Cats & Chickens

Cats & Chickens: Can They Get Along?
posted by Sharon Gaughan, PCLF Education Program Director

At the Backyard Chicken workshop last Saturday, we briefly discussed whether cats and chickens could get along.  When I started bringing the Learning Farm's backyard chickens to my home for visits to my backyard, my cat, Moira, slowly evolved from being absolutely terrified of them, to being cautiously alert but tolerant.

When I saw this post on Jon Katz's blog (http://www.bedlamfarm.com/) this morning, I thought of sharing it here...

Minnie’s Healing Journal And Album Today

Posted: 29 Oct 2013 05:27 PM PDT

Minnie is in her third week of recovery from an animal attack that cost her her right rear leg. She has struggled with pain, medications, disorientation and a lack of balance and movement. Her ordeal has opened a vivid window for me into the power of healing in animals. Today, Minnie began to emerge from her hiding place in the barn, seek out the sun, and somehow she found it healing and safe to be with the chickens.

She has healed in a number of different ways – in the barn, by gathering herself and being still, by exploring the world cautiously, by being with Maria, by being with the hens, by finding her warm and safe spots in the sun.

Minnie came to me as a feral kitten and lived in the big barn at Bedlam Farm for the first months of her life – I left food for her, but she was shy and cautious and I never saw her. I sometimes looked through the barn window and saw that Minnie was at  ease with the chickens, when my rooster Winston was sick Minnie sat with him for days and nights until he died. Minnie grew up around chickens, she has always been at ease with them, is often seen with them. It is not surprising she would turn to them for comfort and company for her own healing.

Today was Minnie's coming out day. She spent most of the day outside of the house and outside of the barn where she had been hiding all day. Every time we came outside, she was in the sun, usually with hens around her, sometimes with Maria. I chronicled this day in a series of photos which I am putting up on Facebook. Tonight, we brought her inside, she is still unsteady on her legs and tires easily.