Connecticut!

[littlecritters]

I keep chicken ower 20 years with no problem, this year I lost 67 by mink attack.
Best to keep away all the predator spray around the run with fox urine.

Hi Larry,
This is Tina G. from NY (last summer, my husband and i brought our 3 sick silkies to you). I am stunned to hear of your loss and am very sorry. I can't believe that both you and Beth had mink attacks which devastated your flocks. I hope that this year is a better one and I wish you many healthy hatches!

Thanks to each of your for your concern over the loss of our wonderful little bantams.  As we were gathering up the remaining bodies to take to the lab at UCONN, it became clear we were incorrect in our assessment that it couldn't have been the work of a predator.  There in the back corner was a recently dug tunnel - through three feet of rock and another foot of sand - into the run.  At the opening of the tunnel were three pigeons the animal tried to drag out. 

As for how the three girls in the coop fell prey, we found two very small openings of less than 2" at the very top where one of the rafters connects into the coop.  I have no idea how any animal other than a mouse could have fit through those openings but it did. Only one of the hens appeared injured as was the case with most of the the other birds.  I'm guessing the majority of them died from the stress of the attack.

Anyway, we have learned a very painful lesson.  We will be removing all the sand in our coop and putting in hardware cloth across the entire floor, every square inch, before our two remaining girls who have been safely tucked away in the basement waiting out some broodiness go back out.

Galinha,
I am so sorry to hear of your loss also. It is heartbreaking to lose chickens, especially when you have a small flock and get attached to each one.

 

[new chick 203]

Beth had a mink attack too!? it's so frustrating. if you pros are having trouble, it makes it feel like a bit of an up hill battle for the rest of us.

 

[backyardcelia]

are they minks or fishers or some unknown? i guess i have another predator to add to my list of worries! (should i have any snake concerns, other than egg eating?)

Hello Litchfield Hills... I'm in Sandy Hook... are you looking for any more chickens? I'm asking because I am downsizing my flock and have three really nice partridge rock hens that just started laying last fall... I just have too many and need to downsize. I am going to post them on Craigslist for $15 ea and they will go quickly. Here is a pic of one from today... couldn't get them all together without everyone else crowding in... I have a mixed flock of barneveldors, marans and these guys...

sorry, i just saw this post today... i am not in the market for more at the moment, but i have a funny feeling my future holds many more chickens!!! so perhaps keep me in mind for another time. i am already planning a larger enclosed area... and unless my fowl fancies turn to peacocks, well even then i think i would l still require chickens!
i didn't realise just how much 'stuff' was on craigslist!! i don't have adequate space for more... but again, soon! i would love to know more neighbouring connecticut "chickenistas"
....although, that leads to another Q.,
i have read that we should not meet in the streets, unless we wash down our clothes and shoes and bathe, and.... well, they really do make a big deal of it in the books, but it seems to me, that wherever you buy your feed... isn't it covered with 'mixed chicken cooties'!?
and chicken shows, well that seems like common sense. but what is the deal, is it as extreme as they make it seem- disease/cross contamination?

 

[Galinha]

I know what got my girls her in North Stonington this past week was a weasel. I saw it and given the tiny opening it went through to get from the run into the coop, it couldn't have been the size of a fisher cat or mink.

The run floor is now FULLY lined with hardware cloth and even the 1" holes we cut for heat lamp/heated waterer plugs to go through now have rubber gaskets. Now that we know how small a hole those varmits can get through, we've fully examine our coop and run for any openings greater than one inch.

Oh, and the weasel was too wiley to be caught in any stupid trap we set for him.

 

[ll]

Celia ~ I have been reading so much about minks & weasels that even though our run & coop is 100% hardware cloth over and under, I still walked around it yesterday to make sure everything is up to par.

I keep a pair of shoes/boots (depending on the season) in my car to switch before going into a feed store. If we go to a fair, the bottoms of everyone's shoes are thoroughly washed afterwards.
We also have our own "backyard shoes" kept on a boot tray at the back door.
..and yes we are a family that removes our shoes when we walk in the front door.
Oxine seems wonderful for cleaning!

Edit: Galinha - wow that you saw it! Good job rewiring and good luck!

 

[new chick 203]

Galinha, good job. grass doesn't grow under your feet. I know when we had the predator thing last summer it took us a few days to get the right materials and do all the reinforcements and I really felt uneasy till it was done.

 

[backyardcelia]

i fear that i am foolish thinking my ladies are safe... i was worried about a host of things that go bump in the morning noon and night, but weasels!? they are weaselly!
i am triple checking myself, but i feel like they are like any other thief- if they want it, they'll get in.

and i agree about the shoes off in house (my cats have to walk around the place, after all!!) and i would wash off from a fair (or the mall!) even before i had chickens, lol. i am ALL for PREVENTION being the best remedy! so, i guess i'll just proceed as usual but tell my husband to consider some feed store loafers!

 

[Margitas]

Beth had a mink attack too!? it's so frustrating. if you pros are having trouble, it makes it feel like a bit of an up hill battle for the rest of
us.

Yes Beth get mink attack on November and couple weeks later my birds. Can't wait to warming up little.
Now I hatching the new babies, first hatch was January 1st.

 

[new chick 203]

Glad to hear you are moving foreword.

Yes Beth get mink attack on November and couple weeks later my birds. Can't wait to warming up little.
Now I hatching the new babies, first hatch was January 1st.

 

[new chick 203]

Galinha, is this what your predator looked like?

http://darien.patch.com/articles/fisher-cats-a-small-new-menace-in-northern-fairfield-county