little Red Hen Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 I got home this morning to notice I could hear the chooks clucking which is unusual. When I opened the back door I realised it was because a neighbours cat was bothering them from outside the eglu run!! It ran off but when I checked the girls, poor old Shadow had obviously taken a slight scratch as the end of her comb by her beak was bleeding. With the better weather we've had some lovely afternoons with them out free ranging whilst I potter in the Kitchen which is at the back of the house.I'm worried about this cat coming back for more as it try'd to come in the garden again this evening!! I thought I'd read that a chicken could stand up to a cat somewhere?Has anyone else suffered from unwanted cat attention to their chickens?We do have a dog but of course he is not always out in the garden every minute the girls are. I'm thinking close supervision is probably needed when they're free ranging and keep trying to remind myself that the run is fox proof so hopefully this cat won't be able to harm them when I'm out. What a nuisance!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 we saw a big ginger tom back along....he got quite daring and we have never seen a cat in our garden for 10 years cos we have a big german shepherd. But he was interested in the chickens. Our girls let us know something was going on ...so we knew as soon as he was in the garden. We sprayed him with the hosepipe on 2 seperate occasions, and we havent seen him since. By the way i am an animal lover, he just got wet and learnt a lesson - thats all !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Yes that is a nuisance - are you sure the cat caused the injury, only my cats are soooo not bothered by hens its unreal (wooaah - sorry came over a bit Vicky Pollard then ) Not sure what to suggest other than getting a big water pistol and squirting vthe cat whenever you see it - do that for a while and I'm sure it'll soon get the message that it's not welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
little Red Hen Posted May 23, 2007 Author Share Posted May 23, 2007 Yes I'm sure the cat caused the injury as the blood was fresh, bright red. I am ready armed with my son's fully loaded super turbo pump action WATER PISTOL so hopefully a few regular squirts with that and it may get put off. I think this one may be pretty determined though as I saw it a few days earlier high up my next door neigbours tree trying to get a birds nest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy C Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 Sorry to hear about poor Shadow, what a nasty shock. We used to get visiting cats in our last house and always had a washing up bottle full of water ready to squirt them. Cheap and effective because you can have a few dotted about. Soon a touch on the door handle set them scarpering. Our garden is bigger now so we couldn't get the water jet length right, so invested in a sonic cat scarer to protect the garden birds, it has been effective. Now we have our hens to protect, I believe (from a bit of detective work) that the frequency it emits could deter foxes too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helly Welly Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 I have squeezy bottles at all upstairs windows for when the cats start fighting in the night. Next doos cat runs at the mere sight of a bottle now + Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CannyCat Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Our chickens stand up to our cat - but it took over a month of constant harassment and petrified clucking before they realised they could! Now our cat is thoroughly whipped, and they bully him through the cat flap Keep an eye on things, and in time they'll learn that a swift peck is a better deterrent than clucking! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xChicken04x Posted May 27, 2007 Share Posted May 27, 2007 Yep i've been hear before as i have two cats of my own they are always stalking pigions or trying to get as far to the bird feeder as possable. my advice is to simply hide around a corner and squirt him with the hose pipe or have a bucket of water at the ready (make sure its not a windy day, or the cat will get the last laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
