Advice on 4 feral kittens that cant currently get down from a barn

Hi, a wild cat started coming to my house in rural france when I arrived here for the summer.  I thought she was pregnant and after 2 weeks of feeding her realised that she had probably already had kittens.  I found the kittens in a barn next door, the mother jumps up with the assistance of some wood that is vertically stuck the the downstairs barn wall.  She must have gone up to the top of the barn for safety for the kittens but they must be about 9 weeks old and cant get down from top floor of barn to lower floor.  I have been feeding kittens for 2 weeks now but they still hiss at me when I poke my head up into the barn (cant climb right up into barn as the floorboards are all rotten).  I am only here for another month and I don't know how to get the kittens down (its about a 11 foot drop), I feel so sorry for them only being able to experience a hay loft and nothing else but not sure if I should attempt to move them (if I can) in case I distress the mother.  Any advice?

Hi,

Is there any way you could build a ladder for them to get down by them selves? Even at 9 weeks old the kittens should be pretty good climbers so it doesn't have to be such an easy climb down for them. Are there any trees branches with the bark still attached (For better grip) that you could prop against the wood the mother is using to make it easier for them to get down?

If the mother can get in and out quite easily the kittens probably will be able to as soon as they are big enough. They might be safer left where they are until they are big enough to jump down the same way Mum does. At least no predators can get to them while they are in the barn.

Agreeing with Nora-chan.

The field stairs to use is to have a plank!  If possible, with some crossbars nailed to.

You can easily make it yourself, it doesnt need to be anything fancy, can be quite crude.

The only difficulty it must be quite long, over 3 meter,  11 feet., so the plank must be even longer not be be verticale.

But you can perhaps combine two or three different ones?

You just put the plank-ladder(s) and leave it there, so they can get down anytime they wish.

Again, the difficulty is, when the ladder(s) is there,  some predators can also get up.

But you can not have everything, and moms usually take kittens out when they are about 6 weeks.

Tx a lot for caring of these small sisters and brethren of ours!

Good luck!

 Welcome to our Forums!

Hi, thank you both for your replies.  I should have said that I have erected a plank system as best I can but the barn is full of ancient heavy farming machiney which I cant move so have to work around the machinery.  One kitten has come down the plank about 18 inches (I put their food on the plank so it had to!) but it is too scared to go any further (tried moving the food lower down plank) as it is still quite steep and the others just seem to stare in disbelief!!.  I have built a platform about half way along out of boxes which if they got to it they would be able to get up and down.  I am very surprised that they have not attempted it yet as I am sure they must be at least 9 weeks old.  I suppose I am worrying as I want to see that they can fend for themselves ( I am leaving in 4 weeks) and at the moment they are just waiting for me to bring them food 3 times a day,  I realise that perhaps the best thing to do is not to feed them for a couple of days to see if that brings them down, but I cant bear the thought of them being hungry or of them being terrified of the steep drops from the plank!  But maybe this is what I should try to do?  It will be a long time before they are big enough to attempt the vertical drop (I have seen how mum gets up it but not how she gets down and cant imagine that she would be able to get down or up with a kitten in her mouth).  I am going to try and attach a picture I took about 17 days ago of mummy and two kittens, thanks again x

Ah, they are so cute! 

If the mother is a farm cat she is probably quite used to hunting for herself, you've just helped her out while she has kittens to care for.

Cats usually hunt early in the morning or just after sunset. Why don't you try feeding them just once a day, around lunch time? That way they'll all be hungry again later and it will encourage the mother to go looking for mice.

Hi, kitten update, they still would not go down the plank system but last night the mother moved them to another barn except she left one behind.  The one left behind appears to be in good health but she maybe the one that I lifted up yesterday and put at bottom of barn and she then clambered up the barn wall back to top of barn.  I was intending to do this to two of the kittens who I thought might need extra food but the first one was so scared and managed to get back up to top of barn so did not bother with the second.  Why has she left one kitten in the old barn?  Should I try and catch her and put her with the others in the new barn?  They are very big now must be at least 11/12 weeks and all seem in good health.  Thank you x

It sounds as if they can get up and down by themselves now. I wouldn't bother trying to catch them and bring them down, they'll just get scared. You could try feeding them at the bottom of the ladder if you want to encourage them to come down.

By 12 weeks the mother will be starting to leave them on their own for longer periods of time. If you only leave food in the barn where the last kitten is the mother and the other kittens should come back there to be fed and then the last kitten might join them in their new home.

Unless you think the last kitten looks sick or is in any danger it's probably better to leave them to work things out for themselves.