That stray cat..

[undine]

At the neighborhood i live at there are stray cats everywhereee. WOuldnt be surprised that the reason theyre all over the place is because the ****** neighbors keep feeding them ( i passed by their house on this one early morning and i saw more than 8 cats eating the food they give on their lawn.) DOnt get me wrong though, i looovee my neighbors and cats, but them taking care of stray cats and what not that can lead to many problems. One night, i was outside watching my chicks(3-4 weeks old) as they were in the brooder, then all of a sudden this beautiful stray siamese cat runs pass me, and from what i could see it was chasing a moth? Once the moth was caught and eaten, she stares at me and then runs off like it was nobodys business. I didnt care too much for her because she seemed harmless (ya right..) The next night I wanted to give my chicks some alone time, get them used to being outside, then i hear loud screaming from my chicks, and guess what..that siamese cat brought 3 of her friends along.. drooling over my chicks. They scared me more than i scared them because i had no idea what to do, i panicked so hard i ended up meowing loud and them LOL glad they ran away though. Now that my chicks moved into their coop, for sure once i let them out in a fenced off area (including the top covered) THEYLL BE BACK, and my chickens will be screaming everyday non-stop. What sucks is that i live in the city so its always the dogs/cats > poultry, and if my chickens start becoming a nuisance to the neighbors, for sure ill be the one losing my pets. What can i do to keep them away besides scaring them off everyyday? Im pretty sture im not allow to kill these cats lol or even use traps... and plus i wouldnt even have the stomach to do any of that.

 

[angel8035]

Once your chickens are full sized they should be fine. Keep them penned up until then, unless they are supervised.

 

[appps]

It may be different there but here they want you to trap ferrel cats because of the damage they do to native animals and birds. By trap I mean in cage traps that swing shut and trap them without hurting them.

When my mum had a problem with ferrel cats she hired a cage from the pound and everytime she caught one they would come and collect it for her.

 

[undine]

It may be different there but here they want you to trap ferrel cats because of the damage they do to native animals and birds. By trap I mean in cage traps that swing shut and trap them without hurting them.

When my mum had a problem with ferrel cats she hired a cage from the pound and everytime she caught one they would come and collect it for her.

Mmm haha that sounds like a good idea, but without a doubt my backyard will become a flea hang out area, and other diseases that the cats carry..which also leads to my chickens having fleas and other diseases omggaahhdd

 

[undine]

Once your chickens are full sized they should be fine. Keep them penned up until then, unless they are supervised.

Now that school is almost starting, supervising these chicks wont be an option =(,but of course ill definitely do that while I'm at home though haha. Full size is at around 3 months right? I couldve sworn that my chicks were already almost at full size lol dang it

 

[appps]

Mmm haha that sounds like a good idea, but without a doubt my backyard will become a flea hang out area, and other diseases that the cats carry..which also leads to my chickens having fleas and other diseases omggaahhdd 

Another good reason to trap any that come in your yard

Only other thing I know keeps them out is having a big dog lol

 

[angel8035]

The problem with trapping them is that feral cats fill a niche and if you remove some of them, others will move in if there is a food source. You really shouldn't be leaving younger birds alone unpenned any way because neighborhood dogs, hawks, cats, racoons, etc. can always enter your yard when you are not there and take them. The best thing to do is keep them in a secure run during the day and let them out when you are home from school. And yes, full grown is around 12-15 weeks.

 

[appps]

Really???? Not in our area. My mum caught about 6 I think and that was about 5 years ago and hasn't had one since. You guys must have them in plague proportions.

 

[angel8035]

Depending on the area. In some urban locations the cities manage colonies by spaying and neutering the cats and then releasing them. This prevents them from continuing to multiply but also keeps different cats from moving into the area once the trapped cats are euthanized.

 

[undine]

Depending on the area. In some urban locations the cities manage colonies by spaying and neutering the cats and then releasing them. This prevents them from continuing to multiply but also keeps different cats from moving into the area once the trapped cats are euthanized.

Yeaaahhhh. The cats are everywhere in this neighborhood. I even had 3 different cats give birth in my backyard. Sucks i didnt do anything about it =( though i did call animal control to move her babies.