Installing Indoor Cat Tree

[susiepoos]

For all you chicken and cat owners out there a little bit of advice please.

 

We've had our chickens now for 4 weeks and they are settling in very well. At present they stay in their run but the plan is in a few weeks is to let them free range in the bottom half of the garden in the daytime once they've got used to the idea of where home is - the problem is we have a cat - Charlie - he is 8 months old and is absolutely fascinated by the chickens and sits most of the day by the side of the pen watching them.

 

My question is do you think he is a big threat to them or do you think the chickens would be able to deal with him I've seen photos posted of cats and chickens together but I remain a bit sceptical

[Tina C]

Our cat loves sitting with the chickens. She even likes following them round when they are free-ranging. She thinks she is protecting them. We have never had any problems with the chickens attacking her or vice versa they just seemed to accept each other. But ours is an old cat and never was any good at hunting. I would just leave the cat and the chickens to it - they will soon work it out. And yes, everyone does seem to say that the chickens can see off a cat if they need to.

[bellekatz]

ONe of my cats is terrified of the chickens The others just ignore them - it depends on the temprements involved I think

[The Pearsons]

My girls see off the local cat bully with no problems. He is frightened to come into our garden now......

[craftyhunnypie]

My cat falls asleep at the end of the run near the door. She lays thee watching them, then drops off. She loves the chooks. The chooks love her to....Audrey sings to her!!!!

 

Emma.x

[craftyhunnypie]

My cat falls asleep at the end of the run near the door. She lays thee watching them, then drops off. She loves the chooks. The chooks love her to....Audrey sings to her!!!!

 

Emma.x

[Olly]

mine likes watching them, too ... if he gets too close, they will soon deliver a smart peck on the nose. He's had the chance to get used to them in the run, you might want to be around for the first few hours of free-ranging, because they will look different to him when they are out of the run, but I wouldn't worry - general consensus seems to be that chickens and cats are quite compatible.

[Flo]

My cat hates our chickens. He went to make friends with them when we first let them out and got a peck from our gingernut Luci. He is very old (24 ) and just wants to be left alone, and lets out a little whimper when they come near him!! I'm now torn between letting the chickens free range for as long as possible and letting the cat lie in the sunshine in peace!

 

Flo

[Olly]

24!!!!! that's amazing.

 

Mine tend to ignore the cat if he's lying still, but I can see that your elderly chap probably wouldn't feel comfortable if they were out and about. I think age should win here - I'd let the cat have some peaceful sunbathing.

 

(sunshine? oh yes, I remember it ... once upon a time).

[Milly]

I haven't had my chickens for long, so I'm not an expert. But my cats are rather nervous about the chickens. I'm not too worried about them because, although the cats are hunters, they have had experience with wild pheasants in the garden. Jumping into a group of pheasants, no matter how tempting to a cat, is a terrifying experience when they all start squawking. They only did it once! As the chickens are a similar size to the pheasants, I think they will treat them with the same caution. But I'm keeping an eye on them for the first few outings, just in case.

[Jules.]

My 3 cats don't even realise that we have chickens

[chrisnrob]

Our cats and chickens are all fine with each other.

 

When we first got the chickens Tigger (who is the most upfront of our cats and the biggest hunter) was extremely wary of them and went down the garden pinned to the hedge as far away from the Eglu as possible. Trumpet (who is a bit of a wuss) was fascinated by them from the outset (see photo in gallery below).

 

We supervised them when we first let them out and the cats just lay there as the chickens wandered about around them (again, see photos in gallery below). On several occasions they faced up to each other, had a good stare and then just carried on about their business.

 

These days Tigger likes to lie by them and watch - if they move up the garden then she follows them about. She has never tried to chase or catch them. Trumpet occasionally gives chase - but only ever as fast as the chicken goes, always staying about three feet behind her so we think he only wants to play. The other day he went through the cat flap, ambled down the path and was then chased down the garden by Greta - for no apparent reason!

 

I think you're best to supervise them when they first meet but they soon seem to work out that it's best for all of them if they just get along

 

Rob

[susiepoos]

My cat hates our chickens. He went to make friends with them when we first let them out and got a peck from our gingernut Luci. He is very old (24 ) and just wants to be left alone, and lets out a little whimper when they come near him!! I'm now torn between letting the chickens free range for as long as possible and letting the cat lie in the sunshine in peace!

 

Flo

 

24 years old - what an amazing cat Our Fred lived until he was 17 - it broke our hearts when he died as he was such a wonderful friend and we miss him terribly. He was a white cat and had lots of problems with skin tumours due to the sun. He had to have both ears removed so he looked really strange but everyone loved him and he had a very happy life.

 

I'd let your cat lie in the sun and enjoy his comforts - the sun only shines every now and again at the moment so he has sunbathing time to catch up on

[Flo]

Yes - there hasn't been much sun recently so it has not been an issue. Archie (the cat) has been sleeping on our bed most of the day.

 

Your Fred sounded like he was a wonderful, if strange looking cat.

 

We have only had Archie for 2 years, we found out from various neighbours that he has lived on our street for all of his life and various people have looked after him. He wandered into our house the day we were moving in and decided that it looked like a good place to stay and has been here ever since.

 

Just spent a small fourtune on him at the vets, they cut his claws and he screamed the house down. Everyone in the waiting room looked very concerned when we emerged.

[Jules.]

ust spent a small fourtune on him at the vets, they cut his claws and he screamed the house down. Everyone in the waiting room looked very concerned when we emerged.

We have got some cliipers which look like scissors with a little notch cut out of them. might save you some money & blushes

[Sue and the Spice Girls]

My cat has been into the cube to see Ginger while she was laying....I think he went in to see what the fuss was about, but came out quite happily, and Ginger's carried on laying with no problems!

[Sarah 2]

We don't have a cat but the next door neighbour does. I think after the treatment the girls gave his cat this morning it will never dare to step foot or paw into the garden again. They can stick for themselves for sure. I was really amazed. And proud.

[Barbara Thatcher]

We've got the same worries as Susie regarding one of our cats. We've had our three gingernut girls about 10 days and are thinking of letting them out of the run while we clean it. We've got three cats, Heidi (a Bengal) and two Tonkinese, Salem and Toby. Heidi is a wuss and doesn't go near them, Toby shows a benign interest as he is more interested in rodents, but Salem is an inveterate hunter and we have seen him stalking the run and even charging it a couple of times (the chooks are totally unmoved by this). The problem is, he is so fast, he might pounce before we could to him and deliver the coup de grace or given the poor chook a heart attack.

 

However, reading your posts has reassured us, and we will give it a go. Just hope my faith in you all is vindicated

[susiepoos]

Thanks to everyone who has got back to me - it's so reassuring to know that if I have a problem there is always someone out there who can help.

 

I cleaned the chicken house and run out yesterday and for the first time allowed the girls to free range - now I understand the term mother hen - every couple of minutes I was counting them to see they were all still together and if I couldn't see one of them there would be that momemtary panic until I could account for them all again. Tilly was the brave one and wandered off down the garden and just then out of the corner of my eye I saw Charlie under the hedge. Well the upshot of it all was that he did try to have a go but Tilly was quicker then him - it was then that I thought it best to get them back in the run - that was like a scene out of Benny Hill with them all following each other but we got there in the end. Charlie didn't leave the side of the pen for the rest of the day - you could see him thinking "If they can get out -how do I get in"

 

Anyway thanks to you all again

[Trucking Girl]

Its the chickens who rule the roost! Inquistive puddy cats pose no problm, keep an eye on them the first few times and they soon ignore one aohter.

Trucking Girl

[Gentle1973]

We've got three chickens, a two year old cat and a 14 week old kitten. My two year old cat is petrified of the chickens and runs away every time they come near here. The first time she went out with them she did stalk them, but they stood up tall and squalked at her and she is now scared stiff.

 

My kitten isn't allowed out yet, but does try to get them through the patio doors, when the chickens come and peck at the window it drives her nuts. But this afternoon one of the chickens got into my kitchen with the kitten, and she just puffed herself up and ran way, so I really wouldn't worry, the chickens will win in any situation!

 

Good luck!

[Barbara Thatcher]

We did let our girls out today for the first time and they had a great time exploring our garden and didn't do any noticeable damage or try to get round the wire netting we had jerry rigged at the sides of the house. Salem spent the entire afternoon asleep in his basket so the confrontation problem has been put off - we would have to see what actually happens when they come to face to face before we can relax.

 

When we had cleaned the run and Eglu they sauntered back in like Kim and Aggie to check if we were up to scratch as cleaners and then carried on exploring the garden. When we decided to go in for the day I took down their daily fruit, nut and veg treats and they followed me excitedly back to the run but after seeing me put the dish inside, they attempted to break in through the side of the run. Thelma even ran round the back to try and break in the other side, so I had to guide them to the entrance by holding out a juicy grape! So it is true that chickens are thick - but we love them really

[jellyb100]

My cat was being very interested in the chickens this evening. He tried stalking them through the netting and then gave up and fell asleep!

 

[chrisnrob]

My cat was being very interested in the chickens this evening.

 

What a lovely looking cat!

 

Rob

[jellyb100]

Thanks!