Chickens under attack!!

[wildwestcoast]

My new flock was attacked by a mink in broad daylight, middle of the afternoon. I heard the commotion and came running..pepper my barred EE was screaming her head off. I caught her and put her in the coop. I found my other EE, my svart hona and my bantam black orp hiding in a corner or my yard and cooped them as well. Two missing..one more bantam black orp and my bantam blue orp. I found them and it was too late. The mink is still running around my yard. He is very bold. He cant get in my coop. I have watched him try and have chased him off a few times. Now what?? How do I get rid of him for good?!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Gun.

 

[wildwestcoast]

Gun.

I wish I had one right now!!

 

[50-45-1]

I had one weasel kill 5 of my chickens one night. He entered my coop thru a hole just a little bigger than a quarter.
I patched the hole. Set up my baby monitor so i could lisfen for him to come back the next night.
I wired a piece of one of the chickens he had killed in the back of a havaheart trap, sat it right outside the coop, and around 11:30 that night he was back scatching to get in. When he could not find a way in, he went for the piece of chicken and i caught him. His next stop was to the bottom of my 55 gallon rain barrell, trap and all.
You must catch him. He will come back.
Good luck, and sorry about your chickens.

 

[wildwestcoast]

Thank you for the info. I best looking into a trap then. I lost my first flock three weeks back. I had had them for over three years with no attacks. I foolishly thought it had moved on. I just got new birds I will keep the survivors caged up until I am sure I have gotten rid of all the mink.

 

[wildwestcoast]

I have ordered a trap it should arrive in a week. I have a small predator proof run 3ft×6ft attached to the coop that the girls will have to make do with for the time being. No more ranging! Any ideas on bait for the trap?

 

[50-45-1]

Something raw and bloody and fresh. To bad you have to wait so long, he may be out there now. Make sure to let us know how this turns out. I wish you good luck with your traping!

 

[NoFlyBackFarm]

This'll sound awful but bait it with raw chicken, try to find the bloodiest you can find at the store. I caught a skunk with eggs. You could try that to.

 

[wildwestcoast]

Something raw and bloody and fresh. To bad you have to wait so long, he may be out there now. Make sure to let us know how this turns out. I wish you good luck with your traping!

I'm sure he is out there still. I watched him climb on the coop and small run trying to get in. I have it all done in hardware cloth so he was out of luck.

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[NoFlyBackFarm]

That's cool. Be mindful you could catch stray cats or even raccoons in the live trap so be careful.