Thinking about getting a barn cat

[Ilovechickens2525]

Hello! I’m thinking about getting a barn cat, to keep the mice at bay. Tell me anything and everything I need to know/consider!

Key relevant info:

My coop is Fort Knox, there is no in and out. We have too many neighborhood dogs and it’s just not worth the risk, so this cat would live full time with the chickens, wouldn’t be able to roam. So, it would be safe for predators but would it be happy in there full time? What about litter box situation? And food? I assume the chickens will not follow litter box/cat food rules and leave it alone…

Also, it gets extremely cold where I live. I do know others let their cats live outdoors here in the winter but I worry… my coop is insulated and I could place a heat plate near said cats sleeping spot.

My chickens are all either hatched this spring and around the age where they begin to lay, or full grown and laying. However, I am picking up an 8 and 12 week old pair tomorrow. So they are a bit smaller.

If I get a barn cat do I need to worry about the cat attacking them? I can’t imagine my indoor cat doing anything but you never know. My indoor cat would not become a barn cat, we’d get a second cat.

Also, this barn cat could not split its time indoors and outdoors. I’m not introducing another cat to my current cat. Obviously in emergency I could bring it in, but it would not be a regular thing.

Help please! Thank you!

 

[CoopBoots]

Pictures or measurements of the coop space? You are right; I think a chicken would dust in litter box or poop areas and eat the catfood like a treat.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Pictures or measurements of the coop space? You are right; I think a chicken would dust in litter box or poop areas and eat the catfood like a treat.

The coop itself is 80sqft. There’s a people door so I can easily go in and tend to the cat if needed.

The run, I can’t remember the size, but more than twice that. It’s a decent size. In theory I could get a small seperate space in there with a cat door, but it wouldn’t be insulated like the coop is. The coop stays at least 10-15 degrees warmer than the outside temp and has electrical hookup.

The other thing I’m not considering, is I have one of those waterers the chickens have to peck to get water out of in the winter, to limit frost bite risk by raising humidity in the air. How does the cat drink water?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Cats are hit and miss on whether they will hunt. Not all do. You would be further ahead to set traps, or put out a bait box for rodents. Cats can live in the same barn as chickens but shouldn't be locked up with them. Chickens will eat and dig through the litter, and will gobble up the cat food. Cat might start to get hungry enough to see the chickens as food.

 

[Ilovechickens2525]

Cats are hit and miss on whether they will hunt. Not all do. You would be further ahead to set traps, or put out a bait box for rodents. Cats can live in the same barn as chickens but shouldn't be locked up with them. Chickens will eat and dig through the litter, and will gobble up the cat food. Cat might start to get hungry enough to see the chickens as food.

I was thinking my set up doesn’t really work, need a big farm where the cats can come and go as they please and place to keep the food away…

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

See if your county has a feral cat re-homing program. You’ll have to get a couple. I would not keep a cat in a chicken coop. Females are more likely to hunt than males (just my personal experience with outdoor cats). I used to feed mine on my porch once or twice a day but they always had a water bowl available. You will need to keep it locked up somewhere to “home” it for at least a couple weeks before letting it out. Cats have territories of about a mile radius (I think) so if there are other cats in your neighborhood expect some fighting especially at night while your cat establishes its territory. If you have a barn or shed it can stay in for a while that would be better. Skip the litter box-let it poop outside. I built a couple of feral cats a little raised house with a cat bed in it where they slept during the day and I would feed those cats on the little covered porch of their house. Hope this helps a little.

We don’t have our own barn cats right now but the neighbor has a bunch and we sometimes feed them in the loft of the barn so they will hang out and eat mice

 

[Justagalwithchicks]

See if your county has a feral cat re-homing program. You’ll have to get a couple. I would not keep a cat in a chicken coop. Females are more likely to hunt than males (just my personal experience with outdoor cats). I used to feed mine on my porch once or twice a day but they always had a water bowl available. You will need to keep it locked up somewhere to “home” it for at least a couple weeks before letting it out. Cats have territories of about a mile radius (I think) so if there are other cats in your neighborhood expect some fighting especially at night while your cat establishes its territory. If you have a barn or shed it can stay in for a while that would be better. Skip the litter box-let it poop outside. I built a couple of feral cats a little raised house with a cat bed in it where they slept during the day and I would feed those cats on the little covered porch of their house. Hope this helps a little.

We don’t have our own barn cats right now but the neighbor has a bunch and we sometimes feed them in the loft of the barn so they will hang out and eat mice

This is excellent advice.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Females are more likely to hunt than males (just my personal experience with outdoor cats). I used to feed mine on my porch once or twice a day but they

My current neutered males are the ones that hunt. The females, not so much. That's why I say hunting is hit and miss with cats. Mine are all fixed and well fed, but come from a mom that was a good hunter.

 

[ClickityChick123]

We had the exact same problem! Mice everywhere but three people in the house really allergic to cats. We decided to adopt from the feral cat program (to get a cat that doesn't like people much) and keep the cat in our shed with food, water, a heater, and a door to be able to get in and out. We eventually decided on a neutered, male cat, Pepper, and adopted him. (He was actually really sweet and friendly, probably the only cat on the program that actually liked being held.) We just kept him in the shed for two weeks or so and eventually let him out and he did great. He would hunt mice very well. The only problem is that he would come to our back door every night and just scratch it sadly(I think you can see where this is going). And yes, we finally broke and he is an inside outside cat now. He still catches mice, rabbits, and occasionally birds, but has never gone after our chickens (even the little chicks we had this spring). He has even fought off a stray cat from the neighborhood. He mostly avoids dogs (though not ours), but will defend himself against animals five times his size.

Experiences will definitely vary depending on different circumstances, but I'm just saying that, in our experience, Pepper has been very independent and smart enough to survive and defend himself in all the different ways he was required to. Good luck!

 

[ChickenChick46]

I would personally not feel comfortable locking a cat up with chickens. I have 7 indoor cats and we have 7 outside that are basically ferals that we've had fixed and now feed. To my surprise, the outdoor cats haven't shown much interest in my chickens since putting them in the coop. Like you, my coop is solid, so they couldn't get in. But I thought they would be sniffing around. That said, I would not trust them in the same space.

My concern would be if the cat gets bored being locked in one area, would it start to hunt the chickens to break its boredom? Maybe not, but I'd worry.

My best friend growing up had a cat and a cockatiel. The cockatiel used to ride around on the cat's head, lol.

So there are definitely success stories, just depends what you're comfortable doing.