Every single one of my hens slaughtered :(

[erinlee]

Well nothing caught in the trap last night

I was so hoping to find the culprit in there this morning.

 

[7L Farm]

Quote:
Keep after the varmit. I usually wear gloves when I'm fooling with my trap. If you don't it takes a day to get the human scent off the trap.

 

[24279102]

Sorry for your loss - especially when they are supposed to be enjoying their night sleep ! I get angry when the predators come around - but after all they are just doing what they do. But dogs running loose where there is a leash law really chaps me. The other day I saw 3 dogs running across the back yard and the lead dog had one of my new white Brahmas in it's mouth. I ran out yelling at them but thought she was a goner. One of the other Brahmas was injured but not badly. Then two hours later she was back ! I guess they dropped her when I yelled and she hid. I'm going to start leaving a baited trap out every night. Any ideas what size I should get ?

 

[ChicwannaB]

Quote:
people dont' care about "laws" until something affects them personally in a bad way, then of course they'll expect the cops to come running to help them out. see, it's okay to have chickens outside the law, but when an unleashed dog runs thru and kills them what recourse do they have, expect the law to come help them out? I don't think soooooooooo.
when I was living out in Kansas I had a baby rat terrier who'd just had her surgery (spay) and she was setting on my lap on the front porch of the house. Guy comes by on a bicycle with a big dog running at his side, unleashed. It saw my puppy and came running into MY yard snarling and growling, which caused my CHOW to bolt thru the screen door and chase the dog and the bike rider down the street. The whole time the guy was yelling at ME, "I'll see you in court about that dog" I told him to bring it on. It was HIS who started it, unleashed of course.
People get mad at ME cause Im not sympathetic to their breaking the law with their chickens, but I always remember when that happened to me so thats alot of why I feel that way about it.
By the way I never heard from that guy on the bike.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Quote:
Keep after the varmit. I usually wear gloves when I'm fooling with my trap. If you don't it takes a day to get the human scent off the trap.

My trapping buddy tells me the same thing. But here, my scent means absolutely nothing to raccoons and opossums. I could rub my scent all over anything and then urinate on it and they would still come.

There's 4 kinds of weasels in North America, the smallest is the Least Weasel, ferocious, powerful and tiny.
Where do you live?

ETA
I see you're in Michigan, they definitely live there. They're about 7 inches long and about an inch tall so they can get in tiny holes.
The good thing is they have a small home range(about 2 acres) so if you continuously trap, you'll clear them out.
They can kill things 10 times their size and kill way more than they can eat. So he will probably come back to eat what he has killed.
I'd put one of the carcasses in the trap in the coop.

 

[ChicwannaB]

Quote:
people dont' care about "laws" until something affects them personally in a bad way, then of course they'll expect the cops to come running to help them out. see, it's okay to have chickens outside the law, but when an unleashed dog runs thru and kills them what recourse do they have, expect the law to come help them out? I don't think soooooooooo.
when I was living out in Kansas I had a baby rat terrier who'd just had her surgery (spay) and she was setting on my lap on the front porch of the house. Guy comes by on a bicycle with a big dog running at his side, unleashed. It saw my puppy and came running into MY yard snarling and growling, which caused my CHOW to bolt thru the screen door and chase the dog and the bike rider down the street. The whole time the guy was yelling at ME, "I'll see you in court about that dog" I told him to bring it on. It was HIS who started it, unleashed of course.
People get mad at ME cause Im not sympathetic to their breaking the law with their chickens, but I always remember when that happened to me so thats alot of why I feel that way about it.
By the way I never heard from that guy on the bike.

Are the Brahmas going to be alright? I have 2 Light Brahmas and they lay the BIGGEST eggs, often double yolkers

 

[1muttsfan]

Hi erin, still thinking about you

There are several different weasels, the smallest is the least weasel, about the size of a large chipmunk. They go up to about ferret size. All are cabable of killing chickens.

Although a rooster is great at sounding the alarm, they are not equipped either physically or mentally to protect their hens from serious predators.

 

[spacecowgirl]

I am so sorry. That truly is devastating. But, you are not a bad chicken mom!! I agree with everyone else that you should not be beating yourself up over this.

I suggest you invest in some traps and see if you can't get rid of whatever did this.

 

[Carrie Lynn]

Were your chickens left whole?
Sorry to ask, but they can help identify the predator.
I am so sorry this happened to you.

 

[jeepguy982001]

sry for your loss. i have heard of people using those red blinking "predator eyes" they have some on amazon for like 15 bucks. I've never used them but then again i have a beagle/basset hound mix who will wake me and probably half the neighbor hood up if something comes in the yard at night.