Unusual Companions at Denaby.

Mick, a black and white ten-months-old Tom cat, gets on quite well with unusual companions – hens – and every night cat and hens sleep in the same hut.

Mr. Ernest Taylor, of 1, Adwick Street, Denaby Main, a poultry-keeper, has trained Mick to keep out rats and mice, but to leave the hens unharmed. The cat has been bought up with the hens since he was a kitten, and not one of the 300 hens is unduly worried be his presence.

Said Mr. Taylor, ‘It is a cat’s instinct to chase hens, but Mick does not harm them at all.’

Mr. Taylor keeps about 500 hens on Denaby Northcliffe allotments.