Domesticated cats and adult chickens have no issue with one another. Domesticated cats and baby chicks, that’s another story: you will have to take extra measures to protect them – or your cat may end up killing more than one of them.
House cats can hang around adult chickens – but they need to be kept away from baby chicks. As long as you know that, you can have both cats and chickens around.
But be careful! If there are feral cats around, they will not discriminate between adult and baby chickens, they will try to kill and eat everyone.
Barn cats, on the other hand, are okay with chickens too. You shouldn’t go as far as thinking they can handle chicks, though – but they will not go feral on your adult birds!
Do cats and chickens get along?
Cats treat adult chickens like they would treat a dog or any other domestic animal. The issue is with cats and chicks – that’s where the danger is. Cats aren’t ill-intentioned when they hunt down chicks, they can’t tell the difference between them and rats, small birds, and other prey.
As long as you keep the chicks away from your cat’s paws, there’s nothing to worry about. Cats and adult chickens will either play with each other from time to time or never bother each other. Either way, you’re good to go!
If you keep the chicks safe, cats can prove beneficial for chickens. They will remove any pests that could harm your birds.
How do I protect my chickens from my cat?
If you want to keep your chicks safe from your cat, you should keep any and all chicks in a secure brooder until they’re old enough to hang around on their own. Your cat shouldn’t be able to stick its paws in or manipulate the brooder in any way.
Cats will only have issues with chicks, you don’t have to worry about grown chickens. If you feel you cannot trust your cats around grown chickens, there’s something you can do.
If that happens, keep your adult chickens away from your cats the same way you do with the chicks, and put all of them in a secure brooder.
If feral cats are around, you should keep all poultry in secure places – when the feral cats decide to come around, they won’t be there to play with your chickens but to eat. It’s better to be safe than sorry!
Will my cat get sick from chickens?
As long as a cat doesn’t kill and eat raw chicken, there will be no issues. Keep in mind a cat can get sick from eating raw chicken – especially if it’s a fresh kill. There’re plenty of parasites and bacteria that can make its way from chicken to a cat.
Other than intoxication from eating raw chicken, you have nothing to worry about. As long as cats and chickens are healthy, there’s little to no chance of disease or infection happening from contact with each other.