Cat conundrum

I've been having a great deal of trouble keeping the pest population under control. We live between an Almond orchard and a walnut orchard, so we will never get rid of them. Most of the time we have outside cats that just show up. The last one died quite a while ago (I suspect it was hit by a car)
I mentioned this to a coworker who told me he had a great mousers that he suspected was pregnant.
Long story short we have ended up with 3 kittens and mom. They live in the chick wing so they will be safe, and so they can get to know us.  They were nursing when we got them, but they seem to be eating and drinking water now. One is going to my nephew's daughter and we are keeping the rest. I'm going to get mom fixed soon I hope. So I will let her out once she is healed. My question is how to let the kittens out. We already love them, but the point is to have barn cats. Do I let them out during the day for a while, and put them in a safe place during the night? My daughter thinks we should enclose a space in the barn and put them in it at night until they are bigger, then eventually make a small cat sized opening so they can go in and out of they want. I'm just not sure when to start this process.
I wanted barn cats, not pets, but they are going to have to be both.
Thanks for your input

hi.  sweet post.  I appreciated it.  Mom will show them.  the only occurrence that will stop this is if you separate  the kittens from mom. If separation occurs then that is that.  They will then be on their own.

Jen.  I wanted to add.  truly beautiful photo that you captured.  Compliments.

Here is something about raising Barn cats
https://www.azurefarmlife.com/farm-blog/barn%20cats

They are all adorable.  Both mom and kittens.

Jen said, My daughter thinks we should enclose a space in the barn and put them in it at night until they are bigger, then eventually make a small cat sized opening so they can go in and out of they want.

I like this idea.  If you want them to stay in the barn all the time then put a litter box in the barn.  Otherwise they will roam.

Our cat was an outside cat the 1st summer, then came in at night during the winter.

Some night she stay out and roams then other nights she come in and sleeps in her bed (carrier).

My best warning with kittens is owls and rats. We had terrible luck with kittens surviving that duo at one of our locations. I don't know what the barn is like at your place. Our momma cat had three or four litters before any kittens survived, and at that point the momma cat had wandered over to another property and an entire shed wall had to be taken apart to get the kittens out. Sure made trouble with the neighbors! As long as we have our cats put outside, they always take to hunting pretty well, even if they do like to hang out in the house sometimes.

Mom and kittens are fixed. Everyone is all healed up. 7/5/25 I let them out. It was my day off, and kept an eye on them. I didn't put food out. Just before dark Mom came to me, looked at me and started twords the coop. I called the kittens, and to my amazement they came. I put them in the chick wing and locked them in for the night.
So far so good. The cats are out all day, and locked up at night. The kittens are a little wild, and don't want to be held, but will tolerate being picked up for a short time. I don't know how long I will be able to lock them up at night. I think the fact I don't provide food during the day, helps them agree to going into the coop.
I hope this will also encourage mom to teach the kids to hunt.
They are having a blast outside, and for now I feel better knowing they are safe at night.
Eventually this will stop and they will be outside 24/7, but for now it is letting the kittens get bigger, and hopefully learning how to survive from mom.

I have named them mischief and mayhem. They live up to their names. Mischief has already gotten herself stuck on the chicken coop roof. I didn't help her, and she figured out how to get down eventually. I hope they will survive and have happy lives, hopefully keep the rodent population in check.
For now they are having a great time playing like kittens do.

Awwwwe

My advice: don't let them out unsupervised until they've been spayed or neutered. Kittens are just too vulnerable.

The best approach is to keep them in a secure space inside the barn for now. A large dog crate works well. Once they're old enough for surgery, get them fixed through a local TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) program if you have one. These are often low-cost or free, and are key for barn cat management.

Once they've recovered from the surgery, you can slowly acclimate them to the barn life. The main goal is for them to see the barn as home, that's how they'll become great mousers.

Good luck with your new cat family!

Mom and kittens are fixed. I let them out in the morning, and put them back in the chick wing at night. This is becoming more challenging, but with the help of a little chicken it's doable. Momma cat is very attentive, and they stay relatively close to her. I will just keep doing it until I can't catch them, or they are a little bigger.
I have water in the barn for the cats. I dump and refill it every morning. They all seem to enjoy the cool clean water.
My daughter said they were napping in the barn the other day, so maybe it's just a place they like to be.
So far so good. The reality is the outside cats don't tend to have very long lives. There are a good amount of predators, and the road has killed many animals. I just give them the best I can, and hope for the best.

I finally stopped putting them in the chicken coop at night. Everything has been going great. They enjoy sticking close to whoever is outside.
I feed them a few times a week. I want them to catch their own food, but they are still young and I don't want them to go hungry either.
Unfortunately Mischief has gone missing. She was in the yard Saturday morning, but we haven't seen her since. We have looked for her, and called her. She always shows up when I feed them, and she didn't. She could still show up, but I don't have high hopes. Mayhem misses her, and so do we.