Chicken bald back

[liz.dudley]

Just gained a Pekin Bantam (along with an eglu classic )

 

What's the best way to get the cat and her used to each other? Hubby is already threatening that henrietta will have to go if they can't get along!

[Cat tails]

Congrats in getting a chicken!

Just let them get to know each other through the mesh of the run. That way the chicken can't run to far, so won't entice any hunting behaviour from the cat. Do prevent your cat from sticking close to run for a long period or trying to chase the chicken by circling the run. At one point the cat will get bored and the chicken will feel less intimidated by the cat.

Is your cat very young? It might take a bit more time then. Yearlings are very keen on learning to hunt and your pekin would a prime target.

 

Btw: you only have one hen? She would be in need of some feathered company. A cat won't do.

Edited October 19, 2014 by Guest

[liz.dudley]

Smokey is 11 ish and Henrietta is 3 ish by all accounts...

 

not sure either has seen the the other species before!

 

Quite excited about Henrietta, was going to wait until the spring but then saw this set up second hand and jumped at the chance

 

[mullethunter]

Congratulations on Henrietta. I got my girls this summer and our cats were also 11 and had never met chickens before. The watched them with interest for a few days but now they pretty much just ignore each other. I think it helps if the cat sees you with the chicken - they seem to realise they're friends not food!

 

Are you going to get a companion for Henrietta?

[liz.dudley]

That's the next question I suppose, as we only have the one how do we go about getting her some companions?

 

I figured if we got some other chickens we might have problems? How many can you comfortably keep in a classic?

[jesschicken24]

You can keep up to 4 small\bantam sized chickens in a classic. I haven't done introductions myself but from what I've read on here it might be best to buy two more chickens who don't know each other. I don't know how close you live to any breeders but I'm sure they will be able to help you pick out some suitable chickens and give you plenty of advise.

[mullethunter]

I'd definitely go for bantams of some sort. Either two who don't know each other, or two young (POL) ones from the same flock. You could split your run in half with a make-shift barrier and keep the newbies separate from Henrietta at first if you need to.

[redsunset]

As Mullethunter. Get another two. As for the moggies, I have two, and most cats in my experience avoid the chooks, even the littlies I had this year. My garden is full off trees and shrubs, so a cat haven for neighbours cats from time to time as well. One bossy wee chook to put said cat in place and from then on, no cat has ever gone near them, if anything a bit wary. When cats are young they will practise their stalking skills on them, but soon stop when chook turns round to chase them! They don't expect that!

[Cat tails]

My neighbour's cat still has a go at them and my ladies have not managed to chase him away. I once caught him doing it and surprised him with a well placed slap on the bottom, which seemed to have worked.

So don't always trust your chickens will do the job themselves!

Edited October 20, 2014 by Guest

[cloud]

Always good to be cautions and introduce them in a place so neither feel threatened, but you should have no problem. Hens aren't normally intimidated and cats are curious but cautious.

 

Picture speaks for itself...

[redsunset]

Many apologies cat tails, I stand corrected. I can only speak for my own cats and surrounding cats. I guess I am lucky that none have attacked mine in that sense, but some might? I assume that some cats have seen the smaller hens (bantam size) as possible prey and taken a chance?

[Cat tails]

The cat I speaking of is a rather large tom cat and my chickens are indeed bantams. Of course that might play a role. My own cat is a very small female and leaves the chickens well alone. But then again, she hardly has any hunting instinct and skills.

I think in most cases it will go well and the cat will steer clear, but it seems silly to me that we are all so aware of foxes, but almost ignore the other predator in our surroundings.

[liz.dudley]

Hubby's been at home today and said Henrietta hardly even blinked at smokey today!

 

Going to get a baby bantam or two on Saturday

[mullethunter]

How exciting