# Barn kittens



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I have 8 kittens about 4 weeks old now. I know they need to start in solid food soon. 

How do I provide them food without their moms eating it all? These moms eat so much already! 

Should I start them with wet food? 

I've never had kittens born here before and didn't plan on them.


----------



## sassykat6181 (Nov 28, 2012)

Can you separate them from the moms? I start with soft food then switch them to crunchies slowly until weaned.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Not really. They all have free rein of the barn. Though the moms keep the kittens in a stall. They just climb and jump in to feed them. One mom is constantly with them.


----------



## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

Pregnant and/or nursing cats need access to dry food and water at all times. Move food and water into stall with kittens. Kittens will watch mom eat and drink and mimic mom. If you want to offer wet food, offer it once or twice a day in a shallow pan/plate that kittens can easily reach. Make sure it is also big enough to accommodate mom and kittens. I never bother to separate mom and kittens at feeding time. Once kittens figure it out, they chow down. I usually add a little water to the wet food to make it a little soupy. Kittens will drink/lick before they figure out to bite food.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I keep food available for moms all day. I just figured with how hungry they are they would gobble up the wet food before the kittens even tried. 

Will attempt tomorrow and see how it goes.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Good advice.

What I do is, open the kittens mouths and introduce the food, so they get a good start on it. It gets messy with soft or soaked food, LOL. They spit it out at first until they acquire a taste for it. Watch your fingers, they have really sharp teeth and can accidentally nip you.
After a few times or days of doing it and the kitten is not spitting it out, I will have soft food down on a flat plate, you do not need much, they will walk in it and get messy, yuck, but should catch on when you put them down to it. I do this daily until they start on their own. I watch and keep momma away until the kitten seems to get enough. Then momma can have at it.
After a while of soft food and they are going really good on it, start adding solid if you wish.

Good luck.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I don't have that kind of time for 8 kittens on top of my 4 does I'm milking and 8 goat kids to care for. So they will have to learn on their own!


----------



## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

^^^Don't worry. They will figure it out on their own.


----------



## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

I've had TONS of kittens raised in my barn, and I never had to introduce them to feed or help with anything. They just figured it out on their own, and ate the same stuff I give my adult cats


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

I put wet food down and the adults of course wanted it. They are obnoxious. Fought them off and some
Of the kittens went right for it. Others I gave a taste and then they wanted it. Others didn't care. Will try to do so again tomorrow.


----------



## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yeah, it helps get those who are slow at it, if you show them what it is and give them some. Doesn't take much, then they want more. That is what I do, it speeds things up a bit.


----------



## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

we feed moms and kittens watch and learn...We dont do anything special...no wet food..wont be long before they are right in there getting their fair share, I notice they pick up the smaller broken pieces mom drops....once they are eating well..we begin finding new homes...


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Only a couple like the wet food. Most ignore it. I did see one of the males eating with mom so I'm sure like Cathy said that they will pick it up. 

I have homes for a couple of them. But I won't let them leave until they are eating good for sure. We still have 3 more weeks till they are 8 weeks. It's been amazing to see how different they are now as opposed to last week. They really are maturing and changing


----------



## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

They do grow fast....ours are about 3 weeks old now and starting to share a little in the food..


----------



## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

I agree with the advice that the momma cats need unlimited food & the babies will eat after mom once they're developmentally ready for solids. Barn cats often have a lot of parasites & have trouble keeping enough weight on. Make sure to pick up the food at night so you don't get rats etc.

If these are like many barn cats they probably showed up after people dumped them beside your road, right? In this case you might get some help from your local Trap, Neuter & Release group to get them spayed & neutered & maybe even some free food. I hope there's one in your area. My MIL has a small farm & Bad People are constantly leaving their cats there. I guess Ohio has a shortage of Cat Ladies, so MIL ends up with a litter most years either because she couldn't afford to get them all fixed or couldn't catch one.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Wow 3 weeks Cathy? At 3 weeks mine were barely moving 

No these mamas were free kittens last year. But we had a family issue and finances never were right to get them spayed. Then when I did actually plan it I saw the male around and I wasn't going to spay pregnant cats so we waited for them to give birth. They are very friendly cats as are the kittens. They do a wonderful
Job at getting rid of the mice and moles. They even get squirrels too! 

There are other strays around but out rodent problem is well under control because of them


----------



## PurpleToad (Feb 14, 2016)

I don't have barn cats but when one of my cats had kittens I just let her do her thing. It all sorted itself out without any help from me. This ranged from how to eat solid foods to drinking water to using a litter box (since they are all exclusively indoor cats). The ONLY problem is the Mama used to be an outside cat so is neurotic about covering her "business" and she passed that on to her kittens.lol They all spend five minutes (at least) covering everyone else's business before they do their own and then they spend fifteen minutes covering their own business when they're done.lol

Also on the foods we never provided the kittens with wet food because I was NOT starting that up again. Had finally gotten the older cats broken of wanting wet food in the mornings and did NOT want to get them used to it again. Cans of cat food and I have a hate-hate relationship after I cut my finger and needed stitches because of one.lol


----------



## SalteyLove (Jun 18, 2011)

Stacey the momma cats can get pregnant again VERY fast. If you do want to get them spayed, you best lock them up right away. They will have to wait until the kittens start weaning and milk production goes down to spay them. But most cats will re-breed when the kittens are 6-10 weeks old.


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I pretty much do the same thing your doing right now......well if I'm even able to find the kittens if not they are on their own lol it seems to make them a little more loveable as well. 
I wonder if there are different types of cats. I don't fix the cats here it's a wast of money since they could be somethings food at any time and these have all been dumped on me, but they will only have kittens once a year. Almost like clock work June hits and so do kittens


----------



## margaret (Aug 30, 2013)

Jessica how many cats do you have??
I started with 4, didn't fix them and I ended up with 30 in just a couple years. They can get pregnant quite fast after having kittens.


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Well it goes up and down right now there's 6. I'm not joking about it being a waste of money. Not only that I didn't bring home one of these cats. The last time I brought home a cat was 13 years ago and he was fixed since he was a inside cat.


----------



## Dustilin (Apr 10, 2016)

Our barn kitty lived 22 years and continually had 4 kittens 2 to 4 times per year. Yikes. Most of them we found homes for. Some were lost and others crossed the rainbow bridge. We always knew when she was pregnant and when we saw she had delivered, we would tell her, 'show us the kittens, where are they' and she would take us to them. I thought she would slow down as she aged but she didn't. Then one day she went off to have a litter and never came back. It was different not having kittens all the time, but living in the country has the advantage of frequent drop offs. 
Our current barn kitty has been neutered so, no kittens. And I am perfectly okay with that!
I now have baby goats to get my cuteness, baby fix from


----------



## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Well I will not curse at these cats any more for their once a year blessings lol


----------



## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Around here all you have to do is leave out some food accidentally and you have wild cats coming out of the woodwork. Luckily my dogs very much enjoy being taught to chase them off because I don't want the disease carrying beasts pooping in my garden or getting near my goats.


----------



## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Jill :lol: I get annoyed with stray cats too or stray chickens...my one neighbor has "free range" chickens and they always come to my yard :angry: and poop on my driveway and walkway! I hate that....I have mine fenced in and none of my animals wander around...we don't live far enough out for me to do that. I told my DD we are going to catch them and hold onto them until he comes looking for them next time. Same as we did with his last flock of hens  They were all eaten within a year...so these probably will be too....just like his guinea hens a couple years back. They all gravitate to my property


----------



## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

How are the babies. Have they left for their new homes?
The DH found these in our Jade. We knew there was a Mama around but she was really good at NEVER letting us see where she hid them.


----------



## StaceyRosado (Oct 5, 2007)

Mine are 8 weeks June 1st. So one more week and then they can leave. 

Still need homes for a few. But going to wait until the people who want kittens pick out theirs and then find homes for the rest.


----------



## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

goathiker said:


> Around here all you have to do is leave out some food accidentally and you have wild cats coming out of the woodwork. Luckily my dogs very much enjoy being taught to chase them off because I don't want the disease carrying beasts pooping in my garden or getting near my goats.


Me too! I love my pampered 100% indoor cat but my neighbor's scruffy looking strays get only cheap food, no shots, flea or worm treatment, & certainly no vet care. I feel sorry for them, they really do look diseased. What's really disgusting is when they use my hens' dust bath area for a toilet & my chickens get stinky! So gross! I wish my useless dog would keep them away.


----------

