Teaching a kitten to be a barn cat

[Anime2lover]

We have a mouse problem, so we got two kittens to be barn cats. Their inside right now. The problem is, we don't know how to go about teaching them how to be good barn cats, or that they should stay around our house. How do we do that??

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

We pen our kittens out where we want them to stay. They stayed penned until they are comfortable with me and their new surroundings. Usually a week or two. I than let them out under supervision, and pen them up at night. After a while they are left out. Usually after 3-4 months. Mine are in a secure shed with a kitty door. They are fed in the same place daily, and have beds and heated houses in the winter. They generally don't start being serious hunters until after 6-8 months of age.

The only problem with barn cats is you have to expect loses at times. We vaccinate, and spay and neuter. Our 3 currently kitties are wonderful hunters. I'm getting 2 more in 2 weeks to eventually help out.

 

[Anime2lover]

We pen our kittens out where we want them to stay. They stayed penned until they are comfortable with me and their new surroundings. Usually a week or two. I than let them out under supervision, and pen them up at night. After a while they are left out. Usually after 3-4 months. Mine are in a secure shed with a kitty door. They are fed in the same place daily, and have beds and heated houses in the winter. They generally don't start being serious hunters until after 6-8 months of age.

The only problem with barn cats as you have to expect loses at times. We vaccinate, and spay and neuter. Our 3 currently kitties are wonderful hunters. I'm getting 2 more in 2 weeks to eventually help out.

Thanks for the advice. May have to build another pen if that's the case.

 

[GranderTheGander]

The most successful rat and mouse elimination stories I have heard and seen always involved a pregnant stray cat who showed up and had kittens. The mothers had been in sheds, or under houses in crawl spaces, or were taken inside but had access to outside 24 hours a day. They were fed kitten food, such as Purina One Kitten, and had clean water at all times. They would then teach the kittens to hunt, since the mothers were hunters. The mothers and kittens were kept, fed well, fixed and got rabies shots, and there was never a rodent problem after that time.