{graphic Pics!!} - What Did This???!!!!

[GreatPyrLover]

I have had several killed over the past two months...some were locked in the coop missing their heads and then some were just gone with a pile of feathers in the yard...it would get them before I locked them in at night...I swear it was watching my house!!!! We set a trap and the same night we set it we caught a raccoon.....of course we killed him...now fast forward a month or so and I have another one dead in the locked coop without a head, came home the other night and had a big raccoon in the yard again.....I do think your is a weasel b/c of the small hole, mine is definitely a raccoon......it makes me so MAD for something to get mine!!!!!!!!

 

[Inkheart]

My friend had exactly the same issue - was a mink- minks and weasels are known for going at the neck and decapitating. They can fit into a hole that is the size of a hot dog - very smart and will come back if you dont find the holes and close up the ones they have made . They are most definitely in Ohio

 

[Inkheart]

Quote:
Sorry double post - didnt take pics - but was live trapped - pretty mink - mean mean mean - and they are right a small creek runs by his land and the research stated they will go up and down the waterway looking for food

 

[luvchickens]

I have the same problems with ducks. It is pulling the head out the fence and eating the head off or biting the neck. Do you think it is a weasel? I set some body traps on the inlet and outlet of the pond. Any other tips for catching (killing) it?

 

[Inkheart]

Quote:
Totally a weasel or mink - that is what i found a body stuck in the fence with out its head - we set a live trap and caught it with cat food. They seem to like to play with their food a bit.

 

[elevan]

Open season for mink / weasels for trapping and hunting starts next week in Ohio. I've got a friend who is gonna come set some traps and see if he can catch it. I've had no luck so far.

I think I'm gonna build a smaller coop this weekend to put my girl in and make sure that it has hardware cloth on all sides - including the floor. I'll let my friend set some traps in the current coop as well as around the pond and wherever else he thinks would be good. Then I'll add a concrete floor to that coop.

Thank you everyone for your condolences. Lucky is doing well. I think what I miss most about the rest of the flock is feeding time in the barn. Their door to the run looked into the feed room and I would have 11 chickie faces pressed to the door while I prepared dinner for the other farm animals. That is when I would toss them their scratch or BOSS. It's just not the same without them.

 

[Chicky Tocks]

Another thing you might want to do is to bury some 1/4 to 1/2 inch hardwire cloth about 3 inches deep to cover the bottom of your run. They won't be able to dig under and reach up out of the holes any longer. You'll most likely not be able to make them extinct in your area.

 

[chickens_13]

Sorry for your loss. Highly likely it was a snake or snakes. Racoons don't go underground, but they would chew on the heads if they could reach the birds. Weasels? Probably not. Moles and gophers are not known to attack other animals. We've found large holes in the ground in our chicken run also, but we have three guineas that mingle with the chickens. Snakes don't last very long in there. Our cat also prowls the run when the chickens are in the coop.

Badgers or wolverines up there? They could easily be the predators, though I would expect even more damage from them.

 

[elevan]

Quote:
Thanks. I definitely know I won't be able to make them extinct in my area. Actually from what the department of natural resources for Ohio says, there is a "bumper crop" of them in Ohio this year. But...I would "feel better" thinking that I got the one that made my birds their dinner.

 

[elevan]

Quote:
The holes were not large. And I do not believe that snakes would massacre 10 birds in that fashion. Since it happened I have done plenty of research...the behavior and habits of mink seem to fit pretty much 100% with what I encountered in my coop/ run.