Cats............... Now let me start by saying we have cats, in fact we have more then a few kitty cats. My cat collection (NOT hoarding) started with an article in the paper saying (and I DO NOT quote) "To many adults cats, come get one for free or we will kill them" Sounded more like a hostage situation then a plea for help. But I called my daughter and we drove up to a county NORTH of here and went inside. I have always wanted a smooshed faced kitty cat. They didn't have any. But I found my Isabelle.
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| Isabelle |
She is a snowshoe kitty. She is very friendly and loyal. Then came some more kitties, I wanted another like Izz ~ and was convinced to take sisters. So that was Brittney and Santana. (Yes, Glee, No, I didn't name them) Next was the poor little guy that was skin and bones and declared mean at the Cat (hoarding location) ooops I mean Shelter. His name is Benz and he followed me around and kept looking at me with those "I know you are a sucker, take me home pleeeeeeeese" eyes.
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| Benz |
Yes I finally got my smooshed face kitty cat. I kept him, yes, I just took him one day to "fatten" him up and I kept him. How can you not love this face? I could write an entire blog about Benz and his faces. But then I would be digressing.
After Benz, B and I decided to rescue this little boy that was failing quickly, not eating, being picked on, yatta yatta yatta. Yea they saw me coming a frickin mile away. Little Tucker is a a tiny little tuxedo boy, but we cannot leave with just one kitten, nooooooooooooo, B saw an orange dude that he kinda fancied. So now we have Isabelle, Brit, San, Tucker, Tiereny and that night, and I am NOT making this up, the night we brought Tucker and Tierney home the dogs treed Fergus and Fiona. Two little feral brother/sister kittas that were literally scared stuck. We climbed a ladder and got them. We decided to find them a home. OURS! Gahhhhhhh.
So clearly I like cats, but when the feral cats in my neighbor's yards are climbing my fence and doing recon on my chickens something has to change. So I bought the Predator Lights from Amazon. Put them out, apparently cats could give a crap about a red blinking light.
Last night I went outside to close the door to the run after dark. The chickens had already roosted and that door shuts automatically. I closed the door, latched it and heard a rustling noise. I stood up straight and ready to run, shown my big ass mag light around and I see movement, in the run. Holy FRICK!!!!!!!!!! It is a kitten. NO NO NO I am saying NO NO no more. I unlocked the gate and out it ran. Closed the door again and latched it. Heard the same FRICKIN noise again. Now I am peeing myself. Unlocked the gate and opened it and another freaked-out kitten comes flying out of the run. A larger cat had been standing guard on the fence and he bailed as soon as I opened the fence to the chicken zone. I stood there for a bit and then decided the coast was clear, no more flippin cats in the run. Went inside, told B and then worried all night that one was hiding and upon sunrise it would be completely manic and kill all of my chickens in the run area.
No, that did not happen, but I have to figure this cat situation out. Hungry cats will kill my chickens while free ranging and then it will get ugly! Just sayin.
The cats are feral, my neighbor feeds them but doesn't spay or neuter them. So it is kitten palooza around my area. I so want to call animal control, but cannot do it, that's just a sad end for the cats. Do I trap and relocate, or otherwise known as passing your troubles to another. Do I put razor wire up along fence? What oh what do I do?
I did a major coop clean over the weekend, everything was removed and hosed down, then spritzed with a water/bleach mixture and left to dry. After everything was dry I sprinkled DE everywhere, and I mean EVERYWHERE. Then put all new fresh hay in for the chickens. All the waste was put into an empty garden box to compost.
Prior to my coop cleaning, whether it be a major or a general one, I wear my chicken boots, gloves, a mask and eye protection. I had an eye infection two months ago that was NASTY, and the only thing I could link it to was not wearing goggles and touching my eye with chicken hands. I would post a picture of my eye in full rage but this isn't that kind of blog. Trust me it~was~gross!
So wear your safety protection and use it all ONLY for cleaning your coop. I keep my boots in my garage and then rest of the gear is in the shed by the coop.
When I clean out my coop I make sure to keep an eye out for little tiny pests such as mites, ants, fleas, etc. DE will usually handle that situation, so I keep a huge galvanized garbage can full of it on hand. I sprinkle it liberally inside and outside around the perimeter of the coop. Ants Ants Ants. Always a problem here in Florida. The chickens don't seem to mind, but when I pick up a paver and there are 40 kazillion ants under it all carrying eggs, I gotta TERMINATE! I use the DE instead of chemicals because ~ well my chickens might nibble on that piece of grass I just coated in chemical warfare.
So there we have it, Cats and chickens ~ not normally a good mix, and in my case, I declare war.................
Tonight it is on like Donkey Kong. Water bottle or maybe a hose and flash light perimeter watch.
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