Will my 12 to 13 week old hens do well with my 3 year old tiger stripe cat?

[Hazelmarie96]

Honestly i have never had chickens before let me start by saying I'm so new to this that I even have them living in my room with me in a huge container with all there stuff in there and everything because I'm afraid my cat might hurt them or other animals and plus I have no rooster yet and I didn't know if that plaid a key role in the protection of the hens honestly my cat hes laid back and chill and lazy but seemed kind of really interested in knowing what the hens where and such and giving that cat look that is to curious like he just really wants to be involved with them I just dont know should I trust my cat to be in the room with me while I'm sleeping and the hens are sleeping in the same room or should I wait until I put them outside and bet a rooster first because my cat is a mommies boy and wants to sleep with mommy but he cant because of the hens what should I do?

 

[cavemanrich]

Your cat should be fine with your chickens. They are pretty big at 12/13 weeks. A rooster is not going to be a much factor against your cat. I cant have roosters in my area. My cats do not bother my chickens. Look at my avatar. The cats did show some interest in the little baby chicks that I did have before they were grown. In the avatar is my Serama, which I no longer have.
Ask anything else you need to know chicken wise or other.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, and

 

[TweedyChick]

Cats and chickens do seem to work things out between them. Tweedy (pictured in my avatar) is a neighborhood chicken who "free ranges" up and down the neighborhood. (I.e. she isn't our chicken, though she lays her eggs in our barn and thus feels very much at home in our yard - as well as next door, where the neighbors have 5 chickens.) We've got two cats, plus there are several other cats in the neighborhood. They are definitely "interested" in Tweedy - but she seems to be able to establish her authority, especially around the cat food bowl. She muscles right in to eat a bit of cat food before she'll let the cats in to finish it off.

It might be a good idea to get your chickens "established" outside (i.e. coop, run, etc.) so they have the confidence Tweedy seems to have to rule the roost with the cats. But to a cat, I guess those chickens are too big to want to mess with. It's the other predators you want to protect against - with hardware wire and whatever else you've got. I don't think you really "need" a rooster if you've got the run secured against the local wild life.

We just have the coop up and the run has been delivered. No chickens of our own yet, but Tweedy has been by for an initial inspection of the coop - or at least to check out the cherries on the ground now that the tall grass under the cherry tree has been cut in preparation for erecting the run.