These are probably two dumb questions, but…
1) Will a cat attack a chicken or Silkie?
I'm new to chicken raising and was planning on letting my 6 - 8 week old chicks out (free range) for the first time (today), when it dawned on me that I have 3 barn cats. The 2 Rhode Island Reds are about as big as the cats (8 weeks old), the 2 Ameraucanas are bigger than a really large Robin, and the 4 Silkies are small - 2 are "frizzles" and are the size of a small robin, and the other two are about the size of a Robin - all of them stockier than a Robin, of course.
2) At 6 & 8 weeks old, am I letting them out too soon?
I have "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" but I can't find where it tells how old the chicks need to be before you allow them to "free range".
Thanks for any help you can give this greenhorn!
Will a cat attack a chicken or Silkie?
Our cat goes outside and I have seen him 'stocking' the silkies and 7 wk old Columbian Rocks, 'through the fence'. He's doing it playfully, but I wouldn't leave them unattended around him, yet. I've also seen him chasing my full grown Plymouth Rock. Again, just playfully, and running after her. But I've also seen the PR 'attacking' him as he's laying there in the grass. Personnally, I wouldn't trust the little ones out, yet, unless I was around.
I agree, not as a chicken owner but as a cat owner. They do not hunt so much for food as for the compulsion to hunt. A well fed cat is the best mouser, and they'll go after anything that moves that's not bigger than they are.
My cat is a serious hunter. He was somewhat interested in the chicks when they were confined, but the moment they were set out to roam, they started following him around a bit and he lost all interest. I've never met a cat that likes inquisitive prey.
Glenda, how long have you had your chicks? I've had my CRs and 1 Harco Black Sex-Link since they were a day old from local feed store and the follow me around the pen area as I feed them and give them water. I can sit in the grass area of their inclosure and they'll come check me out once in a while.
Try putting the cats in their area or close to them and see what they do - one at a time and have a spray bottle ready to get the cats with if they get too close. That works great with my cat.
I have always had both around the other, but would not leave them alone.. Cats are natural hunters and thier instinct is stronger than not, lol..One of my cats kills grown rabbits and could certainly take on one of my chickens.
Larkie
Thanks everyone - I sure appreciate your help. I'll "introduce" them slowly and see how things go. I rather error on the side of caution though. Wish me luck... or rather, the chickens luck. ~;>
I've never seen a cat that wasn't interested in catching a bird. A small chicken is another bird to him.
I have 8 week old Araucanas. We fixed the side of the hen house with a door just for the chickens and fenced in an area around the side and back of the house for the chicks to roam during the day. We put fencing over the top and a tarp on the back to provide shade. We found the cats were still interested in them. My youngest male, would paw at them through the fence. So....we put an electric fence about 6 inches from the ground around the bottom. Needless to say the cats do not get near the fence anymore! May sound cruel, but I would rather zap a predator than lose my chicks, and unfortunately both dogs and cats are predators, not to mention the raccoons, coyates, hawks, etc...
Hi Everyone. I'm new here ! :)
I lost a 8 week silver-laced wyandotte to a neighbor's cat last year. It climbed on my roof and jumped into the pen. The only silver lining was that it showed me a way other predators could get in, so I didn't lose the rest of the girls. So cats are a danger. You also have to watch out for hawks.
I have my chicks in the house and after a while my own cats lose interest. I have also never had a problem with my dog. I think it is because of the girls being kept in the house in view when they are little. Other dogs do love to chase chickens, however!
Those aren't dumb questions...they aren't a simple yes or no. Depends on the cat.
A huge feral cat caught and killed one of my young Polish Crested chickens. The chicken was about 2 months old. I saw it happen through the window.
Our cat (well, he's actually sorta homeless but he adopted us) gets chased BY the chickens.
Haha! That happens to my mother's cat as well! So I guess it really depends on the personalities involved. Just be careful :)
Thanks everyone - you've been a big help!
Last week, one of my 3 barn cats, which happens to be the only male (if that makes any difference), came walking over to me while I was setting in the grass only 4 feet from my chickens which were grazing in the yard. As "Bowtie" came over, I told him in a stern voice (yes, I talk to my animals) "Bowtie, you better be nice to my chickens." He continued to meow as he slowly walked right up to me and stood there next to me, watching my chickens, which didn't appear to give Bowtie a second thought. I sat there petting his head for 15-20 minutes when one of my RI Reds walked over to Bowtie to check him out. The RIR was only about 10 inches from Bowtie's face as I continued to caution him to "be nice". Bowtie was fine until 4 of my chickens decided to take off running right past Bowtie and I, and tried to fly... In a split second, Bowtie lunged forward and smacked one of them on the tail with his claws. I yelled "Bowtie - no!" in a loud, angry voice and he stopped and looked at me. I yelled for him to "Go!" and he headed towards the house. Once I got up, I walked up behind him and gave him a controlled, but firm, thump his butt with the side of my boot, which got his attention (for the record, I did not hurt him. I would never physically injure any animal.) I then continued to "chew him out" and told him to "Get up to the house", which he did. Since then, Bowtie hasn't gone anywhere near the chickens and the other two females haven't either. I know that Bowtie was just reacting instinctively when the chickens took off flapping their wings. Cats do the same thing when you get them to "chase a string of yarn" - it's instinct. But, I'm hoping that he got the message and now knows that the chickens are off limits. We'll see, I guess. I'm just always going to have to be on guard.
Again, thanks everyone!
I do believe that once a cat has been chased by chickens (I have a tailless cat, and he is particularly vulnerable), his dignity will not allow him to acknowledge their presence. My buff orpingtons often approach our buff cat (who eats everything up to mid size rabbits) and he makes a run for it.
Do not trust a cat with a baby fowl or bird of any kind...when a chicken/bird is mature or able to manage on their own, they can possibly get away, but, if the fowl/birds are pets, the owner of the animals is bound to protect the bird/fowl from the cat, a natural predator, in order to have a harmonious environment, IMO. How do I know? My precious cat killed my precious Bantam baby. Not their fault, but mine.
Agree w/ Sherry. The babies are always vulnerable. That's so sad, Sherry.
Thanks, Zep!!! After the fact, fortunately, the cat entered the chicken yard at the wrong time and the regular sized, tough as a boot rooster worked the cat over and the hens pecked him too and since that time, he's leaving the chickens alone, in favor of baby birds, ugh, it just kills us, but not nearly as bad as the baby Bantam...
I belled my cat and it has made him much less lucky w/ the birds. The bunnies, however, haven't figured the bell out .
I wish I could bell this cat - there is another cat here that does not give a flip about the chickens, but he's intent upon murdering the cat that goes after the chicks. I do know that my efforts in stopping the cat from harassing the chickens was not even close to being as effective as the jumping he got from the rooster and 5 hens, the big chickens, they meant business and likely saved the lives of our new 8 peeps...I haven't seen the cat anyplace near the chicken yard since...
Oh great... It appears that out of my 8 chickens, my ONLY rooster is a Silkie.
He acts like big stuff but really doesn't have to "mass" to pull off what a full size rooster can.
I'm hoping to get a pair of Barred Rocks some day - hopefully soon. Maybe the BR rooster can help protect my chickens.
Has anyone ever seen a Silkie rooster whip a cat's butt??
My silkie goes after and stands up to the new young rooster who's twice his size.
Ok, I feel better! Maybe there's hope for (my) "tough guy"! :)
I selected Silkies, Sultans and Bantams because they tend to get along well together. Has worked well here, thus far.
My little silkie rooster was a wimp :) We used to call him the auxillary back up rooster. It was so funny seeing him preen for the standard hens twice his size! I haven't had any trouble with the bigger grils picking on either of my silkies. I did add in a few more bantams to my flock to even it out. So far so good!
We have had barn cats and chickens for years and they never go after my adult chickens. Infact chickens will peck at and chase cats away.
I keep baby chicks in pen the cats can't get in. By the time they are integrated into the main flock they are too big for the cats to bother with.
My cat BP (Big Puss) likes to pretend to stalk the pullets (8wks) and has a ball scaring them off with his charges. But he is too lazy to jump over the fence and when he lays down between stalkings, then the birds will come back and gawk at him with curiosity. Eventually they bug him and peck at him if he is too close to the fence and he goes off to sleep somplace more private.
Our cats learned very quickly to stay out of the way of the two pet hens we had several years ago. With reason - for some reason, both of the chickens found the ends of the slowly moving tails to be completely irreresistable. The looks on the cat's face when nipped was really hysterical. And, they always seemed to blame whichever human was in the vicinity. LOLROF Dotti
UPDATE:
Well, as of today, 7/7/06, Bowtie has not messed with any of my chickens since I booted him in the rump, and the other two cats haven't even gone by the chickens either. Hopefully they'll all live "happily ever after..." Thanks everyone, your posts have been very encouraging and helpful to me! Bless you all! ~:>
I brought 4 17 week old chickens last week 3 Rhode Island Reds and 1 White Leghorn yesterday a cat came into the yard attacked the Leghorn the others then panicked and jumped over the neighbours fence on the other side where another two were killed by dogs.
So i wouldnt recommend letting your chooks out especially in suburbia until they are big enough to intimidate any cats that decide wandering into your yard is a good idea.
I've had chickens for several years and I will say, never trust a cat in the chicken yard. Mine have never killed a chicken but we've had some serious close calls...
If one has small chickens .... they're easy prey to cats and hawks. Bantam chickens or silkies will always need to have your watchful eyes on them if they are going to be allowed to wander about in your yard. A netting over their run is terrific for hawks but worthless for raccoons, cats or weasels. Full grown large fowl chickens ought not have problems with the house cats that are well fed. Feral cats are hungry and even hungrier in the winter. Large fowl chickens are killed regularly by feral cats. Chickens need to have a means of evading cats. Roosting bars that are 5 ft high are probably adequate. If I didn't want my chickens to fly over the fence ..... I'd clip their wings. We are fortunate to be far enough from folks with dogs that they do not have an opportunity to kill our chickens when one might decide to jump the fence (it happens but they end up on our property and really need to jump another fence to escape). Having multiple methods at work to reduce encounters between your poultry and predators is a good means of reducing deaths. I've seen feral cats that were close to 25 lbs and they are really really strong animals. We do everything we can here to eliminate stray cats from coming onto our property. We have conibear and live traps set and baited periodically. The number of feral cats in our section of this valley is disturbing. Our missing hen #4 came home yesterday with 11 chicks in tow. She has a large patch of skin exposed and half her tail feathers are missing. One of her wings is drooped lower than normal. She also limps. Coming home after a fight like that with 11 babies in tow ...... she must be one hell of a fighter. I know she is a tough hen. She killed hen #1 (with 9 chicks) in our flock before she disappeared to sit on her eggs. The 9 motherless chicks were 7 weeks old so were okay to be on their own. We have 4 hens from a group of 7 originals. We lost 1 to a cat, one to a trap and one to the mean hen #4. All died in just 4 months. 5 hens have given us 47 chicks as of today. There have been 4 other chicks die in various mishaps. We now have 52 chickens but started with 8 last February.
Interesting chicken yard, Photo. Is your tough hen a RIR? I have Bantams and one Silkie roo. My chicken yard was hit heavily last winter by opossums, we killed 5, and the neighbors killed 5 more, we decided to work as a group because of the consistent damage and disruption. The leader of my chicken yard is a very tiny, smart, tough Bantam hen, Little Hen. She has 'trained' 3 roos and I would not have believed it if I had not watched her train them with my own eyes. Two of the roos were killed by opossums, we were heart broken. This year we will continue to be aggressive in protecting our Bantams and hopefully our young roo will make it...
Unfortunately I learned the hard way that my friendly barn cats are not so friendly to my growing pullets. Apparently, the barn cats got into the hen house and over the course of three days managed to take out twenty five 6 week old chickens. Didn't even eat them all, just killed most, took several others, and ate the heads off the rest. It was terrible!
How terrible. Those that kill and don't eat them are the worst, I could understand if they were starved. The man that works for me had about 30 chickens, adult rejects from other chicken owners, some so mean that he had to take a baseball bat with him into the chicken yard. One day, a pack of neighborhood dogs broke in, killed every single chicken, except for one that escaped up a tree, and the dogs didn't eat a single chicken. Same thing happened to another lady - a band of foxes, killed about 30, and, apparently, like the dogs, for the sport, ugh. My grands have learned the hard way that having animals is not as easy as it appears...
Yes it was horrible. My children and I both cried because seven or eight of the twenty five were very tame and would come and fly on our shoulders and sunbathe at our feet. A phoenix female was left out the first night somehow and she was found the next day headless. So, the following day we made sure every one was in for the night. Well, the next morning the front door hole area(which was propped closed with a board) was knocked over, and three chickens were completely missing, one mostly eaten, and another killed. So, that night we propped it closed with a chair and rocks and a concrete block. Went out the next day, opened the door, and bam! all dead, a few with missing heads, but most just killed. Three completely missing. Of this bunch were our faves. We searched and found a hole in the side towards the top of the coop. Ordered DH to take cats to farmer up the road who alerady had asked if he could have some for his mouse problem(kids originally did not want this, of course now were like take them please!) So, remaining four chicks were now deemed safe from cats. But next morning when on our way to work, two of the cats had came back and upon returning to chicken coop we discovered all chickens gone except one, only some feathers left of others. We brought this one in, our 6 week old buff brahma, and now she's with our new 3 week old flock until revisons are made to coop. It was horrible, sad, and yet another lesson in life.