help: farm kittens

[Shaibana]

friday (14th of august) 2 of my kittens are leaving and going to a new owner.
i just want to make sure they have a good home and dont run away.

does anyone have experience with farm cats?
they are going to a different farm where they will be able to go outside, but how do you make sure they dont run away?
i believe i read something aout keeping them inside a couple of days so they know that it is their home before letting them go outside.

its a bit hard to google this question
:3

[escobert]

Yeah, I would tell the new owners to keep them in the barn, maybe the milk house or something that can be closed up, for a few days while they adjust to their new home and owners.

[Madame Adequate]

Yep. If they're still pretty young you they should stay inside anyway for awhile, but regardless of age, keep them indoors for a bit as bert says, in the house or a barn or something similar. Let them get used to the sounds and smells of where they are, then gradually give them some time outside - supervise them at first if possible, and let them out to run around and explore for an hour or two, then put them back in the barn. Increase the amount of time they get to be outdoors over the course of maybe a week or so, then let them go free.

Also find out exactly what conditions the cats will be kept in. If they're going to be feral or semi-feral that's fine pr if any meaningful degree of domestication is intended. The adopters will have to decide whether to spay/neuter or not, and to keep up with vet visits and so on. An adult cat will have a hard time changing his lifestyle (It's not impossible, but a feral cat will always be a bit world and a domestic cat probably won't have very sharp skills so there are always risks) so it's best to know from the start how you conceive of these cats on the farm and raise them from the start appropriately.

[escobert]

Yes be sure they will be fixed or they'll end up like my families farm with 100 feral cats running around.

[Shorty]

Whenever introducing cats to the outdoors, I always keep them inside where their home/new home is for atleast a month. I'm not sure if that timeline is totally necessary, but it helps ease my fears of them not knowing where to return to.

Especially if they are kittens. They don't really need to be outside yet if they are small.

[Shaibana]

thanks guys ^^
tho the leaving has been postponed, i think they will stay with me for 1-2 more weeks.
it got really bussy at work today so my boss didnt have time to bring them to the new owner.

they are now 15-16 weeks and born and raised in the hallway of a pig farm.
so they already know the outdoors since they are more or less 'wild cats'.

im glad im having this extra time because i already felt i didnt take enough preperations.
i honestly dont have an idea what the situation will be at their new owner but i believe they will be let outside.

ill make sure my boss delivers this information to her :P