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Barn cats... anyone with first hand experience of introducing them for rat/rabbit/squirrel control?

Michael Cox

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posted 3 years ago

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Hi Folks,

As per the headline.

We have a serious critter issue. Rats around the chicken coop is a newer issue, but the rabbits are back again in force this spring, and the squirrel population is booming once again. Rats are costing us money (stolen chicken feed, and some eggs), the squirrels steal every strawberry and nut before they ripen, and the rabbits are just destructive bulldozers, eating ornamentals and digging holes. Fortunately my veggie patch is semi-safe, as we installed a superb rabbit fence around it last year. But the squirrels will be a problem later in the year.

We have a couple of out-buildings in roughly the right places that could become homes for a pair of barn cats. There are organisations here that rescue, neuter, and then rehome feral cats as outdoor barn cats. I kind of think this might be just what we need.

Confounding issues:
will a barn cat go for chickens, or are they sufficiently large and tough to look out for themselves?
Allergies. I and my eldest son are horrifically allergic to cats. Sharing a home with one would be miserable for both of us, so these definitely need to be outdoor only animals.

What have been people's experiences of critter problems in response to introduced barn cats? Are we likely to see a worthwhile improvement?

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Casie Becker

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I can't speak as to barn cats. But my neighbor used to hate my indoor/outdoor cat who started feral. She and the neighbor shared a love for squirrels. Unfortunately my neighbor enjoyed the whole squirrel while my cat only wanted the brain. There was no mistaking when she killed a squirrel and she killed a lot.

Michael Cox

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I think that cat and I would become good friends :D

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John F Dean

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As a long time cat person:

I have never seen a cat attack a chicken. I have seen cats stalk chickens without doing damage.

Rodents are far more complex. In general, I have found that not all cats kill rodents. And, not all cats that kill rodents actually eat rodents. I suspect that feral cats will be more reliable at killing and eating rodents. My MM (master mouser) who is not feral, takes out several mice a day that I am aware of.

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Michael Cox

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John F Dean wrote:As a long time cat person:

I have never seen a cat attack a chicken. I have seen cats stalk chickens without doing damage.

Rodents are far more complex. In general, I have found that not all cats kill rodents. And, not all cats that kill rodents actually eat rodents. I suspect that feral cats will be more reliable at killing and eating rodents. My MM (master mouser) who is not feral, takes out several mice a day that I am aware of.

I have also seen a cat stalking a chicken. The chicken turned around and give it firm peck right on the forehead.

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Trace Oswald

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I wrote this about our stray cat a couple months ago.

"Our dogs protect our cats from coyotes, and we have lots of those. Our newest cat is a stray. I started seeing it when I went out to lock the chickens up at night, it would be in the chicken coop. It was a tiny kitten at the time I first saw it. It was very skinny, so I started feeding it in the coop. Just out of curiosity, I went out to check later at night a few times. Each time, it would be nestled in among the chickens, sometimes under one. The chickens never bothered the cat, or vice versa. This one is such an efficient killing machine, we nicknamed it "The Reaper". As a kitten, it was killing rats in the chicken coop nearly as big as it was, and that isn't an exaggeration. My coop became infested with rats last summer. I would come home and see 6 or 8 drinking from the chicken waterer on hot days. I dispatched some with my pellet gun and a few with traps, but there were a lot of them, and they were too clever to get by those means. The Reaper took care of that. After a few weeks, there wasn't a rat to be found. We moved the cat into our shop when it got really cold and made it a little heated house. I'm not sure it ever used it. On warmer days (anything above 10 F or so), we would leave the door open in case the cat wanted to get out. Every time, it would move back in with the chickens, so it basically lives in the coop now. I can't get near it, but if my lady goes out to feed it, she will sit down and it climbs right up in her lap. It enjoys having her pet it, but it doesn't like to be held, picked up, carried."

So, here we are in early spring in WI. The Reaper is still happily living with the chickens. They seem to be fast friends. I still can't get near her, but she sits in my lady's lap and comes when she calls. We have grown even more fond of her over the last couple months. And our rodent problem is just a memory.

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Matt McSpadden

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I believe much of what cats eat is learned behavior. A feral cat is good, but a cat from a good barn cat, who is already taking out squirrels and rats would be far better. You don't want the kitten, because it needs time to learn. Also, I would imagine that if only a little food given, it would increase the desire for the cat to go find its own food.

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Stacy Witscher

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We have lots of feral cats. They are great for reducing the rodent populations. When they are young, they can fit in the ground squirrel holes and take them out that way. We don't really have rats, just ground squirrels and field mice. The rabbits around here don't come around much but they are about the size of the cats, so I don't expect that the cats would be good at killing them.

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Nancy Reading

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There's a few links in the similar threads box at the bottom that might be worth checking out. I'll add a little of my experiences with 'barn cats'
Our first cat we adopted was actually our neighbours barn cat, but he preferred to be a lap cat. He was really friendly, but managed to get rid of the rabbit population within a year or two. Occasionally he brought a baby bunny in the house to play with, but generally all we found were the 'trousers'. We could always tell he'd had a bunny, because although he would come for his dinner as usual he just couldn't manage to eat it. Unfortunately he went missing one day and never came back. He was such a poppet.
All cats are different however, and our current cat is really timid although we've had him from a kitten. He comes for food about once a day (usually just after you've assumed he's not coming) but sometimes not for a few days. The trouble is that since he is so shy and never comes in now, getting any vet treatment for him is difficult and traumatic for all involved. We feel guilty that he isn't getting properly wormed or vaccinated.
I suspect we have rats in the compost bin, although I've never seen them, so I don't think the cats have succeeded in eliminating those rodents, although maybe there would be a lot more without them. No squirrels on Skye :) !

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John F Dean

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Hi trace,

Excellent point. Our dogs protect our cats as well. Most noteworthy was the Border Collie we had that would herd our cats into the trees and barn rafters whenever a Coyote was in the area. Only then would go out to defend his turf.

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Tina Hillel

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My husband is severely allergic to cats as well so ours have to be outdoor. We introduced ours as kittens (got them both spayed and neutered) because that’s the best way to get our dog to bond with them. He plays with the cats but will still block them when they get in stalk mode with our birds. They are friendly enough to us but most people dont even know we have cats because they excel at disappearing.

We have had issues with them being a bit too interested in the chicks but the chickens defend themselves fine. Turned hose on cats a couple times. The girl cat at 3 lb did try to jump on and take out a 10 lb meat bird. It just tossed her off. This is their first year as full adults so it will be interesting to see how it goes with the chicks. Hose will be ready🙀

Edited to add that we saw a major improvement of rodent removal. Sometimes we see them being eaten and other times they are left for us as gifts.

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Jen Fulkerson

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Unfortunately with cats a lot of hunting is learned, not instinct. All you can do is get a few, and hope they know what there doing. Our latest stray came to us with a clipped ear, which in our area means it's been fixed. Yah. It wants to be friends, but is afraid. After months of patients he will rub himself on my hand if I put it out, but any movement, and it's gone. We feed it cat food now and then, but mostly It eats gophers, which is amazing, both because I have never seen a cat get a gopher before, and we are over run with gophers right now. I'm pretty sure if it came across an unprotected chick, it would be a goner, but a grow hen is off the menu. I have seen chickens chase the cat away to eat the cat food.
There is also traps. I work at a Co-op, and a man bought a squirrel trap. He said he had one like it before, and caught 15 squirrels in one day, all in the same trap. I asked him what he did with them once they were in there, and he said he ties a rope on it and tosses it in the pond. I guess some actually come with a plastic container to fill with water, if you don't have a pond. I could not do this, but it all depends on how bad the problem is. Any way, traps are an option to help your cat keep the numbers in check.
We live in the middle of orchards, so critters are a never ending problem. I spray ammonia around my garden and chicken coop, which is supposed to keep most critters away. When the squirrels get in my garden I sprinkle cayenne pepper around my veggies. My dog is a super rat killer, but he would also like to kill my chickens, so must be kept in separate areas. I know for my situation I will never get rid of the rats, mice, squirrels, and gophers. My goal is to try to keep them out of the house and coop. It takes creative solutions. And sometimes Bud ( the cat) and I manage, and sometimes not so much.
I like cats, so for me I think get a cat, it won't make things worse, and maybe it will get better. Good luck.

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Trace Oswald

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Jen Fulkerson wrote: I have seen chickens chase the cat away to eat the cat food.

There is also traps. I work at a Co-op, and a man bought a squirrel trap. He said he had one like it before, and caught 15 squirrels in one day, all in the same trap. I asked him what he did with them once they were in there, and he said he ties a rope on it and tosses it in the pond. I guess some actually come with a plastic container to fill with water, if you don't have a pond.

Our chickens love the cat food too.

It takes a special kind of terrible to drown animals. If you need to kill them, at least do it quickly and as humanely as possible.

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Jen Fulkerson

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I agree Trace, I couldn't do it. I will just work on keeping the squirrels out of my garden. The ammonia sprayed around the garden seems to work, and if that doesn't do it cyan pepper around and on the target plant does. I hate to do that too, but they do seem to learn to stay out of my garden. I have only had to do it once a couple of years ago.

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Heather Staas

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Toxoplasmosis is a potential hazard of having barn/feral cats if there are sheep, goats, pregnant women handling hay etc. Something to be aware of.

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Lorinne Anderson

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Full disclosure, I am NOT a fan of roaming cats, they have no discretion when it comes to killing, tend to reproduce at a phenomenal rate, attract fleas, ticks and other parasites to your property, and are prone to fighting, leading to pricey vet bills. Plus, with your allergies, a cat seems to be incompatible.

I would hit up the local raptor (bird of prey) rehabilitators and see if they have any owls or hawks needing a release site. Of course, this would mean netting the top of any form outdoor chicken run.

Perhaps consider a dog that is a ratter; most terriers were originally bred to deal with unwanted rodents of all sorts, but still would require annual vetting for check ups, vaccines etc.

Build a barrier. This is not the easiest solution, but it is the most effective, especially long term. I use metal roofing buried two feet down, and at least 4 feet high so that these guys cannot dig under or climb over and access the critical areas; just make sure there are no over hanging trees, etc. that could provide a bridge.

Often when folks are taking down a barn or metal roof this can be had for free as it cannot be reused for building due to the fastener holes, which obviously doesn't matter when building a fence.

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Michael Cox

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Re a cat - we'd be getting a neutered rescue animal. No intention of a feral breeding population!

I have thought about raptors as well, but our situation is not conducive to them. Too much cover for them to be effective. Plus we already have an existing healthy raptor population. We see buzzards daily, and hear owls all the time. Adding more raptors is likely to disrupt the existing population. And given we have an existing population, and still have a rabbit/rat/squirrel plague, they are not cutting the mustard.

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Michael Cox

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Another follow up thought: the availability of certain types of salvage is really variable from region to region. Here in the UK no one really uses sheet metal in construction, short of modern agricultural buildings and warehouses. We'd never see good condition sheet metal just available second hand.

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Michael Cox

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Update - we have gone ahead and rescued a lovely tabby. She has been named Bramble by the boys (because she is spikey!). She seems incredibly shy, but not frightened. She is currently confined to a shed for a period, at the advice of the rescue centre, so we don't know her hunting prowess. We have been visiting her a few times a day, just spending a few minutes at a time in her shed and talking gently. She is watching us from a dark corner, but not climbing the walls to escape. She is due out of confinement on Tuesday.

The rescue place have said that they expect some of the ferals to move on immediately, but if this one does that we can rehome another until we get one that "sticks". They are all neutered, and even if they don't stick with us will have a good and bountiful life around here.

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Anne Miller

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While we have only had the kitten for almost two weeks, we no longer have the squirrels and rabbits we enjoyed watching at our bird weeder each day.

So, yes Michael ... Barn cats... anyone with first hand experience of introducing them for rat/rabbit/squirrel control?

The squirrels didn't get an introduction as the squirrel just have not come back.

At least one rabbit got chased which must have made all the rabbits decide not to visit anymore.

I guess this is the trade-off a person must accept when they find that a mother cat left her baby with them and didn't come back for the baby.

We have not given it a name yet thought for a while I thought that Tabby might be a good name since it is a tabby cat.

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John F Dean

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My standard way to introduce myself to a new cat that is hesitant to interact is to sit on the floor with a can of sardines ( in oil). It is normally not too many minutes before they come to inspect and share. For those who don’t responded, I will leave a piece of sardine for them to inspect after I leave. Several hours later I return with the sardines and repeat.

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Michael Cox

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It's on the list!

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Michael Cox

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Time for an update!

Bramble did her time confined to the shed. She was very wary of us all the time she was in there, with no sign of gaining confidence to come and visit us. She was totally uninterested in sardines, or other high value foods.

From the morning we let her out we didn't see her again for about ten days, and her food, water and bed were not being used. However since then I have spotted her twice - just a glimpse of a tail disappearing in to the bushes each time. About one night in five her dry food is gone.

Interestingly we are already noticing a reduction in the rat population. Previously we would see half a dozen rats at dusk around the chicken coop. I have been a week now and only seen one. I hope it is Bramble munching on them. We also found a partial rabbit carcass on the lawn.

I'm calling this experiment a tentative success, albeit we don't know how long she will stay in the area.

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Casie Becker

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I learned a couple of years ago that our local shelter has a complete barn cat program. They separate the feral cats that are too violent to handle and this gives them an opportunity for rehoming that they wouldn't otherwise have.

I went home with a bonded pair of young cats which is actually what I think any new cat owner looking for a companion animal should do. Two cats are barely more work than one, they entertain each other when you're not available, and have already shown themselves as inclined to be friendly. Just felt I should put that out there.

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