Lorri-d Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Hi guys, After letting my girls out into their section of the garden today within about an hour I looked out of the window and saw a cat larger that life in their enclosure just sat looking at them I actiually had quite a job shooing it away, it came back twice and just sat on the fence with eyes as large as saucers staring at me and the chooks! It was only when I went right up to it and really made a noise that it left. We have new next door neighbours so I'm presuming the cat is theirs and will be around now daily. The girls were making a right racket so obviously petrified of this intruder and as I'm going out to work for a couple of hrs I have put them in their eglu run to be on the safe side. Do I need to worry about cats? I just presumed that chooks would be too big so cats wouldnt bother them but this cat looked ready to pounce!! I have two small dogs but of course they aren't in the garden all of the time and whilst its daylight the girls do like to peck about in their enclosure so I hate shutting them away. What should I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavysqueak Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 We have various cats who go through our garden. Our girls aren't bothered by them - maybe we are lucky, but they just tend to look at the chickens & go on. We do have a regular visitor - a white cat who loves to sit in the garden with the girls. He / She watches them & then sits under the table & washes! My husband gets really annoyed at it & shoos it away, but it has never even looked like it was going to be a problem & our girls just ignore it. A really strange relationship, but at least the girls might have a protective 'friend'. I've read about some people on here having used water pistols to discourage cats, but I don't know how successful that is. I've also read about people on here who have hens that peck at any cat straying too close, which tends to discourage them. Good luck - I hope for a peaceful resolution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 I wouldn't worry - the cat will be interested, but most hens will see a cat off with no problem - a lot of bokking and a peck on the nose, and the cat will be giving them a wide berth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lorri-d Posted September 14, 2011 Author Share Posted September 14, 2011 Thank you both. I'm probably being a little over protective aren'tI it just looked like he/she was eyeing them up for tea! Have let them out this afternoon for a peck about, may keep a closer eye on them for a day or two though just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CR666 Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 We have 3 cats and 5 chickens, we have never had a problem with the cats attacking the chickens, mostly they just ignore each other. One of the cats is a male who occasionally decides to take a run at a chicken but always veers off at the last moment, and the sight of a chicken at full run towards them with wings spread soon taught our cats to respect them. One of the cats will frequently go into the run when the door is open and has even walked up the ramp and looked in at a chicken sat on the nest box. The resulting noise persuaded him to leave quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
debsygooch Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Hi, I have four girls and one cat - guess who rules the garden (clue - it isn't the cat ) Seriously the girls will be able to look after themselves and will certainly gang up on any feline intruder if they need to. That said, we were in the garden the other afternoon only to see our neighbours cat fast asleep in the Eglu - whilst the girls were happy free ranging around and about. Our own cat will very often spend time in the WIR when it's open sleeping on one of the logs in the sunshine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
