watch out! there is a cat behind you!

[ashrich6]

Hey everyone! Today I left for work and I decided to leave my 4 buff orpingtons free ranging in the backyard. I live in Salt Lake City and have a cement block fence around my yard but I am a little nervous because their is a neighborhood cat that I catch stalking my chickens! Anyone else have cat problems? I decided to leave my chickens roaming around because it is suppose to get 97 degrees today. I felt that leaving them in their coop could be torcher even though it is in the shade and they have plenty of water. Anyone that lives in a city with free ranging chickens have a similar problem? What kind of predators do you have?

 

[LRH97]

Well I don't live in the city, but we do have around 7 barn cats with new ones showing up occasionally. We never have had any problems with cats and adult birds. That may be because my JG roo probably weighs more than any scraggly barn cat and they don't want to tangle with him. I'm almost certain cats will go after chicks, but grown chickens, maybe not as likely. However, cats can be, well, evil. I wouldn't put it past them to get brave and try something. Just keep an eye out. I have noticed one of our cats that likes to follow the flock around and just watch them. He's done that for several months, so maybe he's just fascinated by them. Now foxes......those are the big problems for us.

 

[Papas Chickens]

I dont live in a city but we have a lot of predators here, coyotes, hawks, owls, snakes, mexican red wolves, foxes, feral cats and dogs. As with your cat issue i would just buy a BB Rifle and shoot it everytime you see it on your wall sounds cruel but it works and better then loosing your girls to it.

 

[ashrich6]

Thanks for the replies!!! I have 2 cats of my own and introduced them to the chicks when the chicks were young. 1 of my cats Rain has special needs and the chickens don't mind her at all! Sometimes I even catch all of them sitting in the shade together. My other cat Eva is a 1 year old and follows the chickens and sometimes chases them but never attacks or hurts them. The chickens do act differently when the neighborhood cat comes around and are on high alert! You can definitely tell they know the difference between my cats and the neighborhood cat.

 

[Papas Chickens]

Thats the thing with cats there not really pets they are a independent animal.