[mollski]

hi had my mate round today who is buying some hybrids hens 4 in total,will he need to cover the run or will they be ok in the garden?he does own a cat and there at least 6 in his area,would the cat attack the hens please they will be p.o.l?thank you 

[min200]

Its always better to cover the run if you can incase of any animals that may get in to attack your birds ie cats, foxes etc

Ive just covered mine over and its nice to know they are safe at night!

[Sassy]

USUALLY cats don't bother with adult chickens but there are bound to be exceptions. I would not trust them with chicks though!

[gingerplant]

Hi
We have two cats who like to "tease" our chickens... they stalk them and prowl and bit, and get them in a bit of a tiz, but it's never more than that & they could easily catch one if they tried, given what they bring in to us on a regular basis  (and we have two bantams)... I had read that hens would often frighten off a cat!  Not with our two though...
I'd keep an eye, but they'll probably be ok...

[raeburg]

My cats are wary of the "big" sparrows.  Being attacked by a broody hen gaaave them the idea not to mess with chickens.

[Casey76]

Although my cats happily stalk, hunt and chase the starlings, pigeons etc in the garden, they are scared of the hens, and are only mildly interested in the chicks.

I remember when I got my first two hens, my scaredy cat Domino wouldn't even come into the garden for hours... she just sat behind the fence watching the two little monsters invading her patch!

[Sharonx]

I totally agree. Never had any problems with hens and my 3 cats. We always laughed they were at the bottom of the pecking order  One on the poor cats got chased all the time and the hens were always running round with grey fur in their beaks  It was great for keeping other neighbourhood cats out of the garden too

[hendreary]

Yes, I've noticed the cats are leaving my garden alone since the arrival of our hens.
Good stuff!

[mollski]

ok many thanks 

[iowrooster]

Hi

We spent alot of money on gadgets to stop cats coming into the garden and using it as a loo, then we got the chickens.  Not sure if its the girls, or the electric fence, but most of the cats have stopped " visiting " now.  Saying that, there has been a couple of times when a cat has, somehow, got into the pen, but after initial shock from the girls the cats hastily make an exit!! not sure how my v small bantam girl would get on on her own though.

[matt-wood]

Hi, we just got two chucks - a Sussex and a Bluebelle that have the full run of the garden during the day. There are a number of cats around and even a few strays, but fortunately our Black labrador "Cinder" is very good at keeping them out of the garden and away from the hens.

We had problems in the past however with the cats and found that a mixture of Pepper pellets and letting Cinder wee in the area kept them away. You may want to try and put down pepper pellets around the edge of your garden to discourage the cats, or have a friend bring round a dog.

Just make sure that your hens cant get at the pepper - I'm not sure that they would eat it but I wouldnt take the risk.

[judrop]

  Same story from me , our cats keep out of the way of our girls, and the chooks actually chased our big ginger Tom Odi once, though both of ours chase and catch (sadly) birds/ mice ( and moles ). Our neighours also have cats who leave our free range chooks well alone.
DO however be wary of any dogs, we lost one of ours to a stray dog, and any un restrained or controlled dog could be a risk.
Good luck and enjoy ! XX