Wednesday 22 February 2017

The no chicken diet works for Minnie

Most farms have a farm cat.  We're not really a farm (like real proper like..) and therefore Minnie our outdoor cat fits our improper mould.  She's chief mouser and generous with gifts on the back door mat given the occasional missing head she thought would go unnoticed. If there's a lizard, skink or bug behind a pot she's onto it.  She's even onto the heavy russling in the forest of daisies along the driveway.  Although we think it might be the same echidna that appeared last year which was great to see but confused Bennie and Minnie no end.  You could almost see by the look on their faces what was going through their minds, 'You touch it', 'No thanks, you saw it first'.  Minnie's job description includes rodent control but stipulates, no interaction with free ranging chickens of any size or proportion.  And that she does.  To the point where a mother hen can walk a two week old birthday party of toddlers right past her without incident.  Our theory was always that to deter her, we would feed Minnie well during chicken raising time.  Unfortunately chicken raising time has extended into months and months as the number of chickens has expanded rapidly along with Minnie's waistline.  Whilst we've been unkind in our jokes about her causing the cracks in the pavers and no longer being able to climb trees, we intend to cut back on the food but the plan is working at the moment.  She's upholding the mouse hunting and still keeping chicken off the menu.  It's like she's done a deal with the hen house.  Keep producing chicks and they'll keep producing the Fancy Feast.  Sweet.

4 comments:

  1. Oh I love this post. My mum's cat is such a little fatty... she waddles so all wildlife - mice and all are free to roam. I try and think of it as she is just over-loved. Where as my mischievous beast of a cat wouldn't be able to keep his greedy paws off little chicks... he chats to the cockatoos and lorikeets through the screen. He's just waiting to pounce :)

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  2. My indoor cat Max chats to the birds through the screen wire too. It's the strangest of noises. It would be quite off putting if you were a cockatoo or lorikeet going about your business and you look down and see this furry face chatting away at you :)

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  3. I have three cats and all leave the chooks alone, I told them sharply "No!" A couple of times and that seemed to be enough for two of them, but the third cat needed a follow up lesson from the rooster and boss hen. Now they stick to ratting around the chook shed.

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  4. Yeah it's funny you say that because I think the roosters play a big role in protecting the hens. I suspect some of ours have issued the odd stern warning to Minnie. And given the fact she is outnumbered in droves, she's heeded the advice.

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