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Will cats harm chickens?

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Two of the local cats seem fascinated by our new chickens, one sits right next to the run and the other sits on the patio looking down the run into the Eglu. Will the chickens worry about the close proximity of cats? Will the cats be tempted to attack the chickens or try to tease them? Of course on the plus side our garden should stay rodent free!

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I have cats of my own and all the neighbours cat congregate in my garden. My chooks are really friendly with my cats and chase the other cats out of the garden at speed!

I'm sure the neighbours cats would have cottoned on by now but they still seem terrified of a ginger bundle of feathers hurtling at them :lol:

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My chickens arent bithered by cats at all, in fact they have a curious obsession with their tails although the cats in my garden have not sat around long enough to let them near it :lol:

 

My cat Frankie used to sit and hiss at the chooks who took no notice whatsoever - guess they dont understand cat language :wink:

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My cats are terrified of the hens and keep a safe distance however, in the summer (If you can call it summer :roll: ) a neighbourhood cat was hiding under the willow tree and pounced on top of one of my hens. It then wouldn't be chased off and just sat watching them. In the end I had to shoo it away with a broom so that it got out of my garden.

 

It then came back every day and stalked them so I had to keep chasing it off or standing near it so that I could stop it running at them.

 

After a few weeks the next door neighbours dog got hold of it and damaged it's leg so badly that it had to have it amputated. :shock: The reason the dog got it was because the cat was so fearless it wouldn't get out of the dogs garden. :?

 

I haven't seen it much since then but am dreading it coming back. Water doesn't scare it, noises do not deter it and even if I run toward it making a racket-it just stares at me!! :x

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My five cats don't seem to bother my chooks at all, as many cats they just seem to be hovering between fear and interest about them...

There are some aggressive cats though... one cat in the neighbourhood is a real terror, chasing my cats, scratching me and my kids... and I wouldn't trust him around the chooks, but he hasn't been trying to get to them in their run... They only freerange fully supervised because of the local foxes, so that's not a problem with the cat either... He used to be quite sweet as a kitten and young cat but then grew to be a real terror, makes me feel like taking him to the vet, have him neutered and bring him back to his owner with the bill... they leave him for weeks at a time regularly, with just someone popping in to feed him, and obviously being alone at home for two months in a row, he doesn't go there much, changes into a half stray...

 

Anyway, the two cats you are talking about don't seem to be showing aggressive behaviour, so they'll probably be fine... chickens are quite big, and cats freak out when getting up close...

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My three Persian cats don't bother with the chickens at all. Thomas was very curious at first and used to sit watching them all the time. One day when they were out free ranging, Thomas went into the run and then into the Eglu and had a good look round. Since then he hasn't bothered with them at all and now totally ignores them.

 

This morning I looked out of the window when the chooks were free ranging and saw my elderly Westie inside the run. She is 15 years old and blind so she must have wondered into the run without realising. She couldn't find her way out so I had to go out and rescue her.

 

Brenda

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This morning I looked out of the window when the chooks were free ranging and saw my elderly Westie inside the run. She is 15 years old and blind so she must have wondered into the run without realising. She couldn't find her way out so I had to go out and rescue her.

 

Brenda

 

 

:lol::roll::lol::lol: Excellent-bless her! :D

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My three Persian cats don't bother with the chickens at all. Thomas was very curious at first and used to sit watching them all the time. One day when they were out free ranging, Thomas went into the run and then into the Eglu and had a good look round. Since then he hasn't bothered with them at all and now totally ignores them.

 

This morning I looked out of the window when the chooks were free ranging and saw my elderly Westie inside the run. She is 15 years old and blind so she must have wondered into the run without realising. She couldn't find her way out so I had to go out and rescue her.

 

Brenda

 

Bless! :D

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My two cats are both scared witless of the Bantam Babes - they are both good hunters, so felt that it was only right to try it on with the chooks... after ahandful of tries they've decided that it's not worth the hassle! We're currently getting great entertainment out of a neighbours two british blue kittens learning the same lesson.

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Thanks for the reasurance.

 

I have a more pressing problem now. This afternoon we noticed a small tunnel dug through the chipped bark under the skirt of the run coming out under the front of the Eglu. It looked too small for a fox but too large for a rat. After speaking to a neighbour he thinks it was a fox as apparently they can squeeze their bodies through the smallest of gaps. As the chickens were unharmed we guess it happened last night and it was missed early this morning because we opened the Eglu door before it was fully light.

 

So tomorrow I'm thinking of removing the run, leveling the hard packed soil, replacing the run making sure there are no gaps, pinning it down with tent pegs, covering the skirt of the run with soil (or maybe paving slabs), then putting the chipped bark back.

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:shock: that sounds scary ... my instinct would say that it's not a fox, though. They will dig things UP, i.e. buried things, and there have been instances of them lifting the Eglu skirt, I think when it was on very sandy soil, but they don't usually tunnel. Their paws and noses are not designed for digging like that, I think they would make a big messy hole, not a tunnel that was hard to spot.

 

I'm afraid my money would be on a rat, which is less of a threat to your chooks but still something nasty to deal with.

 

Tent-pegs, if your soil is firm, should reassure you that the skirt can't be lifted up ... but if it is a rat they won't stop it!

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Yikes! I'm not sure what I find worse.

 

I think it was easy for the rat/fox to tunnel in because that corner of the skirt is resting on a pile of easily moved chipped bark due to the ground not being totally flat. Another reason we thought it wasnt a rat is because leftover corn outside the run close 2 the tunnel wasn't touched, surely the rat would go for the easy food first?

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That sounds horrible for Maggie, I hope it doesn't happen to Dora or Peppa. I'm only going to let them out of the run when I'm in the garden.

 

I let them free range for the first time today, after clipping their wings yesterday, and they were a little nervous, never venturing far but they found a spot they liked amongst a couple of shrubs where they scratched around, perched on some decaying logs then settled down in the middle of a bush. If I didn't now where they were I would never of found them. I couldnt tempt them out so had to find a way in and lift them out.

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We are careful with the cats and only let them out when the chickens are out if we are outside too.

 

The cats usually come out with me when I shut the chickens back in their run at about 3.45pm and on Saturday I popped back in for something only to come out again and find the 2 cats boxed in on a narrow path by a chicken at each end. The cats were cowering and the hens were just standing there :lol: It was a very funny sight.

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