Bird Loft and Cats??

[ekoog82]

Just curious if anyone has had or has issues with cats trying to get birds from your loft? I have an issue with a few cats in my area that seem to frequent my yard and wanted to make sure before I made a loft that they are secure from those threats.

[Nick Miles]

.22 rounds are very cheap where I live...

[Mountaineer]

Nope...wife has had up to 10 outside cats, no problem.
Not all cats are equal tho.
Just a big a mistake to fall the easy cat-killing way as it is to fall the cats are harmless direction.
Based on the message board, one can predict where the high-fives are found.
Dumb exists on both sides of that fence.

[donne]

Barn cat got in through the trap door and killed 3 birds. It couldn't get out either.
Make sure you close up the trap before dark. No more trouble.
Oh yeah , The cat didn't make it .

[marysburg]

Similar experience here with a feral cat which got in through the trap and killed 10 birds. I wouldn't have been so mad if he had only killed one or two and eaten them, but I don't think it was motivated by hunger....more like massacre. None of our resident cats have bothered the homers in 10 years. Just make sure the trap is located high on the loft and that the landing board has nothing near it which would help a cat climb up. I'm thinking tree limbs or a fence, etc.

[DonF]

I haven't had much trouble with cats in the loft's or the quail pen. Keep the re-entry door high as you can so the cats can't jump up there. Have a varmit door and close it at night. I have had cats in the chicken house, they die. I catch any preditor attemoting to get in any bird pen and I discourage them with extreame prejudice!

[Cajun Casey]

Free roaming cats decimate wildlife and carry disease. Kill them.

[steamer]

i have had way more problems with coons. i havent had any get into the loft but i have a smaller cage i use to keep new birds that i bring home in. i lost six a few weeks ago. i had it up high on top of an empty rabbit cage . they knocked it to the ground smashed up the cage and ate four birds, killed one and left it, and beat one up so bad i had to put it down. they left the rib cages of the four birds . i guess they couldnt get them out because the door was still latched. the war is on now!!!!! plus one and counting

[DonF]

Coons are vile! We had them here years ago. They killed 35 chickens on night and left most of them. Then a few days later got into the barn and killed a litter of kittens and ate the cat food. We got them in leg hold traps and killed them. They wreacked havoic while alive. Saw two in a tree across the road a couple years ago. They got killed minding their own business.

[marysburg]

Yup, here too. Shoot 'em on sight. We have a live trap which we lend out to our neighbours who have raccoons living in their outbuildings or shelter belts. It took about 3 years, but we wiped them out, and now have no more marauders. They wiped out 8 call ducks which I was raising for practice ducks. No mercy after that.

[ezzy333]

Cats, coons, mink, weasels, snakes,and especialy Cooper's Hawks are serious preditors and cause havok with pigeon lofts sooner or later. Plus unfed cats are the number one preditor of our local wildlife. I have had birds killed by the neighbors cats this year and have gotten rid of several of them. But there is still a dozen or two around but they are kind of shying away from the lofts, at least in the day time.

Any of them are a major problem if they get in the loft, not only killing many birds but scaring the rest enough they will not come back into your loft for a period of time or they leave and you never see them again. I like cats but they are a constant problem with the lofts and our bvird feeders where we try to take care of the wild birds. I don't like it when they end up as cat food.

I do agree that any cat seen in the wild is fair game but I try to make sure they are away from any barn yards and are truely wild. The other preditors are destroyed if caught around the yard, but there is a problem with the hawks because they are protected. A perfect example of unthinking lawmakers passing laws without regard of the safety and well being of our property.

Ezzy

[Georgia Boy]

Free roaming cats decimate wildlife and carry disease. Kill them.

Couldn't have said it better myself, My dogs and I kill every varmint of any species we encounter.