Gone without a trace

[cmom]

We're lucky here that we don't have to deal with mink or fisher cats. They can squeeze through very small openings.

 

[Howard E]

Just read that again......the part about multiple other tunnels?

Implication is that is the mink's den? That might be true, but another consideration would be tunnels were made by rats......which is what attracted the mink to your barn in the first place. Mink, weasels and a host of other predators are drawn in to buildings with large infestations of rats, mice, etc. Going forward, I"d want to know which it was and deal with it accordingly.

 

[50-45-1]

The mink, Fisher or weasel will come to your farm to hunt the rats, and keep your rodent problem in check. I would personally rather have a weasel problem than rat infestation. Coops and brooders and can be constructed to be weasel proof with work. Your stall set up sounds like it could be risky to multiple chick killers.
35 chicks in one night, sorry for your loss. That's hard to take.
Rethink your broader before getting more chicks.

 

[IsabelleButterscotch]

Just read that again......the part about multiple other tunnels?

Implication is that is the mink's den? That might be true, but another consideration would be tunnels were made by rats......which is what attracted the mink to your barn in the first place. Mink, weasels and a host of other predators are drawn in to buildings with large infestations of rats, mice, etc. Going forward, I"d want to know which it was and deal with it accordingly.

We have never seen rats, and haven't seen mice in a while. We think it was attracted by the mice and had been eating them. We saw the mink disappear into one of the tunnels.

 

[IsabelleButterscotch]

The mink, Fisher or weasel will come to your farm to hunt the rats, and keep your rodent problem in check. I would personally rather have a weasel problem than rat infestation. Coops and brooders and can be constructed to be weasel proof with work. Your stall set up sounds like it could be risky to multiple chick killers.
35 chicks in one night, sorry for your loss. That's hard to take.
Rethink your broader before getting more chicks.

Thank you. We are currently working on this problem before we get any more chicks!

 

[IsabelleButterscotch]

UPDATE we caught him! And it was a rat, not a mink.

 

[Howard E]

To clarify.....you caught A rat.....not THE rat. Rats are never singular.

So is it possible the animal you thought was a mink ducking down in the tunnel was actually a rat? BTW, rats do kill chicks and do stockpile them. But to get that many in one night means a lot more than one.

 

[IsabelleButterscotch]

To clarify.....you caught A rat.....not THE rat. Rats are never singular.

So is it possible the animal you thought was a mink ducking down in the tunnel was actually a rat? BTW, rats do kill chicks and do stockpile them. But to get that many in one night means a lot more than one.

Yeah, it looked like a mink but we caught it and it was a rat. We think they're coming from our neighbor's wood stack on the side of his barn; we've never seen any more around. Could they be coming from the woodpile? It's uncovered and huge.

 

[Howard E]

If you caught a rat in your barn, the colony is nearby. Probably in the tunnels you found.

And again, you did not catch THE rat. They are always plural.......perhaps dozens or more. If so, you got some work to do.

Assuming rats are present, what could they be living on? You mentioned chicks.....but do you also have adult birds......as in a lot of chicken feed already around?

 

[IsabelleButterscotch]

If you caught a rat in your barn, the colony is nearby. Probably in the tunnels you found.

And again, you did not catch THE rat. They are always plural.......perhaps dozens or more. If so, you got some work to do.

Assuming rats are present, what could they be living on? You mentioned chicks.....but do you also have adult birds......as in a lot of chicken feed already around?

Our feed bins are all on a palate and the tunnels were under that palate, so probably on dropped feed. Our adult chickens are in a coop raised off the ground over a foot so I don't think they're in there. We've never seen evidence.