Cat/Kitten for Mouse Control

[aart]

My aprons are 18-inches. They are 1/2 inch hardware cloth, they are continuous with the walls.

Where is the tunnel(s)?

 

[Acre4Me]

If you use hanging feeders, hang them at back height- less waste that way bc less apt to swipe or scoop feed out. Don’t put food or treats on the ground, use a shallow pan to keep treats contained. Store feed in a way mice can’t access. Put up water for awhile too, bc they might be drinking the water. When all food is removed, there is a lot less reason for the mice to stay.

 

[Penpal]

When you use the sprays or sprinkle ons, you have to re-apply after a rain.

 

[The Coop Crew]

We have a cat that is a great mouser but she also kills birds and other small animals. She is indoor/outdoor and I make sure she is indoors before I let my chickens out because I just don’t trust her. She will lay outside of the enclosed run and nap so I’m not sure if she would really hurt them but I’ve found enough dead birds that I’m not comfortable even risking it.

 

[mcdze]

if you free roam pullets cats are a threat any time of the day .. a large cat that freely roams at night will kill even mature birds if they have access to them .. mice ive always been able to get with large-sized glue traps ..roof rats are the real problem if you ever get those .. in either case a cat is going to only be partially effective, id say get a cat if you want a loving buddy and keep it in the house and a thermal scope on a higher end pellet gun if you need 'manual' eradication, and even then itl take patience and strategy ..

 

[123RedBeard]

My four barn kitties didn't really start effectively hunting until about 7-8 months old ... Anything that moves is fair "game" ... They will catch and play, and eventually eat ... Bugs, moths, snakes, mice, moles, birds, rabbits, and who knows what else I haven't seen ...

But they like to "play with their food"!

I don't think a cat is your best choice ... While I really like my cats, if you're not a cat person, or willing to become one, traps and exclusion are probably a better solution for you.

How big is your run and coop?

I'm not sure if you have mice or rats ... Mice don't usually "tunnel", but rats will dig there own tunnel ...

 

[JacinLarkwell]

My four barn kitties didn't really start effectively hunting until about 7-8 months old ... Anything that moves is fair "game" ... They will catch and play, and eventually eat ... Bugs, moths, snakes, mice, moles, birds, rabbits, and who knows what else I haven't seen ...

But they like to "play with their food"!

I don't think a cat is your best choice ... While I really like my cats, if you're not a cat person, or willing to become one, traps and exclusion are probably a better solution for you.

How big is your run and coop?

I'm not sure if you have mice or rats ... Mice don't usually "tunnel", but rats will dig there own tunnel ...

Mice will absolutely tunnel.

 

[AGstudy]

I have some trapping tips below, but if your only interested in the cat solution, skip to the end.

How many traps do you have set? If you are catching 1or2 mice a day then you don't have enough traps. 30 traps are better. I know it sounds excessive, but that is the recommedation for pest control experts. You want to have more traps out than mice that you are trying to catch. More traps are better anyway, because male mice give off hormones that can make small female mice afraid to approach that area. In other words: if you catch an big male mouse on a trap, you may stop being able to catch small female mice on that trap.

Wear gloves when setting traps to prevent the smell of your hands from transfering.

Mice are more suspicous of new objects and smells than rats. If you are using snap traps give at least a week for the mice to feel comfortable with the traps before setting them (you should still bait them during this time). It would be awful to have a mouse approach a scary trap for the first time and then get spooked by the trap going off. That mouse will not approach that trap again. You want all your mice to be comfortable with the traps, its their fastfood restaurant that they visit daily. Then one day you set all the traps and those mice won't think twice about jumping on them. If using sticky traps, everything I just said doesn't apply.

Also, make sure there are no bushes or hiding spots near the pen. Mice don't like running into open clearings, they prefer to run along walls or under dense bushes. You want them to feel exposed/unsafe. If you have bushes near the pen that you are unwilling to part with, you can raise the skirts 8inches up off the ground to make movement under the bush visible from a distance. This will make them feel unsafe, and will help their predators see them.

I have had cats and chickens, as has my neighbor.
These are my observations about cats and chickens:
Old hens will peck/pick on kittens. If you have territorial chickens, they may be a problem with small kittens that cant get away. However, aggression towards kittens is less likely with docile breeds.
If you have a rooster, cats will generally avoid spooking your chickens for fear of the rooster.

Large cats (especially male cats that haven't been fixed) may kill small chickens. If your cat is prone to killing large animals like rabbits or squirrels, then it may also consider killing a chicken. However, most cats are more likely to go after small twitter birds, lizards, gophers, rats and mice. Most cats would only be a problem around chicks.

Cats that are raised around chickens normally learn to respect their space and leave them alone, and same goes for the chickens.

There are exceptional cats that love spending time with chickens. My neighor's cat, who was raised with chickens, loves to come over to visit my chickens. He will go smell them and roll over and expose his tummy. If they try to peck his nose, he will leave them alone. Some chickens find him very interesting and follow him around. Other find him frightening and run away (he then chases for fun).

Other potential problems to consider:
-Not all cats are good moucers. Cats with tall ears, big tails and long legs appear (in my experience) to be more interested in hunting than those with the reverse.
-Cats are nocturnal (this means that they are active at the same time as coyotes). If you have coyotes in your area you may keep losing your cats to predation. I have noticed that black cats seem to survive better in that situation.
-If you plan to keep your cat and chickens in the same coop then you will have to clean up any dead carcass parts the cat leaves behind/vomits up. Chickens will go after carcasses, and this can spread disease. Also, cats dig holes and bury their poop, so you will not be able to easily remove it. Chickens dig to find food. Though cats are not commonly known to transmit chicken diseases, the potential transmission of pathogens like toxoplasma gondi would be much higher in this situation.

 

[PatriciafromCO]

Second third truly is individual dogs or cats that do well with the birds. If your going to try having barn cats I would get older kittens or older cats that are already being barn cats from barn cat parents around chickens. My group of out door cats came from the stray cat that I found in my barn one winter and she was sitting keeping warm between two chickens so I let her stay, and the dogs leave her alone for not bothering the birds. Its her genes and she passed it on to her babies. My dogs will kill stray cats that are stalking the farm animals.

 

[texsuze]

My suggestion is to keep up with the food cleanup and also continue with the trapping. Barn cats, feral cats will kill non-target species like songbirds, who are already up against so many odds when it comes to survival. Plus, outdoor cats need to be neutered or spayed, vaccinated and de-wormed, else you'll just be adding to the myriad of problems they pose.

I put my snap traps inside small, empty cardboard boxes (shoe box, kleenex box, cracker box, etc.) with a "mouse hole" cut into it, and way to insert a "ready to spring" mouse trap. That way no chance for hens to get hurt/killed by accessing the trap. Place the box along a mouse trail somewhere. Use peanut butter and/or a sunflower seed as bait and refresh the bait frequently. Just my suggestion...