elizabeth Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Encountered a problem today with a cat in the hen run, my 2 hens went beserk and the cat looked calm. Anyone else had a similar distressing situation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 I had a strange cat run into my WIR (my dogs hot on it's heels) however it was terrified and in the melee 2 of my pekin chicks got trampled. It hasn't been near since though - both my cats ignore my chickens and are terrified on the ex-batts who try to peck them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadWelly71 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Hi Elizabeth, One of my coops is actually in the cat enclosure (had 3 cats run over so decided to fence off part of the garden) and my ex-batt Norma & the two new Black Rock chickens Rusty & Megan are now doing a part time share with my cats (domestic & ex-ferals). I was a bit apprehensive at first and there was a bit of a (supervised) stand off between the chicks & the cats but after a couple of days, it has calmed down. Now they keep a polite distance and if one of the cats gets too close, Norma storms into action (I think as she comes from a Battery, she believes herself a bit of "from da Bronx" chick) Just keep an eye out for now, chickens usually learn to live in harmony. Not sure about dogs though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracker57 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Hi, We have 1 cat of our own and they all get on really well. Squeaky (the cat) was curious at 1st, but she is fine now and the chickies are fine, they have never bothered with her. She can even sit on the run and have a wash and they don't flinch. However when another cat comes by they both stand to attention and watch it intently. If they get too close though they do cluck alot louder. If I see any I do shush them off pretty quickly though, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Hi Elizabeth, One of my coops is actually in the cat enclosure (had 3 cats run over so decided to fence off part of the garden) and my ex-batt Norma & the two new Black Rock chickens Rusty & Megan are now doing a part time share with my cats (domestic & ex-ferals). I was a bit apprehensive at first and there was a bit of a (supervised) stand off between the chicks & the cats but after a couple of days, it has calmed down. Now they keep a polite distance and if one of the cats gets too close, Norma storms into action (I think as she comes from a Battery, she believes herself a bit of "from da Bronx" chick) Just keep an eye out for now, chickens usually learn to live in harmony. Not sure about dogs though. How did you enclose your garden to keep cats in. We are considering this. Sorry off subject pm me if you like. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddie Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 I've three cats. they are all terrified of the hens, with good reason Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Unfortunately, a neighbour has recently acquired a cat and I have twice rescued the hens from it whilst they were freeranging, despite my garden being fairly inaccessable to cats. Lots of noise,feathers lost in terror and days without eggs. the cat has also been in my garden during the day when I've been at work. Thankfully, I've not lost a hen or had one badly injured, yet, and am working on netting over the bottom half of the garden so cats cannot get in (I had to do this when Lola was young anyway). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickenlegs Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 Hi, I have the opposite problem, stopping my chickens from attacking my kitten, I know from experience that they will have ago if she gets too close, I have introduced a puppy to them, supervised of course, unfortunately they decided that she was getting too cheeky and lead by eadie stamped up and down on the poor terrified pooch, she is now older and wiser and very keen to keep a respectful distance. Think I'll wait till the kittens gets a bit bigger! Regards Theresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 We found a cat in their run one day. Chickens were not impressed in the slightest! And even though it was mid-day, the chooks would not go in the run again that day, and refused to go through the run into the eglu to roost for the night. We let them pick a spot in the garden, waited for them to get a bit "dopey" and then we popped them through the egg port without much of a struggle. Next morning, they were out in their run eating and drinking with no issues at all... Daft things! We've had lots of interested cats in the garden - including 2 young kittens that used to sit on the fence and watch intently. But as soon as they came into the garden, and realised how big the chooks were compared to them, they promptly legged it back to the top of the fence again!! Hours they would sit there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docsquid Posted October 5, 2010 Share Posted October 5, 2010 The opposite with us too: our cats are terrified of the chickens. Ozzy in particular, as he has found himself cornered in the WIR a couple of times and been attacked, silly cat! He's even scared of the bantams! There is another cat who until recently worried them more, but that cat has now been dealt with by our neighbour's chickens: it got into their run and they really gave it a pasting and now it won't go near any chickens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
