Yard cats

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poiuytrewq

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If I was to get a kitten or even an older cat would it be possible to keep one at my little yard even though I don't actually live on site?
For the first time since being there today I spotted evidence of rats (would a cat help with rats or just mice?)
I thought if it was kept shut in a stable for a week or however long fed etc before being released that might work?

Bit grossed out! rat bait going down tonight
 
I would contact your local cat rescue and speak to them about taking on a couple of feral cats! They are always desperate to find a place to rehome them outside of the home.

They should be able to advise on keeping them safe whilst they settle and how to worm them etc which will be very important if they are catching vermin.
The same rules apply though, you must be able to offer them a safe home away from busy roads. Access to a vet should they need it and regular vaccinations (tricky on a feral I know)

Good luck.
 
Get two, especially if you are having kittens.

Yes, I would keep them in the area you intend to feed them/leave their bed etc for a while until they are used to you.

They will be quite happy if you are not on site all the time.

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I have loads of barn cats, they are spoiled devils, eat a huge amount of food and sleep a lot, but....they are lovely handwarmers on cold days, a great source of amusement and my vermin problem is minimal. They aren't so good at dealing with the raccoons, skunks and possums though. I went into the workshop where they live one night years ago and there were 8 cats in a circle watching a great, big, fat possum scoff their feed. :mad:

Food is no longer left out at night.
 
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Yes I hadn't really considered poisoning the cat via the rat!
I cant do it right now anyway due to the stables being in use I guess so will bait for now then perhaps speak to the Blue cross come spring.
Feral are a good idea actually I know our local Blue X struggle to home them and I don't need to cuddle it ;-)
 
You would need to feed them - a starving cat can't hunt. Also vaccinate them, and give them access to a shed and somthing soft to sleep in. Feral cats are not easy to catch for the vet, but you still need to do it yearly and when they get sick. Otherwise, yes, a feral cat will take rats, and rehoming charities will have a working cats for rehoming.
 
Many rescues would be glad of a stable home for some of their more feral cats - so look there first. We're on our 4th now, last one we got as a kitten and he got shot by a farmers son (mistook him for a rabbit - cat was black and white - yeah right :mad: ) and lived happily alone for 13 years on 3 legs.

Current cat is a rescue we got as a 2yo. They said he wasn't friendly, but he is - just on his terms lol. He is happy being there, but is a rubbish ratter! I saw him meet one of the poisoned rats one day as it was stumbling around, he sniffed it and walked away, so cats aren't stupid and I think most would avoid a poisoned rat :)

We shut them in for a week before release I think :)

ETA ours is a blue cross cat :)
 
We've got two yard cats - and they live there very happily 24/7. Not sure whether they are much use at controlling vermin, but that's taken care of by metal feed bins! They have a cat flap in the tackroom wall, so that they have somewhere to shelter, and are fed twice a day (hence lack of demonstrable rodent control!). I think they were once feral, but you wouldn't know it now. One is a bit nervous, and the other allows you to stroke her, then lashes out for no apparent reason, but apart from that, they're lovely to have around!
 
My feral cat turned up himself, fought my other 3 cats, stole their food and would run a mile if he spotted a human. Bloody creature! We managed to catch him in a cat trap and handed him over to the cat protection people up here. They castrated him and asked if we would take him back he really was far too wild to be rehomed. So we did.

He still fights my remaining 2 cats but not as badly, he lives outside not a bother and he is a bloody pest and pain when it comes to mucking out! You stand still for more than 2 seconds and he has wrapped himself round your ankles! I think I prefered it when he was truly wild!

He is an awesome ratter though! His only foible with rat catching is that he brings them to you if you are outside, shows you them alive and then proceeds to crunch their heads right in front of you. I think he wants me to know that they are truly dead!
 
A yard that we were at got three kittens from the Cats protection league. Kept them in a cage in an empty stable at first, then just in the stable, then out and around the yard when old enough. Two were very friendly, one more wary, but all were amazing mousers from day one. The yard feeds them dry food and they have their water bowl in the feed room. The only downside is that the YO's Jack Russell has had his nose put seriously out of joint as he likes catching mice and rats too!
 
Ours are up at the field. Fed daily and have shelter (a range of sheds and field shelters).

We happen to have several as all related, but if buying rather than breeding would only buy one or only more than that if they'd previously been together. Cats are solitary animals so no need to get more than one.
 
We have two lovely yard cats but I'm afraid they have had almost no effect on our rats. Could just be ours though! My boy must hate the rats too as heregularly drowns the rats in his water bucket!
 
Ours are good micers and rabbiters. Wouldn't want them to take on rats. Tends to mean lots of vet runs from war wounds.

If I had a problem with rats I'd prabably just get a terrier or JR in for a day or two.
 
I love yard cats!!

At my old yard, we had a stray turn up one day. We caught her and put her in the caravan for a week. Then started leavign the door open. She quickly became very friendly and was an amazing hunter. I never saw any rats or mice and she would also get the rabbits too! Unfourtantly she was hit by a car when she tried to follow my YO home. You could tell she had done such a good job at pest control, because we soon started seeing mice and rats everywhere and I mean everywhere!!

They got 2 more from RSPCA that were feral and both of them are good mousers.

New yard, they have 3 cats. 2 are very good and get rats/mice/birds. The other is c**p he follows you around everywhere and can't be botherd to catch anything. He chased a rat into my stable the other day and then ran off!
 
Get a couple of either. Try and settle them in barn or stable should be fine. There are 4 feral cats always about at my farm, live and sleep in the hay loft at night
 
I have a yard cat. He lives alone and stays at the yard by himself quite happily. He has a cat flap into the restroom and he comes and goes as he pleases. He was a rescue and was adult when I got him. He is happy to be petted by people and equally happy to be alone. He does a great job of vermin control - he is fed daily as well though - the vermin side of things is a bit of a hobby for him! ;)

I think if you get real feral cats they can be vicious little blighters so might not take to being stroked, etc.
 
I'm sure that there has been a recent advertising campaign by Cats Protection League suggesting people take on a rescue cat exactly for stable yards and to help with the resulting vermin populations.

One of our rescue cats came from Cats Protection - he was rescued with several other kittens in a litter but was considered too friendly to go just as a barn cat. He has turned out to be the most fabulous people-friendly cat (he lies on his back in my arms like a baby, and follows me everywhere), and is the most amazing hunter - we regularly have headless rabbits deposited on the living room carpet:eek:
 
I think stable cats are a great help, and they should be fine as long as they can get out of the weather and have regular food and water. I have two cats from local cats rescue. Both were suposed to be outside cats, one is feral, the other born domesticated but went feral and had two litters.

I was advised to keep them shut in for 3 - 4 weeks, but ginger tom feral escaped after 7 days, however kept leaving food and water for him in same place and he came back each evening to eat it. He was fantastic worker outside, solved rabbit and rat problem, and then as cold weather approached one night he was sitting at the back door! He came in for a little while and within a month was residing inside by his choice, but still a very effective hunter!
 
I rent 2 stables, a barn and 3 acres in a fairly remote spot. There are about 6 houses in the area and it's on a no through road. The nearest village is a couple of miles away. About a year ago Dilys turned up:
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I took her to the vets to get her checked out and asked around if anyone was missing a cat - no response. So we kept her at the stables. Then a few weeks later Dave arrived:
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They have a bed in the barn and I feed them everyday, they follow me everywhere and love to come round the field when I'm poo picking.
 
I've just moved two yard cats to a new house! Kept them in for a week and then let them out at feed time so they were ready to come back for grub and they have hung around quite happily and settled in. I have also left two yard cats at my previous house for the new owners. They had only been there a few months and had just started to get settled and it seemed stupid to move them so I rang CPL, who I got them from, and explained and they decided I would be able to leave them for the new owners - who are very happy to have their rodent control problem sorted.

I just rang CPL and stipulated that I wanted two cats who were feral, happy to stay feral and who got along with each other. I couldn't face choosing two of the many that they have in. All those little furry faces needing homes upset me greatly. I wanted to make sure that they were friends because I've rehomed siblings from CPL before that have hated each other and I don't think it's fair to expect them to share space when they don't get on.
 
We have 2 cats in our yard. They are fed once a day and have biscuit the rest of the time. They sleep in the hay in the barn and catch all manner of things. We built our current yard in 2008 and to date we have only had to dispose of 3 live mice (whippets did that) Other than that we have never seen a live rodent. They are ace and completely happy where they are.

You would need to keep whatever cat you had in for approx 3 weeks to ensure they stick around. The 2 we have came as kittens and we kept them in until the female was old enough to be neutered, then let them out once they were done.
 
I have a gang of feral cats who have 'adopted' me. Another one turns up every now and again, so off it goes to the vets for a quick spay or castration and then they join the gang. They do come and go and most are reasonably wary of humans but a couple have become proper cuddly cats. We now have no mice, rats or pigeons around our yard and they are working on the rabbit population in our field too! I'd much rather buy cat food than rat poison.
 
Ours (and the last two) turned up themselves, one clearly a pet, one feral, & current one semi feral, who we think has just been stray a long time. She is the worlds most efficient hunter. Bearing in mind its a farm, & she's the sole vermin control, even if you leave food around there has been zero evidence of rodents since she turned up. Except if you see her eating one or she gifts it to you. Extra bonus is that she's partial to magpie, meaning the swallows stay safe.
 
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