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Post by dealsamongus on May 26, 2016 4:30:16 GMT
I am researching Barn Cats and wondered if anyone had them.
How does it work ? Do they help keep mice and rates away? How many and did you get then at the same time?
Other thoughts?
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Post by LilyRose on May 26, 2016 4:36:29 GMT
I grew up on a dairy farm and there were barn cats. We never got them, they just wandered in. I suggest you look into getting some feral cats--groups are always looking for barns to house them in.
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Post by cannes on May 26, 2016 4:42:40 GMT
We've got one. She's been great at keeping the mice down. We got her as a kitten and fed her out in the barn, so she knew that was her place.
She's slowly worked her way to being a part time inside cat and part time barn cat because she's so cool, though. As long as she keeps catching mice by the feed, I'm cool with that!
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Post by gryroagain on May 26, 2016 4:45:38 GMT
Contact a feral cat group! They always have semi-ferals who would love a barn to sleep in, rather than a colony.
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Post by gryroagain on May 26, 2016 4:52:12 GMT
Contact a feral cat group! They always have semi-ferals who would love a barn to sleep in, rather than a colony. In general if you feed them, they will stay there and also catch the mice and rats. Some say don't feed them too much or they won't hunt but actually they still will because they are murderous little buggers. Females are better mousers than males. they will need an insulated shelter for cold winters, to be fixed, usually a single round of shots is enough protection so catching them for shots every year is not really needed. Rabies shots actually last many years, despite recommendations to do them yearly. Flea and tick prevention if you can handle them is good too, but if you can't touch them then don't worry about it.if there is no feral cat group (see Alley Cat Allies for info) try the humane society or pound- they often euthanize cats deemed feral but could instead call you if they know you are interested.
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Post by dealsamongus on May 26, 2016 5:03:40 GMT
I am not looking to get them, only because I have no barn.
I was reading about them and wondered how it works and such.
San Diego had a program for this called Wild at Heart and I just loved the idea and wanted to hear of others people expierences.
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Post by gale w on May 26, 2016 8:52:59 GMT
We have some barn cats but I have no idea where they came from. They stay away from us and the house and we don't feed them. I've only seen them from a distance.
We also have 3 outdoor cats (one we got as a kitten and the other two were dumped here, also as kittens) . They mostly stay up near the house, spend some nights in the garage, one has a heated house (unplugged right now since it's warm) and get fed wet and dry food daily. They also are all neutered, get annual checkups and shots, and go to the vet if they're sick. All three can hunt but 2 of them excel at it.
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suzastampin
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,587
Jun 28, 2014 14:32:59 GMT
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Post by suzastampin on May 26, 2016 11:08:14 GMT
We have 3. They are barn cats because I am allergic, plus they keep the mice away. We had one winter where we didn't have a cat, and they sent out a message to all their relatives from coast to coast. They even got into our camper. Then we got another kitty and no more mice. We ended up with 3 because somebody couldn't find homes for them, so we took them. All are spayed and neutered. We also have 3-4 others that stop by "the soup kitchen" for a meal every day. I have no idea where they came from, but they are welcome as long as they get along with ours. All of them live a good life around here with tons of love. Woke up to this guy sitting on the window sill, then he followed to the bathroom sill while I showered and now he's back out here. ![](//storage.proboards.com/5645536/thumbnailer/aJQuQyXZhpZ0OcZObo_T.jpg)
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Post by gryroagain on May 26, 2016 12:36:38 GMT
Alley Cat allies is a great resource for feral cat info. Feral cats have lived alongside, but not necessarily with, humans for millennia. They have an important spot in the ecosystem that is often disregarded because they aren't domesticated and are not pets but live where humans do.
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blue tulip
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,991
Jun 25, 2014 20:53:57 GMT
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Post by blue tulip on May 26, 2016 12:49:44 GMT
growing up, my family always had barn cats. they came and went as they pleased, were never fixed (I don't agree with now that I'm an adult). so there would be a litter or two of kittens every year to give away, or if they weren't found soon enough to tame, they just went wild and ran off. it was a very rural area and basically the farms were always trading cats in this way. there was rarely an active "let's go get X number of cats", it was a fluctuating population of about 3-4, sometimes more.
they were excellent at keeping the mouse population down, as well as moles, voles and such. we did feed them as well, they weren't expected to eat only what they caught.
the feral cat idea is an excellent one! with the cats being fixed, there is less reason for the toms to wander off, and you don't have to deal with kittens all the time.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Jul 3, 2024 4:08:55 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2016 14:28:25 GMT
We've only had our "barn" for 7 years. We brought home 4 miniature horses in 2009 (we now have 5). We have never had a cat because my husband DOES. NOT. LIKE. THEM. And because we've always had dogs, I was okay with letting him have this particular issue his way. (Side note: 99% of the time, he defers to whatever I want/desire/wish).
It seemed that nearly the second the barn buildings were put in place, the rats appeared. There were mice too, but it was the rats that had me going squirrely every time I went out. I begged my husband to let me find a cat to deal with things. He refused. Just would not give in on this point. It was frustrating. So I accepted that I would have nearly daily encounters with 2 -3 rats and the occasional mouse or 10.
Fast forward to 2012. Long story short, someone dumped a kitten (5-6 weeks old) across the street from our house in a wooded area in some shrubs. My daughter found the kitten and was over the moon. My husband was furious. He realized he just lost this battle.
We kept him the tack room of one of the structures until he was able to jump up and out on his own (about a week later). Between his hunting and with the help of some black snakes, we no longer have any rodents living in our barns. I get the occasional bird head or mouse carcass left as "presents" in the tack room. He's also left me a couple of squirrels and rabbit in a stall nearest the tack room because they were too heavy to jump up and over the half wall with it in his mouth.
I feed him both dry and wet food. He drinks from the horses' water buckets. Of all our animals, he is my favorite. He is the sweetest, most affection, adorable soul in a cat's body. He's leary of other people, but comes running when I go outside, even if the dogs are barking at him. I threaten the dogs a lot that they should move to the barn so I can bring the cat inside because he'd be a lot less work!
He is neutered and vaccinated. He generally spends the day in the barns, the pasture with the horses (his girls), on top of the round bale in the winter or down in the wooded area behind our house (his hunting grounds).
For the record, my husband has grown to love him too, though he'd never admit it to anyone!
I would like to get another one but I worry about how he would accept it. There is feral cat programs in our area where we could get another cat that would be used to living outside.
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Post by lisae on May 26, 2016 16:58:36 GMT
We don't have a barn though lots of people do in this area and keeping cats around the barn is common. If you don't have the kitty spayed, you can start with one female and go from there. We have a building that my husband uses for his workshop and our kitty stays in there many nights. DH hasn't had any mice issues since he started letting the cat sleep in. He did come in the house one day and complain that 'your cat' is messy. DH had opened the door and there were feathers everywhere! Apparently a bird found its way into the building but didn't leave intact.
An outdoor cat will take care of all kinds of small creatures, not just mice.
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