Chicken bald back

[OllieNLucys Mum]

Electric netting keeps the feral cats and dogs away from my girls. One zap and they don't repeat the experience

[hasnett]

we have a cockrel who'll attack anything that enters the garden, my husband and i are his favourite targets,however, he's terrified of the new tom cat next door! we'll be trying the citronella!

[fluffyfeet]

Hi Debs

 

Cockerel - to service the ladies and hopefully make the cat think twice.

 

Hose - with one of those attachment thingy's so the cat thinks it's only a shower and then 'bosha'!

 

Nerf Dart Gun - For the neighbour!!!

 

Seriously though I'd go with the Cockerel and Hose blasting. Good Luck.

 

Dawn x

[Mollie333]

Carry on with the hose pipe.

[Cranfield Kate]

next time you squirt it with water put some vinegar in it. they hate that.

 

my ex OH used a catapult and pellets on the local cats when they bothered the chickens. i did not condone it but it seemed to work...

[eggalp]

i regularly use a hosepipe on the cats around here, there are a few and they are a right pain. I am of the opinion that if they are in my garden, leaving their nasty poos everywhere and upsetting my chickens, then i have every right to squirt them, they are in my garden and i don't want them there. If they not in my garden then its not a problem, but if they come in to my garden, then i shall do what i like to get rid of them - whether the neighbours approve or not! Sometimes i am tempted to collect all their poos in a bag and take it round to the owners and leave it on their doorstep - why should i have to put up with this - i don't own any cats, i don't want any cats, so why should i have to put up with there poo in my garden! As you can tell, i an definately not a cat lover

[sage]

3 new cats near us at the moment, we have more cat poo in the boarders than enough . Last night 2 cat sat either end of the WIR and the girls going stupid. Would love to leave a pressy of a pile of chicken poo on their doorsteps and see if they like it.

 

Sage

[Mollie333]

my ex OH used a catapult and pellets on the local cats when they bothered the chickens. i did not condone it but it seemed to work...

 

Surely that would hurt them?

[Cranfield Kate]

they never yelped (I'm not sure his aim was that great) but they ran at serious speed.

[Roobaloo]

If you're worried about your cat's access, could you not install a cat flap (that requires a magnet to unlock it) into a fence. then put the mini plastic spikes around the fence line to keep out intruders?

 

I agree that cats don't like citrus but I've never found it a suitable long term deterrent - they just go around it, over it or just wait for the scent to fade.

 

My dog is a great deterrent...he'll guard his garden, run at or chase any cats on command...but I know that if one stood up to him, he'd panic!! Thankfully, they never do! So I only need to leave him in the conservatory and all cats flee!!

 

Alternatively, I chase them. All our local cats are fine with me outside of my garden...but they know I'll chase them if they so much as touch the fence!

 

Have a small stock pile of water balloons (or a big jug of water) by an upstairs window...you see the cat, you throw it out the window! Both cause a big splash...so the cat gets a noisy surprise and a soaking!! Most cats associate water guns and hose pipes with the person holding it. So they often know that if a human isn't in the garden, they have nothing to worry about...random water bombs from the sky, no sign of where they come from? Harder to predict so the cat doesn't know if it's safe!

 

I agree with the comment about the cockerel. By the time any action reaches you, he'll be long gone.

 

One further option - could you divide your garden? Half/quarter for the chooks, the rest for the cat/dog/people? By splitting it in half, you can protect one side...put up a fence, either wood topped with the plastic spikes or a plastic drain pipe (as cats grab onto the top of the fence to pull themselves up) ...or an electric fence to keep everyone out....that then leaves the rest of your garden for your cat to enjoy and still have access out!

[Patricia W]

You need a cockerel like Phillip. No cat comes near! They peer fearfully in over the fence and skulk away. Our cat pretends the chickens don't exist and give them a wide berth.

[migsy]

Has anyone had a chicken that has actually been attacked by a cat? I've never heard of a chicken getting injured by a cat.

[majuka]

Has anyone had a chicken that has actually been attacked by a cat? I've never heard of a chicken getting injured by a cat.

 

I asked this question before we got our girls and everyone we spoke to said that it was pretty much unheard of. A friend's work colleague had his chickens attacked, one quite badly although it did survive. I did ask whether it could have been a dog or fox but they were adamant that the cat was a big hunting cat who lived locally.

[Valkyrie]

We had a strange (not seen before so don't know who owned it) cat that attacked our buff sussex (probably why she's the ratty one) last year. DD saw it pounce on her back and ran out the door to chase the cat away. I checked grumpy bird but no harm was done, fortunately - probably due to the thickness of her feathers. It has been back a couple of times but if I see it I chuck a stone at it - too long a garden to hose or use a master blaster. My aim is very poor, but if it hits the shed it makes a brilliant bang which the cat runs away even quicker. Since then the girls will yell when a cat is around. The Maran takes it upon herself to go for any pigeons or small birds while the sussex will now charge at any cats - she's bigger now too.

[migsy]

My cats are more scared of the chickens than they are of them. We have loads of cats in the neighbourhood but none of the chickens have come to any harm. I know the cats would like to attack and they stalk them, but I'm not sure if any cat has actually tried catching one.

[chickanne]

My girlies seem completely unfazed by the local moggies. At least 5 have regular runs thro' our garden which is large and impossible to fence. The cats also ignore them.

 

I and OH, on the other hand, go completely mental!! Cat mess in all the borders/veggie patches AND WORSE OF ALL in the girlies' favorite dust bathing places!!

 

The cats do run away the moment they spy either of us as we hurl stones and water as well as abuse. If the OH catches the little beast that messes on our drive we will certainly be eating catburgers.

 

I even caught him researching surveillance cameras on the net so he could present owners with evidence. This thread has reminded me of his plans. Perhaps I shoud encourage him to get one on the pretence we need to catch the cat?

Then I can nick the kit and see what the girlies get up to when I'm away......

[Luvachicken]

i regularly use a hosepipe on the cats around here, there are a few and they are a right pain. I am of the opinion that if they are in my garden, leaving their nasty poos everywhere and upsetting my chickens, then i have every right to squirt them, they are in my garden and i don't want them there. If they not in my garden then its not a problem, but if they come in to my garden, then i shall do what i like to get rid of them - whether the neighbours approve or not! Sometimes i am tempted to collect all their poos in a bag and take it round to the owners and leave it on their doorstep - why should i have to put up with this - i don't own any cats, i don't want any cats, so why should i have to put up with there poo in my garden! As you can tell, i an definately not a cat lover

 

Me neither, especially when 2 bluetits moved into our new nest box within a week of putting it up, but then I saw our neighbours ginger cat with his paw inside emptying the box. When I looked a bit later all of the moss was all over the garden and the nest box was empty - except for 6 beautiful little eggs .

 

 

However, WD40 squirted here and there seems to work, I've tried it on my bin and front door that the cats seem to like peeing up ...................but I do like the sound of that Nerf gun

[Lavenders_Blue]

Gosh, how reassuring to know I am not the only person who is intolerant of cats! I know cats are only doing what comes naturally to them, but it makes me cross that many (not all, I am sure) cat owners think it's perfectly acceptable to have a pet that trespasses all over other people's property, leaving its mess and killing the wildlife that so many people work hard to attract to their gardens. I don't let my pets wander all over other people's gardens, why should they feel its okay to let their pet do this?

Interestingly some friends of DH (and big cat lovers!) told us recently about a cat in their village that had got into a neighbours garden and killed some of their chickens. In their words - 'well it's not the cat owner's fault, they should have had their chickens locked away'. Erm... excuse me, but why should someone have their own pets locked away in their own garden to stop someone else's murderous pet trespassing in their garden and killing them? They weren't impressed when I suggested that the cat owner should actually be taking responsibility for the behaviour of their pet, and perhaps building a cat run would be a better idea?

[Redwing]

I'm not sure how you could stop cats 'trespassing' there are millions of cats in the UK - are we all to keep them in runs????? I get your point that its annoying but at the end of the day cats are cats and there isnt a lot we can do about it!

 

Cats are not subject to the same laws as dogs regarding straying its up to us to keep our hens safe

 

I have every sympathy with Space Chick and agree with her that the solution is in discouraging the cat from coming in to the garden (hose etc..) rather than the owner keeping the cat 'under control'

[C&T]

Agree with Redwing - Cats are a part of life, and while I don't have one, understand why people do, and wouldn't want them restricted so they never left the house. But I do believe you are in you right to deter them from your garden - as long as that is done in a humane way (by which I include water and cat pepper and the like).

 

We have the small electrical cat deterrants on the garden, the ones that emit high frequency noises to deter the cats - and have to say they work really well for us. They are set up to ensure the chooks in their run don't set the noise off (or the batteries drain very quickly!) but 2 of them cover most of our smallish garden.

 

The cats aren't harmed, they don't leave "gifts" all over the garden, and it stops the cats trying to stalk the chooks when they are free ranging. Never seen a cat actually pounce - but a harmless deterrant I figure is better than waiting to see if they ever would pounce and who would win!

[Lavenders_Blue]

No ,I don't think all cats should be kept in cat runs. I was referring to the case of the cat who killed the chickens, this particular cat was clearly a bit of a menace and (in my opinion ) would be better off kept in a cat run or similar cat so as not to cause a threat both to wildlife and people's pets.

 

Anyway, this is in danger of straying off topic, and, moving back to Space Chick's dilemma, I think she is well within her rights to deter the pesky animal with a good blast of the hose!

[BarbaraJ]

I must have scary chickens, my cat and most others in the area (there are a lot) stay well away. I like the idea of the water bombs from the window

[Mrs Potts]

I have hens because although we love cats, DH is allergic to them.

 

We have two cats next-door-but-one who delighted in stalking up and down outside the classic run, totally transfixed by the hens inside. I let the hens free range but was always with them as the cats would stalk to within a foot or two of the hens, crawling on their stomachs and doing the whole stalking show, but the hens were oblivious - didn't bat an eyelid. One day, one of the cats stalked round the classic and didn't see the door was open so was met by a very flappy Hettie, who was on her way out and no-one was going to stop her. She frightened the life out of the pair of them and although they come for their usual fuss from me, the cats don't go near the chickens anymore. That said, another neighbour has just rescued a cat that is as big as a turkey and twice as interested in the chickens, so I may have to buy a hose!

 

ED is au pairing in Holland and tells me that lots of cat owners there have electric wiring around the tops of their fences ... to keep their cats in. I do not know if that is common throughout the country or just in the area she is in. I think cats are free range animals in the same way as chickens. I could not imagine electric fencing a cat in.

[KeithT]

I am afraid that several weeks ago we had a chicken killed by a cat, one injured and the other two terrorised. Admittedly, it was dark, the hens were roosting and we were late in closing the outer run gate but it is galling to have to take massive precautions from "domestic" predators.

The electronic cat deterrents and Foxwatch I bought are less use than a chocolate teapot. At least I could eat the teapot when it didn't work!

As I haven't the faintest idea who "owns" any of the various and multitudinous moggies which foul our garden I can't confront them.

[sadietoo]

It's a tricky one...we have a cat, (who is terrified of our two girls) he has a litter tray available at all times and judging from the state of my veg patch, he doesn't bother other people that much ...but I couldn't honestly say with my hand on my heart that he is never a nuisance to other people......that is unfortunately the nature of the beast,

 

Anyway back on topic...what he hates most in the whole world (apart from having an angry ginger chicken pecking at his behind ) is an aerosol can.....(when it's time to go to the vets and has hidden under the bed as soon as the cat carrier appears, one quick blast (not of course directly at him) has him out like a shot)....probably not very practical, but might just work???