Right now I am in a small rental place so only a couple of cats which doo seen to keep mice away. Have had goats, sheep, and cattle before which all gave milk or meat or both. Had chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys also for a while but we had to move to a smaller place for a bit. I'm looking for a rural lock of land to buy right now though so I will have livestock again....
I've never had a cat before. How do they help keep mice away? Are the mice scared of the cats? Can the mice smell the cat from a distance?
I'm not a biologist, so I can only comment on my own observations, which are by no means scientific, but I have found that when the cat bites the head off of the mouse, it somehow renders the mouse unable to reproduce, thus greatly reducing the overall population of mice in the area. Again, just my untrained observation, so take it for what it is worth.
We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, a bearded dragon, rabbits, and chickens. The dogs are kinda lazy but let us know when someone shows up. The cats are useless. The lizard is really good at eating crickets. The rabbits are good to eat and the chickens lay eggs sometimes. We're gonna get some goats as soon as I get my sorry hind end up and fix the fence. They will be there to keep the grass low and to have one to eat every now and then. Most likely, they'll just be aggravating and eat the garden.
Do you have proof that cats are even able to interact with wild mice? It seems unpossible that a pet cat would be any help at all. This why the barn monkeys were bred. A barn monkey can catch mice in the day or night. http://www.inspirationline.com/images/monkey-cat.jpg here is a cat in training. they are very lazy creatures.
we raise goats, chickens, and rabbits all the time. Occassionally we raise a steer or a hog. We have two herd dogs as well and a couple cats(yuck). All our critters are raised for both meat and product other than the cats and dogs. All critters must serve a purpose here. When they stop they are eaten.
Barn cats are good for eating barn mice. Just don't try to pet the barn cats, they are pretty wild which makes them good at eating wild animals. Rat / Fox Terriers are good for eating all the rats / mice also fairly quickly they can sniff them / flush them out if you poke around the area with a stick.
We have four cats to keep the rodent and bug population down. Two dogs. About to have chickens really soon.
Fact one: any goat worth its horns will laugh at any fencing attempt you put up. Don't bother, they'll quickly learn to stay home. Mine never left the yard and learned to perform the dog's duties in that they'd walk the kids to the school bus in the mornings and be waiting for them when they came back. More than once I had to rescue a stranger who refused to get out of the car when a wild animal stood ready to attack them in addition to the pack of useless dogs. Fact two: Goats do not eat grass! They have learned instinctively to be browsers (Deer, etc) and not grazers (Cows, sheep). Goats can be very susceptible to a host of soil born parasites and pathogens so they only eat "off the ground" While htey will eat hay and grass if put into a raised feed basket, your goats prefer leaves, buds and bark. If you want organic grass trimmers (And who doesn't?) Get a sheep or two then you can have your fence too!
cats Dogs come when you call them...cats have an answering machine and may get back to you IF they feel like it... Dogs have owners... cats have staff... Dogs were created by God to show man the meaning of love... Cats were created by God to show man the meaning of humility and inadequacy... Dogs are the living definition of subservience... Cats are the living definition of freedom and independence!
well... I know from experience they WILL eat thistles down to the ground! that makes me cringe just thinking about it
How do the cats help keep bugs out? Do they eat them? I have a hard time believing that a pet cat would do any harm to a wild mouse. I don't really know though.
Fox Terriers, Jack Russells....etc are all good dogs to have around the homestead during the dry season. When I lived in Australia, we use to go to the local pound in Oct/Nov and buy whatever we cud get. They keep the snakes and rats away from the house. You usually will lose a few (to snake bite) each year, but just restock next Oct.....
5 Horses, 4 Donkeys, 2 Mules, 4 goats, ( and yes, it is almost impossible to keep them contained unless you use a stockade type fence ) 8 Chickens, 5 dogs, and 3 barn cats. Three of the dogs are herding type dogs. There is a picture of one of them moving the horses to a different pasture in my album but I can't figure out how to move pics into a post.
