barn cat - yes or no?

[marie000]

We keep chicken (laying hens and some chicks) and muscovy ducks. In the past, we have had really bad problems with a weasel. It killed 7-8 young ducks last summer, and all our chicken (15 of them) this winter.
Now, we also have rats in the shed that is used for our ducks.

Would getting a barn cat be a good idea? Would a cat attack our birds?
We were thinking of getting a kitten so he would grow up used to the birds.
I'm not too worried about the ducks at all. They are large and the babies are well protected by their mother. The grown chicken would also be too large for most cats, I assume. I am mostly worried about the chicks. They will have an enclosure, but I'm not sure it will be 100% cat proof.

What is your experience with cats and birds living together?

 

[sumi]

The cats we had knew better than to mess with our chicks, but cats are predators and even a well-fed cat will hunt. Chicks are easy prey for them. So rather put your chicks in a secure, covered brooder.

 

[shmccarthy]

My cat is a Maine coon and she's pretty big. She is very...well fed almost a little chubby. But she still takes full advantage of hunting, usually catching bunnies, songbirds and chipmunks but I have seen her catch full sized rabbits, squirrels and large moles. She tried "hunting" one of my pullets once, and got her butt kicked by the rooster. She leaves them alone now. I did not let her in the same room as my brooder, because I know she would kill them. Even though she's very tame and we've raised her since she was born, she's still a natural killer and I wouldn't put it past her if she killed a bantam or smaller chicken.
I watch her very closely when the chickens are out foraging.
The other day actually, I was out with the chickens and Kiki, my cat, jumped out of the woods, her face covered in blood. She wasn't hurt, but just got done killing and eating something. The pullets that didn't know any better ran up to her and I think it made her nervous. She started walking away and they kept following her and she would keep looking over her shoulder and speeding up as they kept up pretty well with her. XD
I would definitely make sure the brooder is cat proof.

 

[cafarmgirl]

Agree with the other's who posted, many cats will kill chicks just like any other bird they can catch. And if the chicks enclosure is not cat proof then basically it's not predator proof at all, something is going to get them eventually, especially since you already know you have rats and weasels.

 

[SD Bird Lady]

Our cat is a great hunter but has never killed a chick or adult chicken. She has however gotten our mice population down to almost ZERO. I highly recommend a cat for rodent control. If you don't control the rats you will lose more chicks to rats than most cats would ever dream of taking. Good Luck!

 

[redsoxs]

My cats ignore my chickens and my chickens even boss my cats (a couple are big tom cats) around and chase them!

 

[StephieSky]

I have two fully grown Maine Coon cats who had never seen a chicken. My cats followed my chickens around clearly fascinated for days. When my boy cat finally got up the nerve to reach out and tap Gracie as if to say - maybe I can play with you after all - Gracie pecked him. Not even a hard peck and now he gets up and moves when she's coming through. My girl cat makes the chickens climb over her. She could care less. They've lost all interest for her after a month.

I'd be careful of turning out small chicks though. The flittery movements and running away catch a cats attention and they instinctively want to stalk and catch small animals, even if its just to play. Cats play rough.

 

[Island Roo]

Same as other posts.
My cats leave grown chickens alone but will snatch a chick if given a chance. I lost a chick last week when it escaped from the chick grow-out pen. Not sure it was a cat...

I wonder if a Terrier could be trained as a guardian dog. They were bred (originally) to hunt rats, weasels and other vermin. If trained as a guardian, it could deal with raptors, snakes and other small predators. Coons too I bet.

My large guardian dogs could easily chase a weasel away but may not be able to catch it for disposal. Just thinking out loud...