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Tinkerbell

Cats and Chickens

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I have just ordered my eglu and I am really excited !!! I cant wait

 

Has anyone got chickens and cats ? how do they get on together ?

I am a little concerned about my cats and the new chickens, I have 4 Tonkinese cats, do you think they will get on with the chickens or should I section off a seperate piece of garden for the chickens.

 

I would love to hear from anyone who has experience with cats and chickens

 

thanks

 

Tinkerbell

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Although we don't have a cat ourselves most of our neighbours do and we have daily visits from most of them!

 

We've had our hens for about a month and we've had no problems. At first the cats were curious but watched the hens from afar (e.g. from on our shed roof). This caused a bit of consternation to our hens (a bit of squawking and flapping), but no real distress. After a week or so all animals got bored of this game and have settled down to a policy of ignoring one another!

 

D.

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Hi ya,

 

We have got 3 hens and this morning I heard a commotion coming from the garden and they were really clucking, a ginger cat had come in the garden and was looking at them. They didn't like it so I saw off the cat!! :twisted: I have noticed since we got the hens we had a few cats in the garden and they were not really bothered by them, until this ginger one came in, probably instinct, thought it was fox or something. I would see how they get on but I've heard that hens will hold their own, a good old peck on the nose and the cat probably won't go near them again. May be a good idea to net off area for first week you got them til they got used to seeing each other through the net. :)

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We have 2 cats. Both were VERY keen initially to make 'friends' with our chickens and the cube ! - We were a little worried - but we needn't have been as whenever the cats got to near the chickens would puff themselves up and run at them. This soon sorted out the cats over-enthusiam - our cats go knowhere near them now.

The chickens did this form of combat to our 2 dogs as well - worked a treat. :P

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They all get on fine in our house.

 

We've got 2 cats and 6 hens who free range the garden a lot of the time. To be honest, the cats are far more apprehensive of the hens than the other way around and give them a wide berth. However, it's not like the cats won't go out in the garden if the hens are free ranging (or if a hen or 2 happens to wander into the kitchen :D )

 

Next door's cat is a bit of a have-a-go hero with the chooks and will try and stalk them. However, if she ever gets too close to them, they just run at her and she soon scoots off.

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I have two cats - one is scared of the chickens and goes around the edge of the garden - the other is somewhat bolder. Within 24 hrs he pounced on the Eglu run causing squawking and feathers to fly - for the first week everytime he went into the garden they made a lot of noise, but he failed in his attempts to walk through the Omlet netting (head and feet through different holes!

 

Now two months on the hens just ognore him and he watches them from a distance. I would just keep an eye to start with, but I am sure they will be fine.

 

Tracy

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Most of the advice on these forums is that cats aren't really a concern, but I don't entirely agree with this.

 

If your chickens free range, and you have a bold cat in the area then expect your birds to get regularly startled.

At best, this will mean a tense standoff where the chickens get close together and cluck a lot, or at least keep watch on "high alert".

A mischevious cat can stalk your flock around the garden for a long time like this before it gets bored.

Bear in mind all the time they are stressed by the cat, they aren't eating or relaxing, so it *is* a problem, albeit a minor one.

More seriously is if you have areas for your chickens where the cat can creep up on them. This will invariably lead to a chicken getting pounced on, which is obviously distressing to them. It is true that they will often "give as good as they get", but what people don't always take into account is that some cats won't particularly mind this rough and tumble, but chickens will *never* act like it's a game.

We had an area at the bottom of our garden, beneath a bush, that our chickens used to love burrowing into and dust bathing. Unfortunately a local cat definitely used to jump in there with them, as I saw him do it on one occasion.

To be fair, I never saw any physical damage.

 

So, with the benefit of hindsight, I'm going to try and restrict access to "danger" areas for our new chickens where they might get pounced on, and am also going to get a water pistol to deter moggies when I see them! The less confident they feel in my garden the better as far as I'm concerned!

 

Please note, I'm not an experienced poultry owner, so it's entirely possible that if you have a lot of chickens, or one really aggressive chicken, they will see off any cats without getting stressed - but I thought I'd share my limited experience anyway :).

 

/\dam

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I have 2 cats Tiggy age 20 years & Molly age 6 who was a rescued ferral kitten. Tiggy has never had any problems with chickens old & wise enough to sus them out & has kept Saffy company since the fox attack they see to like each other, Molly now keeps her distance after being chased by a furious pepperpot squarking & flapping just hours after arrival, Molly stalked her acccross the garden & launched herself like a little lioness, chicken was soon up on her toes and making a dreadful row, I've never seen cat try to change direction in mid-air BIG MISTAKE. it was hillarious

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To be honest i haven't seen much reaction in 2 weeks. Our 7yr old cat i'm not sure has even notied them hardly lol as she spends most time asleep indoors (i know shes a cat but ALL the time) my daughters 2 yr old cat is braver and sits on the run watching though the chickens don't seem bothered by that. He did scare them back into run(then leap into coop had to drag him out :roll: ) when it was snowing but i don't think they wanted to come out really anyway. I'm hoping they stand up to him next time as hes a quick learner (sits on command lol)

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As the others have been posting, our own cat gets on just fine with the chickens, although the chooks have been known to get a little too playful with the cat :shock: It's the neighbourhood cats and the feral cats that need watching. Over here in the States very few people let their cats outside - most keep them confined to indoors so we only have a problem with the ferals, and so far (fingers crossed) we've never seen them in our back yard. Course it is fenced like Fort Knox and keeps our own cat completely contained.

 

IMG_1670.jpg [/img]

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What a beautiful picture Kiwichick... My two are totally blown away by the chickens. Normally quite the "little hunters".... They've taken to walking the longest route round the garden to bypass the cube or "Dash" like crazy to get into the house. It will be very interesting to watch what happens when we let the girls out to roam freely!

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Hello, well we have 3 cats & 6 chickens. Two of our cats totally ignore the chickens unless they move then they run away . .the cats that is . .both tortoise shell . .both darling cats but both seem to take an aversion to the chickens . .they're just not too sure about them . .after all "Ooops, word censored!"ody consulted them, they just woke up one day & there they were!!!! Hmmm then we have our youngest little cat . ..now she's totally different . .she thinks she's me . .or a sheepdog . .well chookcat . .. she sits watching them then when she notices one of them wandering too far away from the crowd . .she rounds them back up but then indirectly rounds them all up back into run.

One of the chickens in particular attracts her attention . .the Fenning CouCou . .this is because bless her, Agnus jumps up into the air everytime the cat comes towards her .. this amuses the cat endlessly so then i intervene & shoo the cat away & comfort Agnus!!!! But, i just trust that they will gradually have to get used to each other, that hopefully the chicken has a natural instinct & defense mechanism which will kick in so they won't stay distressed, eventually they will either ignore or sort the cats out. Mutual respect will evolve & hopefully harmony prevails :)

 

 

We have a very aggresive cat that often visits, he's a big tom & scares the living daylights out of our 3, but he walked past the chickens without even looking at them!!

 

Good luck, hope all get along beautifully.

 

Ms Tilyfreerangedwithherchooksafterworktheneventuallypoppedintokitchenhappytosay

weallsurvivedtheday

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thank you so much for all your replies, its great to know that the cats abd chickens will eventually get on together . (fingers crossed) :P

 

I am not bothered about the neighbours cats or strays, because my cats are confined to our garden with cat net fencing which is great because the chickens will never get out either.

 

I have decided to section part of the garden off with a larger run for the chickens and hopefully in time I will be able to take it down and let them mix together.

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I'm still having to watch 2 of my cats when the girls free range - the cats will stalk and run and then stop about 2 feet from the chooks.

 

I don't think the chooks are very happy about it yet as instead of standing their ground and giving the cats concerned a good peck on the nose they go flapping off clucking. This then encourages the 2 pesky cats to think it's a game :?

 

Will keep you updated.

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I was worried that my cat, Tigi, would attack the chickens. After a week of the chickens getting used to the garden I let the cat out with them too. Tigi was walking across the garden ignoring them and my little red hen went running after her, all puffed up and squawking. Later the same day Tigi was stalking the same hen, who turned round and gave Tigi a big peck!

Tigi mostly avoids them now, but I don't really trust her with them!

I have one or two cats who cut through my garden, but they don't seem to have noticed the chickens yet!

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2 of my 3 cats are such birders that I am not going to risk it - walk in pen being built. Given that the 2 moggies tend to hunt together, go into crows nests, and their kills have included a young bird of prey and a full size seagull, I will never be convinced of the safety of chickens around them! The other cat will probably not care less! I think everyone just has to judge what risks they feel able to take with the knowledge of their own cats. I know that chickens should be able to hold their own, but given the vicious fights with crows that I have had to intervene in, I don't want to risk injury to either feline or fowl!

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Tinkerbell; What is cat net fencing please? Sounds good. Does it actually work? I dont have cats, but the neighbours have 4 and so far, I would feel much happier if I could find a way of keeping them out of our garden and away from the chooks. It all looks like they will be okay together, but Id rather be safe than sorry.

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