Will Cat Harm Chickens?

[9ByDesign]

I am a new chicken owner (obviously)

. We have an outside cat- and I know people have "Barn Cats". Will a cat harm a grown chicken? I know they certainly would harm tiny chicks. Ours are only 8 wks. old, so we've been keeping careful watch over them from EVERYTHING, but I am wondering if any of you have had problems with your grown chickens and your own cat (or stray cats for that matter) harming them? I haven't seen or heard much about cats on here...just coons and foxes

. We let ours free range for an hour in the evenings, and do watch them...but I am so worried the whole time because my cat is always outside somewhere.

TIA

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

I kept a very close eye on my chickens when my cats were around until they were pretty large and had lots of supervised free-range interaction. I had one cat that ate at least one wild bird a day and never grew up around chickens so I was worried about how it. Very quickly the chickens learned to gang up on the cats and the cats learned to fear them. I had an old cat that I actually worried about around the chickens. I couldn't let him out when they were out because they were merciless towards him. I think you have to look at your particular cat and how it behaves around the chickens. If your cat begins to stalk them, you know you need to intervene and work on training the cat. We always had chickens growing up and a ton of barn cats and we never lost a chicken to a cat. Of course you will also hear how people loose chickens to cats.

 

[Debbi]

My birds are just nine weeks old but are a good size. I have 9 outdoor cats and they ALL stalk the chickens in the pen! Luckily, for my chooks, the run is totally enclosed with a welded wire roof, wire apron, gravel on top of that, AND electric fencing! The cats walk around the perimeter of the run just about all day, looking for holes in the fence. Personally, I would not trust a cat with a young or small bird, EVER! It's not like these cats are hungry either, they are fed well, and hunt on their own. I know other people will chime in here saying their birds are fine around cats, and with GROWN birds, that may well be the case. I won't take the chance..

 

[9ByDesign]

I swear my cat kills a bird a day- small birds, mind you. She is about 7 yrs. old- healthy and small for a cat/ Calico, very fiesty. I wouldn't trust her with young chickens...I am just wondering about when they are older/ free ranging for an hour in the evenings in a group of 4. Hearing cats called Barn Cats confuses me a bit.

 

[ibpboo]

I had a cat that liked to sleep with my grown chickens.

I kept finding him in the chicken pen and wondered who keeps putting the cat in there. I thought the kids. Then one day I saw him climb up and find a spot to squeeze through. He got a drink and then proceeded to take a nap.

 

[sammileah]

i have 2 cats and lots of neighbor cats, the only thing i've lost a chicken to is my dog. my yard is fenced and even my cats avoid backyard (you never know whats out theredog, chicken, goat), but every now and then i'll see a cat out back and get a laugh as they run from my rooster. my long hair doesn't run he doesn't care at all. i think he goes back there when he's having a bad day and just lays in the yard till roo comes to check it out then he (cat) stands up and Roo runs. we also have inside birds that cat leave alone.

 

[woodmort]

I've said this elsewhere, but it would have to be a very big cat and a very small adult chicken. Once the chicks have feathered, unless you're dealing with bantams, cats will ignore them. I have 3 indoor/outdoor cats that either ignore or are afraid of the chickens--mostly ignore.

 

[mommyofthree]

My cats would go after my chicks at first, we had to be careful when we let them out the first couple of months because the cats would stalk them. Now that our hens are full grown our cats are so afraid of them, LOL. When the chickens are out the cats are on guard, I've seen a hen run after and peck my cat before. And I've seen some hens go up to the cats and stand there staring them down like they're trying to start a fight, eventually the cats run. It's so funny!! Even our huge feral cat that beats up all the strays around here is deathly afraid of our hens.

We have 4 outdoor cats.

 

[ruth]

All cats are notorious chicken and chick killers - don't let them near your flock - here's pictures to prove it - WARNING - GRAPHIC

And NO dogs can be trusted either:

Okay - so obviously I'm joking. My flocks of ducks, geese, chickens, guineas, and peafowl, and our heard of Nigerian Dwarf goats (including babies) all roam the farm, many of which sleep with the dogs under the carports or out in the open yard. We have 6 dogs and 3 cats who all interact with all the free ranging animals and not only do they NOT bother them, the German Shepherds actually help herd them all into the coop at night and bust up any rooster fights or gang ups. My female shepherd will pull roos off a hen and sit with the hen between her paws to protect her. It's my dogs and cats that keep the real predators away because we are surrounded by thousands of acres of woods. And yes, we have baby chicks everywhere running around "free as a bird" because I turn them loose when they are a week or two old.

So to answer your question, I guess it depends on the cat (and/or dog) and the environment but our cats & dogs just seem to think of all the animals, even the baby chicks, as "family".

 

[goatranch]

Ruth... I love your pics. That is how I would like all my critters to get along!