 cats of my own). Most cats will hiss and growl when shoved in a small cage and shook around, put in a car, and handed off to strangers. All of mine would. Don't let innocent animals die out of ignorance.

 

[johnderosa1]

When trapping stray cats please be certain of shelter rules as most no-kill shelters will put down any cats that do not seem tame (I'll admit to being a cat lady with 8 cats of my own). Most cats will hiss and growl when shoved in a small cage and shook around, put in a car, and handed off to strangers. All of mine would. Don't let innocent animals die out of ignorance.

It always fascinates me that "animal" lovers have no problem condemning entire populations of small animals to death by supporting feral cat colonies. Why are feral cats ok but all the birds , mice , chipmunks , squirrels, rabbits etc they kill such vile animals that they should be wiped out. Feeding and protecting feral cats ( an invasive specie) establishes populations far in excess of a given areas carrying capacity, which allows them to devastate the small animal population in a given area. I would remove the cats if possible. Please note that i dont want to start a debate on this subject and wont respond to any rebuttals as i know this can become a contentious issue.