Wondering if cats are ok with free rome chickens?

[mario49]

yeah but i think my safest way is to keep em in there free range yard pen 5x20 i think

 

[RickiHupp]

I have a cute pic!!

My cats wait for the chicken to finish her fill!! LOL

 

[mario49]

cool its like lunch hour!

 

[dancesWchickens]

My cat won't come near a grown chicken; she's scared to death of them. Peeps are probably another story, but the moms ferociously guard them ... so far so good anyway.

 

[ChickLuver]

I put my cat in the brooder with the girls when they first get here. Now after so many chicks my cat just lays down and naps with them....It's so cute!!!

 

[onecent]

i haven't had a problem with the cats & chickens, i have about 50 cats, & 20 chickens!! everybody gets along!

 

[gritsar]

It really REALLY depends on the cat. My 2 1/2 lb. former feral cat would be on a full grown chicken in a heartbeat!
My chickens are terrified of her, including my 12 lb. rooster and they do not attempt to fight back. They flee in terror, but she's faster than they are.
Kitty can take down squirrels, extremely large rats and full grown rabbits. One of my smaller hens wouldn't stand a chance against her.

 

[FractalFarmer]

Cats are OK with grown chickens from my experience. I just recently released 4 feral cats (mom & 3 kittens) that we had adopted. They were penned up in an outdoor dog run for 2-3 months so they would re-home & the kittens could grow up, so they got to watch the chickens all day. I watched them closely after we let the cats out. Momma cat ignores the chickens but the kittens (~5 months old now, pretty big but still playful kittens) sometimes stalk the chickens. The chickens definitely defend themselves very well, and we have two that usually turn the tables and attack and chase the cats away.

I should probably mention that we did have one incident where one of our hens (our only banty) got a dislocated wing ~1 week after the cats had been released. We don't know how it happened (nobody saw anything), but I suspect the cats might have had something to do with it. We wrapped her wing for 2 weeks and she is fine now, but I still wonder how it happened. I don't worry too much about them, especially since we have so many chickens. If it were just a couple, or the cats outnumbered the birds, I might be more concerned.

 

[gamebirdsonly]

Quote:
Cats will kill young standars and bantams, cats got my showgirls, silkies, bantam orp, couple young welsummers, mixed bantams, and few others.

 

[juice]

Hi, someone on line offered this advise.....use a BB gun on the behind of the cat that is pursuing the hens...my son hid and took a couple of 'butt' shots. The cat 'finally' got the idea. Then the other day, when the cat tried to walk too closely to the hens,he got pecked. he was reminded not to mess with them. At night when they are locked up,I feel better,as the barn is dark and I would think the cats might have the upper hand. So just some advise that worked for us. Juice