6 dead pullets... weasels are dead to me

[telemaster]

Went to feed the chickens this morning and there was nothing but carnage. I lost 6 hens to a weasel. All their heads had been chewed off or chewed on until they died. I have a small homestead and these girls were supposed to get me closer towards self sufficiency. I have 10 roosters in the coop/run too, but no... none of them were killed. They are scheduled to go in the freezer in October. I don't think there is a way to secure against a weasel with out a big investment. I will be moving aggressively towards eradicating them. Traps, traps, and more traps.

The way I figure it, at 300 eggs/year for two years that weasel cost me at least 3600 eggs. I hate weasels.

What an awful morning.

Any advice for getting rid of the vermin is greatly appreciated.

 

[RoosterRidge]

You seem to already know what to do...
Traps, traps and more traps...

Sorry for your loss...
See where they were able to reach thru or got in and fix it...

1/2 inch hardware cloth is the safe way to go but I have read
where weasels can still reach thru...
Reinforce what you need too...

 

[telemaster]

Thanks for the condolences. What an awful way to start the day.

I didn't have time to investigate where they got in, but will do once I am home from work this evening.... and steps will be taken to reinforce where needed.

They picked the wrong flock to mess with!

 

[rungirl]

Weasels are very smart and hard to trap. A snug coop is your best defense. They only need a tiny hole, so you need to find out how it got in. I have a friend who was successful trapping one, but it was tricky. It was winter and he saw the path and hid the trap well for when it came back for more.

 

[GoldDogsMom]

I had a weasel attack about 2 mos ago, killed 2 of my 6 hens. Reinforced coop and enclosure. Tried to trap the bugger, it would get the bait but escape the trap! I gave up on capture and close my chickens up tightly in coop every night at dark. There were signs of attempts for about a month but he seems to have given up now. My Feed Supply Guy told me to sit out there with a 22...Good Luck Weasel Hunting!

 

[gale65]

Does electric fence work against weasels? If so what height would it be? We are planning to put up a hotwire around the run for when we go on vacation next summer and won't have anyone reliable who can open and close the coop for us (we will have someone to feed but they don't live nearby so can't come morning and evening both). Maybe the OP can try a hotwire too?

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
Weasels are smaller than a rat - skinnier, anyway. I don't think a strand of electric will do it. Maybe if you get the electric netting, so the whole thing is hot? They can climb, and can get through very small openings (less than 1").

 

[southerndesert]

If you do a google search on "trapping weasels" you will get some very good options that actually work very well.... Sorry for the loss and good hunting.

 

[theFox]

Google weasel box, then have at it.

Make certain your coop has no holes larger than 1/2 inch and if it has a dirt floor time to mix some concrete.

 

[woodmort]

Any hole big enough to allow a mouse entrance will allow a weasel to gain access. They can be trapped using one of their victims as bait, The fortunate thing is they are very territorial so getting rid of one should eliminate the problem for a while.