Will Cat Harm Chickens?

[ruth]

Quote:
Thank you. There are actually two shepherds pictured. Rex, our oldest is seen sleeping by those first baby chicks I brought home from the feed store one day. He wouldn't leave their side and wouldn't let the other dogs and cats near them. When I turned them loose at 4 weeks old he followed them everywhere. That's him under a bush in our summer heat where he had dug them all a hole to hide out in the shade. That's also him here on the farm out with the ducks and chickens where he's always watching the sky for hawks and will run and jump and bark at any hawk (or buzzard) he sees - even those way off in the distance.

I was so thrilled with Rex's inate shephered instincts I got a female puppy Scarlett who is now two years old so that she could learn from him. She's proven to be our best LGD and is always "working" the farm and the coop. That is her in the coop watching after her baby chicks that had just gone back in for the evening and making sure everyone else got in the coop and on their roosts without fighting. We used to have lots of fights in the early evening when everyone returned to the coop. Many young roos would jump a female and tear her up. Scarlett now instinctivly runs when she hears a hen squawking and will pull the roos off her and sit with her between her legs if need be. She follows the groups of baby chicks all over the farm and lays near them keeping watch. You can tell by how all the grown birds are so calmly sitting on the roost that they are perfectly comfortable with a big German Shepherd being in their coop. You can't see the roosts that are the coop rafters and full of birds also. I will say that Scarlett will help herself to an egg here and there if they lay them in the lowest nest boxes but it's a small price to pay for how well she guards her flock.

But it did take a little work, especially with Scarlett who ate a few of our first ducks the first time they flew out of their pen (our Catahoula, Lucy, did the same thing). I had not "introduced" her or Lucy to the ducks and I guess it was a totally different thing to them but as soon as I took them in their yard and walked them around and told them "no" they "got it" and have never bothered one since. I also opened the gates and turned the ducks loose so all dogs would know that they too were part of the family. Today there are about 40 ducks wandering the farm and going to and from the pond and many can be seen sleeping under my husband's truck along with one of the dogs.

 

[TrystInn]

Its possible, but so is this:

 

[Cowgirl71]

Ruth, those pics were so funny/cute.

I've lost a chicken to a cat, but I consider it my fault. I had my main flock of free range layers that the cats left alone. Then I raised up a batch of chicks and mixed them in with the older hens when they were three months old. I just assumed that they'd be fine, but that evening I saw one of the barn cats eating a young chicken. I punished him pretty well, and he hasn't looked cross-ways at a chicken since. Even chickens half his size he won't touch.

A friend of mine taught me this trick to teach a cat to leave chickens alone. Person "A" will hold the cat, and person "B" will hold a chicken. Person B makes the chicken squawk, flap her wings, claw the air, etc. Person A holds on to the cat, makes sure the cat doesn't scratch the hen, and makes sure that the hen scratchs the cat's face a little bit. Though this may sound a little harsh, it's worked real well for me. I made the mistake of not teaching this to the cat I mentioned earlier...

ETA: TrystInn, WOW!!!

 

[elilotz]

One of MY cats was terrified of the chickens and they loved to pick on her. the other one just kinda steared clear and got chased by the largest chicken.But the small one it was always interested in and one day the small chicnken wandered away from the flock ,the cat came,sinffed her and the chicken pecked him and now the cat steers clear of all the cchickens.My small cocker smanel mix has always been nice to the chickens but one day the chickens turned on him.Now he too stears clear of the "gang".They rule the yard.


(just my personal experience.som large cats may atakc small weak chickens but the fight will be even, if the chicken is strong.Terriers and chickens would be horrid.the terrier would not be able to conctrol itself and all you would have left is a pile of feathers and one fat dog.

 

[jettgirl24]

My Siamese is totally fine around the chicks and the big girls... In fact they have chased her out of the yard on a few occasions.

However, I had my girls out free ranging this morning and just a couple of hours ago I heard a racket in the backyard. I ran out to find a neighborhood feral going after the big girls (the babies were in the coop, thank god). I have good sized BRs and a big BO girl, none of whom were hurt but I think they may have been had I not ran out immediately. When I opened the gate to chase the cat off my BO took off flying out of the yard and I couldn't find her for almost an hour. Luckily as I was walking up and down the street looking I heard a bawk bawk bawk and came back to find her standing at the gate to their run. I don't know where she had been but she had cobwebs on her comb.

Anyway, moral of the story is I wouldn't put it past a cat to at least try to take out a chicken, especially a feral. I don't know if that cat could've killed them but I think it could have injured them at the very least. Just be careful and supervise closely if you're unsure of how they will act, especially with baby chicks. I'm sure the cats will quickly give you a good idea of how they're going to behave.