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Strepsy

Is it 'cos I is ginger?

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For some reason my ginger cat is still really scaring my new arrivals. He can't so much as sit at the back door without them getting flappy and clucking loudly, whereas they don't even bother acknowledging my black and white cat when he walks past. Do you think it's because he's ginger so possibly looks more like a fox? Or can they just tell that my black and white's a big softy?

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For some reason my ginger cat is still really scaring my new arrivals. He can't so much as sit at the back door without them getting flappy and clucking loudly, whereas they don't even bother acknowledging my black and white cat when he walks past. Do you think it's because he's ginger so possibly looks more like a fox? Or can they just tell that my black and white's a big softy?

 

It's weird you should bring this up. My next door neighbour has 2 huge cats,

one is ginger the other black and white. My girls totally ignore the ginger cat, but bok bok like mad when the black and white one appears. I don't know if chickens can see colours, but maybe it is a threatening vibe thing rather than a colour thing?

 

Tessa

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We have a Burberry jacket wearing cat come to visit my girls on a daily basis.

 

Chav cat? :lol:

 

Chickens have good colour vision, so they will easily be able to tell ginger cats from black and white or tabby ones. It's probably all in the body language, though...

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We have a Burberry jacket wearing cat come to visit my girls on a daily basis.

 

Chav cat? :lol:

 

Chickens have good colour vision, so they will easily be able to tell ginger cats from black and white or tabby ones. It's probably all in the body language, though...

 

Here he is listening for the bees in the lavender in my front garden.

You couldn't be frightened by his body language could you?

 

0709250024-1.jpg

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We have two cats one ignores the chickens and they ignore him. The other cat pounced on the run on day two and for the first week the chickens only needed to see him in the garden to all be making a lot of noise - now they just ignore him.

 

Just give them time to get use to each other.

 

Tracy

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We have a Burberry jacket wearing cat come to visit my girls on a daily basis.

 

I couldn't quite visualise this for a moment Egluntine - thanks for posting this pic though - 'cos now I can!! :?

 

Whatever are they thinking? (Sorry if any of you guys stick their poor cat in one of these!!?? :oops:)

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We have a Burberry jacket wearing cat come to visit my girls on a daily basis.

 

I couldn't quite visualise this for a moment Egluntine - thanks for posting this pic though - 'cos now I can!! :?

 

Whatever are they thinking? (Sorry if any of you guys stick their poor cat in one of these!!?? :oops:)

 

I had a nosey under it once, and he has a sizeable scar on his shoulder, so I suppose it is for protection. He does his best to get out of them though, and has left two behind in my garden. Maybe he finds them embarrassing!

 

I've no idea where he lives. :lol:

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oh bless, is he still visiting you Egluntine? That first pic (on your original thread about him) made me laugh so much - poor old fella, I bet he hates it. I bet his owners are fed up with him coming back without his coat!

 

Back to the thread ... I think it's a case of getting used to the cat, mine used to kick up a fuss and now they are not bothered. This is possibly because there was one stand-off (Chickens 1, Cat 0) and he's now terrified of coming across them free-ranging!

 

Chickens can see colour, but I think it's more likely to be connected to the way they perceive him moving/behaving. If he visits the Eglu regularly they will get used to him.

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Talking of cats and Chickens, has anybody ever lost a chicken to a cat? or visa versa!!! (sorry that made me lol!) I have two hunters and I'm intending to let the girls roam around the garden but obviously wouldn't consider if they were in any danger.

 

That poor Burberry cat. what a riot! wonder what the husband has to wear!

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Our Dora only ever bok bokked at our male tabby. He's daft as a brush but is a big fat thing so perhaps looks more menacing. As for the (now deceased) black and white moggy they weren't bothered by her at all and didn't even raise a feathery eyebrow when she wandered by.

 

I took a fabulous video of Dora furiously bok bokking last week. I went out with my camera video on to see what the problem was and it was our poor tabby trapped in the shed, his little head poking out of the cat flap. Every time he tried to step out of the cat flap she bokked even more. He's a skittish thing and stayed in there all day in the end! I haven't worked out how to reduce the size of the vid so I can put it in the gallery, or how to put a pic here, but here's a link to a pic of our poor trapped moggy!

 

http://club.omlet.co.uk/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=25340

 

Kris

 

(green eglu)

GNR Doris, Welsummer

PP Dora, Wyandotte

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I don't recall hearing of anyone losing a chicken to a cat - or vice versa. Chicks would no doubt be vulnerable, or even small bantams if there were no larger chickens around, but adults - not very likely. Predators aren't stupid - they usually don't attack prey animals that are big enough and strong enough to injure them, unless they are starving (which pet cats normally aren't).

 

On the cat side, only very young kittens would be small enough for a chicken to want to attack, and they are not normally let outside at that age. I think the hens would have to attack en masse in order to have any chance of hurting an adult cat - and thankfully chickens are not velociraptors! :shock:

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Thanks for all your replies everyone, very interesting reading, and piccies!

 

I do feel slightly sorry for the cats, they love being in the garden with me and follow me round whenever I'm out there but now they've been usurped by my feathery followers. Unless I'm in the front garden :)

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My husband thinks our 12 year old Burmese moggy might have a heart attack when he sees our new chickens! :(

 

Their Eglu will be right outside the conservatory where he lives each day when we are at work. He is frightened of normal sized birds let alone great big chickens!! He has a lot of space between his ears and not much else unfortunately.

 

Now I am worried - I even dreamt about him having a heart attack last night!! :roll:

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It's interesting reading how everyones chickens react to different cats. I have 3, a British Blue, British Lilac pointed & a grey tabby moggy. The latter 2 have no interest in the chickens what so ever which surprised me as they both hunt, but my Blue gets chased round the garden with his ears pinned back if he even so much as looks in there direction, which is strange because he couldn't even catch a fly if he tried & he's tiny. I wonder why they don't like him, very strange!

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PMSL at the Burberry cat :lol:

 

Ginger and Nutmeg are scared stiff of our neighbourhood cats. I went out in the garden to find them cowering in a corner, being herded up by next door but one's little black cat, who (TBH) I think was just very interested and has probably never seen chickens before, and fancied a bit of a play.

 

I am guessing that they are not quite fully grown though so are probably a bit more intimidated than a larger chuck.

 

I am worried tho' that the girls won't lay, because there's a predator on the prowl - has anyone any experience of this?

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My lovely big ginger boy "Parsley", is definitely the hunter out of my clan BUT he is the least interested in the girls out of all the cats. I've never seen him so much as glance in their direction, he just walks straight past the run looking the other way - unless this is a ploy :lol:

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My chickens went on laying even after I'd observed fox-prints on top of the Eglu, and then seen the little ginger beggar tugging at the plastic shower curtain on the run! There was a lot of bok-bokking, naturally, but it didn't put them off.

 

All chickens are different, but if it did upset them they'll soon get over it.

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