Farm cats and chickens.

[Camelot Farms]

We have 4 cats that are we use for vermin control. Only one of them has ever even considered going after the chickens or chicks. 'Miley' started stalking young pullets one day and on a whim, I picked up the lunge whip that we use for our horses. Everytime she would crouch, I would crack the whip behind her and then hide the whip so when she looked, she couldnt figure out where the noise came from. She would settle back in, look for another vantage point, crouch and BANG! She would practically do a mid air somersault. After about 6 or 8 firecracker pops behind her, she gave up. Its been a couple of years now and she never even thinks about it...lol

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

We let our cat sit next to the brooder when we got the chicks and carefully introduced him to a chick. All went well. He pounced one ONCE when we let them out to play, and we swatted and yelled at him. He now knows they are ours. They pick on him now... one of my columbians tries to eat the tip of his tail!
I say don't leave the cats unsupervised with chicks, but you can introduce them to small ones and play the part of the hen. They get it.

 

[SouthernMNNewbie]

Thanks for all of the great advice everyone!

I'm starting from scratch with chicks (no spontaneous generation pun intended) so, I don't have any hens to chase the cats off. I guess I'll keep them well protected and try to introduce the cats to them as often as I can (staying with them) until they're old enough to fend for themselves.

The other issue is that I'm going to get a docile breed of chicken, either Marans, Barnevelders or Partridge Rocks. Does that add another variable to the equation?

Tony

 

[horsejody]

My barn cats never bother the chickens, and some of those cats are pretty avid hunters. I wouldn't trust them with a chick, but they never bother the adults, not even my teeny tiny bantams. The funny thing is that these same cats hunt and bring home quail and pheasants. I guess they know the difference.

 

[darkstarr nite]

I have a lovely calico that showed up one day last fall.. and she loves to hunt mice..birds..screws.. but she won't touch my baby chicks at all... she plays in the yard with my full size chickens... now my grandmas tom cat would probably eat the chicks if he got a chance it is all food to him.. although he won't mess with the full size chickens..but some cats don't care so I would keep them secure while they are babies.. most cats won't mess with full size chickens.. an some full size chickens would attack cats..

good luck

 

[possumhunter]

My 9 year old cat is a great mouser, mole catcher and bird catcher, but for whatever reason, she could care less about my poultry. I've had baby quail on the kitchen counter and rubbermaid bins of chicks in the bathroom and she has never even glanced at them. She is terrified of my full grown birds, so that's definitely not a problem. Now my dog on the other hand...

 

[LAMchop]

A good rooster will help too. Our silly cat would chase the hens, not really being aggressive, but just playing, I guess. Houdini, the rooster, got tired of the cat bothering his ladies, and he chased her into a corner and gave her a couple of good whacks. We rescued her, but now when she sees Houdini look her way, she runs!
None of our other cats have ever been a problem. The chickens seem to amuse them.

 

[chooniecat]

ALL RIGHT!!!! someone with neutered cats in barn!!! as for trusting them with chicks I would never(better safe than sorry,chicks don't have ANY self defense,unless they have a guardian adult chicken that will scare cat away) I wait til my chicks are appx. 3 mo and then they don't have to worry so much about the ADULT CHICKENS harrassing them.

 

[bugflipper]

Years ago we used bantam hens to brood all are heavy breed birds. When the banties would hatch off we would open the barn and let them out to free range and raise the chicks. The old cats had already learned. Any new cats and dogs would find out quick to leave them alone. The banties were just old english games. I have my doubts that I could figure out any way to train a cat much at all. They are very independent and often very sneaky and do as they please. If he gets his but whipped by the food he learns the lesson quick and it stays with him.

I had a problem out of the neighbors cats killing chicks and game birds. I talked with them to see if they minded me using an airsoft gun on them. It shoots plastic BBs and does not pierce the skin. They would take off like hit by a yellow jacket, but never learned the lesson. I assume they didn't know what was happening. So I raised some OEGB banties and turned them loose after they hatched out babies. Same result as years ago. It was actually quite comical to see a little banty whip a 20 pound Maine Coon cat and send him running for cover.

 

[rancher hicks]

I have an indoor cat and I wouldn't trust him with chicks. Now I have EE's in the brooder and they look more like sparrows than chicks, so i trust him even less. Perhaps it depends on the breed.