It’s nighttime, so I couldn’t get any decent pictures. If I were clever, I should have recorded some sound. I happened to go out to the backyard late at night tonight to look for something in my car. Comet, the chicken who likes to roost rather than going into the coop at night, was all up in arms baw-bocking like crazy. Bokka baw! Bokka baw! Head up, full alert. Now, this is not her normal nighttime behavior. Or even daytime. Our chickens are pretty quiet. From all of the stuff I’ve read online, this seemed like a warning signal. Maybe that’s why she likes to roost. Maybe she’s the protector chicken!
So…what’s the predator she’s cawing about? I didn’t actually expect to find one, as I generally think she’s a pretty random chicken…but…I looked around the yard…and YES! There’s some random cute, gray adolescent and/or skinny-alley cat in our backyard! Was my first reaction to run it off, as my chicken thought it was a threat? No, of course not. I tried to call it to check if it had a collar, give it food and water if needed, etc, etc, but it ran like lightning. I searched the yard, the alley, the yard again, the alley again. Nope. Cat is long gone.
And the end of the story is (for a story must have a beginning, middle and end, at least some of the time), cats can take care of themselves and listen to your alarm chickens.
Accidental Chicken 