Tiny ferrel kitten hanging out with my girls.

[navychick]

In the morning, when I'm home I open the run door and let the girls roam our yard for the day. Last week I found a very tiny kitten inside their run while they were not. Today the kitty is back, kinda just hanging out in the yard with the girls. They don't seem to mind her presence and I think she is just lonely. I went out to offer her some food and she ran away. Other than disease is there a reason I wouldn't want her around?

 

[peepblessed]

I've had this happen also. It was eating the chicken food for survival. If you don't have baby chicks, I don't see any harm.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
unless it starts to get nasty with the chickens i would leave it... it will help with mice in the coop... maybe offer some moist food in an area where only the cat can get to with some de-wormer in it... you dont want the chickens picking up worms from the cat.. cats eat mice.. mice carry fleas (as do the cats) fleas carry tape worms... i am forever fighting tape worms with my cats

 

[JP101010]

We have a Stray Cat that sunbaths with our flock... Poor Cat Gets Pecked If He dares to get in the way of my bratty RIR. We Feed Him cat food because no one else will , but The chickens will try to steal It!
Its quite obvious there is no threat to the feathered parties involved

Feathers : 21 Fur : 0

 

[navychick]

Not sure how to feed little kitty so the girls wont get it. If I leave food out for her after they go in for the night I'm afraid I'll lure in REAL predators.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

At the old place we had one pop up that slept on top of the run - the chickens almost ate the kitten one time! But they learned to co-exist - that cat even ate chicken food over the cat food I put out most days! It acted like a hen, went in the coop when the weather was bad, and we NEVER had an issue with mice or rats...as long as it doesn't bother your birds I vote leave it be. Wish we coulda caught him up and brought him to our new place...but no such luck was had...now we have a slacker rescue cat that ignores the mice for moths and beetles!

 

[LiLRedCV]

Since it's so tiny and young, I don't think you'll have a problem with it eating your flock. The trick is finding a way to feed it without the flock having access to the food nor attracting predators. That will be more difficult to figure out! Wonder if you use a live trap setting if you can catch it up and then keep it in a dog crate for a little bit until it's tamed down enough to accept you would work?

We have cats... Great hunters, our kitties... but they don't mess with our domesticated critters (feathered or fur) one iota. However, if it's wild and enters their domain? It's a free-for-all and they take care of it to the best of their abilities.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

If you notice her first thing in the morning, before you let the chickens out for the day, you could feed her then. Even if she just eats her fill once a day, it will help her, until you can figure out a better way to feed her. She'll get used to you and start trusting you before too long.

I found one of my old cats one morning, curled up asleep in a bowl of chicken feed. She was a feral, too, about 4 weeks old at the time. She had walked through the chain link fencing of the temporary chicken pen we had the meaties in. They were all standing around the bowl, staring at her with puzzled looks on their faces, tilting their heads. It took a little time to tame her and catch her, but she ended up being a wonderful cat.

 

[sueronan]

One morning I went out to the chicken coop and found a baby SKUNK in the corner

. The residents of the coop were much less concerned than me. He slept there all day and left when it got dark

 

[Tracydr]

Quote:
I just found a 5 week old kitten about four weeks ago hanging out with my chickens! That is so strange. He was dehydrated and skinny. He's now a spoiled happy house kitty.