We've just built some stables on a few acres of land, with a goat enclosure and 2 pygmy's plus a little chicken coop with 4 hens.
Is it feasible to rehome a feral cat to "live" on the the land in the hay barn or whatever.?
It's not a driving need to have one i just thought it might provide a home for one. Obviously we'd feed it when we feed the other animals.


(would it attack the chickens?)

It would be completely feasible to have some feral cats to live with you. Note the 's' on the end- you cannot have one feral cat without giving it acute mental stress as cats are sociable animals and they need feline company. Everyone who takes on a feral cat needs to be aware of this.

In fact, farms and homes around other livestock are ideal situations for the housing of feral cats, as long as there's shelter for inclement weather and plentiful food and the like. As long as your land isn't adjacent to a busy road then you should be on to a winner.

As far as the chickens go, generally chickens are too good at defending themselves against cats for that to be an issue, and they work well as a team to put the cats off, but every now and then there's a cat who is just a wonderful hunter and who wouldn't be put off (my aunt had one- small, black and usually found carrying some sort of dinner up the garden!) and unfortunately there's no way of guaranteeing that your cat would be in the group who would learn not to see the chickens as dinner.

One thing to bear in mind though- there's no proof at this point that there isn't already a feral colony with your land in their territory. Your chickens are just as much at risk from them ;)

Many farms where I come from have feral cats living there with no problems , but they need spaying and neutering hence not to get thousands lol!

Yes, of course- I kind of took that as a given. Your beasties should be spayed and neutered before being released. Your chickens would stand no chance with a large colony around!

The nearest stable - about 400yards away(and the only other premises for about a mile) do have a cat which adopted them and moved on there with them.
I may take the consideration more seriously now.
What about moving our domestic cat (she lives outside 24/7) as part of the mini colony.

ditto Medusa.

I used to do a lot of feral rehoming through Rescue Rangers in Rotherham. Faye the RMBC dog warden had a lot to do with them too. But that was a few years ago. After losing my field I ended up with the 5 ferals coming and living in my garden. I'm down to one now sadly.

I have a few ferals hunting in the hedgerows alongside my yard and fields, never have I had a problem with them attacking the hens who are fully free ranging. They will take rabbits though.

Personally I would keep your domestic cat at home where it's happy :)

Our cat has a deep respect for our hens :) I really would not worry about keeping hens and cats together. Our oldest biggest lady who is three this year chases the cat when she gets too close, and the cat moves :hihi:

Most cats I know have a healthy respect for all the flapping and sharpness of rapidly advancing hens en masse ;)

One of my friends has a tom cat who shreds all of the family very seriously in play (they all have the scars to prove it). He made the mistake of trying to stalk the smallest and most vulnerable looking of their chickens, but was totally unaware that as he was stalking her, her mates were creeping up behind him. As he pounced, so did they...

He now won't go into their back garden at all :hihi:

Most cats I know have a healthy respect for all the flapping and sharpness of rapidly advancing hens en masse ;)

One of my friends has a tom cat who shreds all of the family very seriously in play (they all have the scars to prove it). He made the mistake of trying to stalk the smallest and most vulnerable looking of their chickens, but was totally unaware that as he was stalking her, her mates were creeping up behind him. As he pounced, so did they...

He now won't go into their back garden at all :hihi:

:hihi: :hihi: That really made me laugh, I am liking hens more by the second.

They are great, we were out in the sun the other day, our oldest lady likes to sit on the back door step and make chirriping noises at me :love: the cat dared to pass her and it was so comical. The cat slunk past the hen, who puffed herself up to look twice as big and sort of made a half hearted attempt to give er a quick peck.. poor cat

The son inlaw would like them to free range but the dogs do tend to like a chase. So super large enclosure is on the cards.

Sounds brilliant idea to me. If only everyone with an outbuilding and a bit of land would do it. Unfortunately there seems to be no such thing as a 'stray' cat now. They are all branded feral when with a lot of care and attention they can come round. People put up barriers as soon as they hear the word feral, but it is do-able. Real ferals are terrified of people, tend to sleep during the day and come out at night and provided they get food I don't think you would have a problem with hens. My ferals have never chased anything wild - they had to exist on pigeons in the wild and now prefer Whiskas to feathers! Furry Friends at Dore has ferals on a regular basis, and is always in need of good homes.

The ferals I had from kittens or youngsters turned out to be the most loving, cuddly cats you can imagine. A bit of advance and retreat (a principle taken from Natural Horsemanship) won them round in no time.

Madam Pomfrey never wanders far from the shed, more often than not she is either on the chair under the table (OH finally conceded that she can come in so she isn't lonely... I've been letting her in for years!!) or sat on the fencepost in the sun. She loves a fuss, but is still a bit panicky when being picked up.

It's interesting to see her interracting with my domestic cats, she uses head rubbing and other language that the domestic cats just don't understand. They tend to get offended by it, but she is just saying hello. The domestic cats have been brought up alongside other cats, but it is like there is a different dialect.

The other thing is that every single feral I have had, knows instinctively to use the litter tray or go outside, rather than on the floor or carpet.

It's really important to worm them though as they do tend to have a higher worm burden, especially when young.

There is a growing feral colony at fir vale on the housing estates - people keep getting kittens and dumping them when it's time to get them neutered (and then promptly go out and get another when the novelty suits!)

I think it's a great idea to set up a new home for these much maligned felines if you have a barn or stable area going spare - they help to keep mice and other prey levels down and are a pleasing addition to any home or work place if its safe for them to be there. I'd do it in an instance if I had the space. Hope you manage to get yours established Willman (as Medusa says, a colony rather than a sinlge feral would be more comfortable- some of the rescue orgs will contribute towards neutering costs if you approach them)