Ferrets? Should I be concerned?

[sunlitmoonlight]

I would be VERY careful, they are deadly with chickens.

One night, a ferret squeezed his way through a hole (that was as small as a bottletop) in the chicken coop and killed my entire flock of chickens (15). He then drank their blood .... When I opened up their house in the morning, what an awful sight. They must have had a terrible death as there was blood all over the house; the walls, the roof, just everywhere. Lo and behold, there he lay, on the floor, cuddled up in the straw, fast asleep. Be very aware of ferrets - they are deadly with chickens.

 

[Jane Southern]

Ferrets kill chickens! I think it should be illegal to keep them as pets.

In 8 years we had our chickens wiped out three separate times, one time killing a half dozen hens and 22 out of 30 4-month-old ducklings. Ferrets have litters of up to 8 and come hunting in families. The most we have trapped at one time was 7 in 10 days after they murdered our chickens. They may have a long route of up to 35 km/22 miles embedded in their memory and visit every few months. They can get through seemingly impossible places. They don't kill to eat. They love to kill! They kill by biting the chicken or duck in the back of the neck and they will leave them in a pile. Sometimes they drag them by the neck and try to get them through 2" chickenwire which we no longer use. Ducks are "sitting ducks" and helpless. Ferrets even scare chickens off the roost and kill them. We think it was a Ferret which seriously injured our big 13 pound cat, a great hunter in his own right once, and caused a bad abscess on his head. Ferrets are very vicious!

Stoats are a smaller version of a ferret and also kill chickens. We were advised by a woman who had a flock of about 50 hens that hedge hogs kill chickens as well. Rats also kill chickens. Some of these predators will leave your chickens alone and just "farm" your eggs.

We keep our present four hens in a completely enclosed run. Fortunately we have effective traps and Ferrets, Stoats, Rats and Hedgies are not protected in our area. We have experimented and the best bait is tuna hung in a small bit of plastic or some chicken meat. An egg can also be used although tuna is the first choice. If you use a live trap and catch a predator you can put the whole cage in a trash bag up to the exhaust on a gasoline powered (not diesel) car and kill it in minutes.

There is also a .22 shell which contains very small shotgun pellets which is effective at killing ferrets if you have one in sight but can also kill your chickens and blow a big hole around 6" in size in the side of your cage wall. We hate ferrets and believe it should be illegal to keep them as pets. You cannot breed out their vicious predatory nature.

 

[Greg in Carpinteria]

Ferrets kill chickens! I think it should be illegal to keep them as pets.

They actually are illegal to possess in California (with good reason) and must be smuggled in from out of state.

 

[Teery]

They actually are illegal to possess in California (with good reason) and must be smuggled in from out of state.

Yep..I think most people bring them in from AZ and NV.

 

[marktoo]

Although there is an estimated 500,000 ferrets in California they are illegal to own here & Hawaii. Unless you're licensed breeder it's illegal to have a ferrets capable of breeding. People that own them here insist that they are not capable of surviving more than a few days in the wild & their hunting instincts have been bred out. DF&G Insists that they are capable of surviving in the wild & could possibly form breeding colonies, wreaking havoc on native species. Attempts to have them legalized here have failed. My Daughter dragged 2 home from Canada when she came home from school. They were here for about a year before she took them to Florida. I think they're the most fun small animal you can have, If they were legal here I would probably get a couple. I cannot say for certain that it wouldn't be able to take out your chickens but I don't think so.

 

[animals1981]

most domestic ferrets will be killed or die in days trust me you are okay I can promise you the ferret is not going to get your birds, its no mink. I have had like 5 ferrets they dont retain their good hunting skills the way cats and some dogs do. They are poor survivors. I am shocked at feral ferrets, I know people cross them with polecats to make them real hunters. A domestic ferret will be killed by so many things, they have the worst skills to survive.


I am looking after one now and if he got free he will be killed probably eaten by a feral cat or something. He has no common sense. He will walk right up to a german shepherd and try to play with it. YOu know ferrets have 6 thousand years of domestication with them.

HOw will a pet ferret catch a chicken? they cant run faster than a chicken I know that lol the chicken is wayy too agile.


A mink would kill every single bird though they are the worst bird predators I have ever seen in my life.

 

[jenamh]

I think it should also be noted that there is a bit of a difference in the ferrets/polecats our UK friends have versus the ones here.