2nd found dead in pen in 2 weeks- graphic pic!

[sunnie7]

Went back out and put up a trail camera....found where something was digging, looks pretty small. Can you trap weasels?

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Went back out and put up a trail camera....found where something was digging, looks pretty small. Can you trap weasels?
View attachment 2481574

Oh what a bummer! The only thing I know about weasels is prevention of access by screening with 1/2” hardware cloth. I also need smaller wire like that to screen out snakes. Weasels are famous for killing birds (usually multiple birds) then eating only small amounts around the head and necks or only drinking the blood. They can definitely remove birds from a roost - weasels climb and guineas are pretty helpless at night. From your first post, I was thinking: weasels, rats, guinea fighting, in that order. Since you see evidence of digging, I think weasel or rats are really high on your list. That delicate eating seems more weasel though. However, it looks like your wire mesh is pretty large, so I don’t know why they’d dig instead of going through the mesh. I’m so sorry about your losses!

 

[sunnie7]

Oh what a bummer! The only thing I know about weasels is prevention of access by screening with 1/2” hardware cloth. I also need smaller wire like that to screen out snakes. Weasels are famous for killing birds (usually multiple birds) then eating only small amounts around the head and necks or only drinking the blood. They can definitely remove birds from a roost - weasels climb and guineas are pretty helpless at night. From your first post, I was thinking: weasels, rats, guinea fighting, in that order. Since you see evidence of digging, I think weasel or rats are really high on your list. That delicate eating seems more weasel though. However, it looks like your wire mesh is pretty large, so I don’t know why they’d dig instead of going through the mesh. I’m so sorry about your losses!

I used to not even lock then up at night but had too many loses. They took to roosting there on their own so we used the fencing we already had. My chickens are my pets and while I like the guineas, they are my tick control (my husband got RMSF building our house) not so much “pets”. Can weasels climb up 2ft hardware cloth? Could I possibly get away with just doing an apron and 2ft at the bottom instead of the whole thing?

 

[RosemaryDuck]

I used to not even lock then up at night but had too many loses. They took to roosting there on their own so we used the fencing we already had. My chickens are my pets and while I like the guineas, they are my tick control (my husband got RMSF building our house) not so much “pets”. Can weasels climb up 2ft hardware cloth? Could I possibly get away with just doing an apron and 2ft at the bottom instead of the whole thing?

With weasels the problem isn't so much climbing as it is digging. They're expert tunnelers and can pretty much squeeze into the smallest of gaps. I've dealt with them before. The only thing that helped in my case was doing double wire (with smaller holes) over the existing fence and underneath as well.

 

[southwind00]

I used to not even lock then up at night but had too many loses. They took to roosting there on their own so we used the fencing we already had. My chickens are my pets and while I like the guineas, they are my tick control (my husband got RMSF building our house) not so much “pets”. Can weasels climb up 2ft hardware cloth? Could I possibly get away with just doing an apron and 2ft at the bottom instead of the whole thing?

Your 2 ft of hardware cloth would work if you bury it at least 6 inches into the soil. Weasels are know for following mice into buildings and mice can squeeze through pretty small holes. When I had quail the weasels followed the mice thru small holes at the base of the plywood enclosed part. And the dead quail looked a lot like your pic with just nibbling around the head and neck. In my guinea flyway I have hardware cloth on the floor as well as the walls.

 

[Sydney65]

And reading all of this then looking it up has freaked me out, bc I'd never heard of weasels in Indiana, yet apparently we have long tailed and least weasels?! Have never seen such a thing. BUT - there are crazy tunnels from the "porch" infront of run to the back door of coop that I've assumed was an industrious mole?
Nothing has ever got in, we have hard cloth which I actually put plywood over bc it was a pain trying to avoid stepping on it.
The problem with the wider wire is that your hen may be snoozin against it and it's big enough for a snout or claw to reach in even if it can't climb through. If you cover what you have with a roll of hard cloth, you're only going to make it safer.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I did not know we had weasels in Indiana!

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

And reading all of this then looking it up has freaked me out, bc I'd never heard of weasels in Indiana, yet apparently we have long tailed and least weasels?! Have never seen such a thing. BUT - there are crazy tunnels from the "porch" infront of run to the back door of coop that I've assumed was an industrious mole?
Nothing has ever got in, we have hard cloth which I actually put plywood over bc it was a pain trying to avoid stepping on it.
The problem with the wider wire is that your hen may be snoozin against it and it's big enough for a snout or claw to reach in even if it can't climb through. If you cover what you have with a roll of hard cloth, you're only going to make it safer.

There are other weasel species, but long tailed weasels are common in the US, with only a few states inhospitable to them.

https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/mammals/medium/long-tailed-weasel.html

I’ve not seen one either - they are secretive. Mink and fisher cats seem to be worse chicken predators, but they are more northern than weasels, with fisher cats more Canadian.

https://nhpbs.org/wild/mink.asp

https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/fisher.htm

 

[Sydney65]

There are other weasel species, but long tailed weasels are common in the US, with only a few states inhospitable to them.

https://www.tn.gov/twra/wildlife/mammals/medium/long-tailed-weasel.html

I’ve not seen one either - they are secretive. Mink and fisher cats seem to be worse chicken predators, but they are more northern than weasels, with fisher cats more Canadian.

https://nhpbs.org/wild/mink.asp

https://nhpbs.org/natureworks/fisher.htm

"Himself": even if we DO have them, do you know how small they are? They can't atrack guineas."
Me: here- let me introduce you to 400+ threads from poultry owners bemoaning weasel invasions.."
Lol. But, looking at tunneling habits, still pretty sure mine is a mole. Sigh. Best dog I ever had used to follow the trail w/his head cocked w/ ear near the ground. He'd walk slowly along like that, freeze, dig - no more mole.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

"Himself": even if we DO have them, do you know how small they are? They can't atrack guineas."
Me: here- let me introduce you to 400+ threads from poultry owners bemoaning weasel invasions.."
Lol. But, looking at tunneling habits, still pretty sure mine is a mole. Sigh. Best dog I ever had used to follow the trail w/his head cocked w/ ear near the ground. He'd walk slowly along like that, freeze, dig - no more mole.

Yes, it’s amazing that something as small as a weasel can kill a chicken! Weasels follow rodents through their burrows, so I would definitely be concerned about mole burrows near your coop. Do you have buried wire around you coop or an apron?