While Watching for rats, They Frighten Away Hawks-Are Broken From Killing Little Ones.
    Did you know that cats are a valuable asset to the poultryman? You might believe that they were anything but invaluable because of their innate love for fresh meats. But sweeter than baby chicks to the palate of the cat are the smooth-coated, long-tailed creatures of the rat family. And rats prey upon chickens, asserts the Poultryman.
    During the course of a year there is more loss in the poultry world from the ravages of rats than from cats or hawks, or even disease. A cat in the chicken yard, if trained to properly value the life of the chickens, will terrorize and destroy the rats and will ward off the enemy hawks and so prove himself or herself of great worth.
    Cats have proved their worth as chicken yard sentinels, and there have been many and various methods employed by their owners to break them from killing the chickens. One well known method is that of tying a dead chicken about a cat’s neck and making him tug around the heavy dead body for from one to two days. In the meantime the cat will supposedly grow to have a great dread and horror of a dead chicken.
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