4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[choppish]

..has been eyeing them up for a few days nw from the roof but has yet to act until now!

 

luckily i walked outside to see the cat stalking Fortune whist she was dust bathing. the cat was bout 2 feet away and she was oblivious.

 

luckliy i scared off the cat and fortune didnlt even notice. I fear the cat could weel badly maul her, yet a lot on here say the a chicken can take on a cat.; but surely not if stalked then pounced upon?

[dancing cloud]

A different scenario, but my ex-batts saw my cat off without problems the first weekend they arrived, and they'd never so much as seen a cat before

 

My younger cat kept tryng to get my hens to play with him in the usual cat way ie jumping out at them in play and trying to get them to chase him. I know he wasn't trying to hurt them but they didn't, and even my little bald Joy fluffed up what few feathers she had then and drove him off with a loud hiss and an evil look. He still tries to play occasionally, but one look is enough

 

How about buying a water pistol and joining your hens in the game of "seeing off next door's cat"? No one will get hurt and it'll soon get the message.

[Sandychick]

I have a fearless killer cat who specialises in pidgeons! I was a bit worried when she first met the chickens but for all the tail wagging, hiding behind trees and attempts at pouncing, she gets scared at the last minute and runs off. She is getting used to them now and they all seem to get on quite well. I think if my cat can't attack a chicken it is unlikely that many do. It just looks scary but it is always the cat that ends up running away in the end.

 

I think it would be best to just watch from a distance and see what happens. After all you can't be on cat watch all the time so it would be better and mor reassuring if you know that they will be able to fend for themselves if the cat visits.

[Seagazer]

I have a cat who sounds exactly like Sandychick's cat and he still often stalks the girls and then pounces but they make such a racket and flap their wings madly and he just walks off. I think its a bit of a routine for him now.

 

He is a small cat and has caught pidgeons before (although not killed) but I don't think he would manage the girls.

[Blackrocksrock]

One of my bengals is a bit scared of them and the other is a brat and I have soaked him tonight on his way to pounce on my girls. I hope to teach him a lesson by soaking him each time

[Egluntyne]

Give the neighbour's cat a blast with the hosepipe if he stalks the girls again......he should get the message.

[Yasmin]

sadly my friesen girl 'Freda' was taken by a huge feral cat! She was the smallest of my chickens. All my chickens trust cats, as our own cat is friends with them, so she was easy pickings. It was very sad - she was such a bold character too and refused to roost in the eglu, but went up a hawthorn bust every night. I had just bought a wooden chhicken coop particularly for her and taken delivery the very day she met her fate with the cat!

I now have 2 light sussex girls to make use of the new coop!

 

So the moral is 'don't trust feral cats!'.

[Egluntyne]

Sorry to hear about Freda.

 

Welcome to the forum Yasmin.

[Olly]

Sorry to hear about Freda, Yasmin - and welcome to the forum.

 

I still reckon most domestic cats will be 'seen off' by the average chicken, certainly mine is very wary - they fluff themselves up and flap their wings, and he doesn't attempt any funny business with them now. If you had chicks or bantams it might be different, but I think your chickens would be ok.

 

As Sandychick says, better to know they can defend themselves - I'd keep an eye out ready to intervene if necessary, but let them look after themselves.

[Egg Lou]

So glad you posted this as just had my first cat scare about 5 minutes ago!!

 

Girls suddenly made a huge racket.. normally very quiet! Ran outside to see them doing great impressions of giraffes and shouting loudly.. ran towards me but as I couldn't see anything I told them what silly girls they were! wne to put them back in run as worried about neighbours.. o0nly to see a huge cat perched on the fence by their run watching them with far too much interest..

 

Chased it off but very worried as sure it was big enough to do damage

 

It sounds like most cats seem fine on here but still concerned

[Abbey Road Girl]

When a chicken with a beady eye and a sharp beak looks at you at close range, aren't you just a bit intimidated?

 

Then think how much bigger we are than pussy cats!

 

On the other hand, cats, like hens, are individuals. Don't worry too much, chances are that the hens will have the situation under control. But be aware of possible risks all lthe same.

 

Best of luck!

[kathryn]

I have now moved my girls around three different addresses, all with a fair share of neighbourhood cats. I was terrified when a big ginger cat got one of them into a corner, but then it seemed to decide against it and backed off. My opinion now is that they can more than look after themselves and I really don't worry about it anymore. They are bantams and one of them is quite tiny (pekin) - but she is the meanest if the lot!

[Puffin]

I would agree with the other responses so far, I have a Bengal cat who is a real killer and he has stalked the chickens alot and got through the omlet netting but then he was desperate to get out again! Although he is obviously interested in them he never gets too close - the only time he did he got a peck on the nose!