Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/cat-gives-birth-in-duck-den/

A family came home and was surprised to find their cat had given birth to kittens in a chicken coop alongside a nesting hen and a duck!

While cats are natural predators of birds, it seems this mama cat had other things on her mind.

The Wild Seven Homestead, a “larger-than-average sized family” building an off-grid wilderness homestead, shared about the touching moment on Facebook. They said, “We came home from the state park today, to find our cat decided that the duck den was the safest place to have her babies, right along side the broody mama duck and hen that are laying on 22 duck eggs together…. THREE species to a den.”

In the photos, you can see the new mama cat snuggled with her kittens. Alongside the kittens and the mama cat are 22 duck and chicken eggs and a mama duck and hen!

The homestead family shared with IFLScience that the cat was raised with the chickens and ducks from the time they were all babies. They said, “All of our different species and animals get along incredibly well! We’ve had cats (including Sable) previously born in the chicken coop with chicks, 60+ hens, and roosters with no problems.”

They shared a video of the newborn kittens amongst the eggs and it’s too adorable.

They did share in a follow-up post that they had to move the kittens from the duck den to the chicken coop because the den risks flooding when it rains.

In the comments, they explained that they always have the kittens in with the chickens. They said, “Our kittens have always been born in the chicken coop and become great friends with the chickens.”

Like many new mothers, cats become quite maternal and can show motherly affection to all those around them, even their natural prey like birds. The Wild Seven Homestead’s cat goes to show just that and it’s incredibly sweet.

You can follow the homestead on Facebook to keep up with the new litter of kittens and the rest of the family.

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog