Help I have a Weasel!

[Hamiam]

I live in Canada! In order to have a firearm I would need to take a course and get a license, and give more money to the government. My sister and brothers have their license but I have never had a need to use the gun.
No bears in the area that I live, mostly deer, coyote, and smaller predators like coon, possum, weasels, skunk etc. I have heard rumors of badger sighting but haven't seen any myself and am not sure if they actually are around here.

Yikes! I had no idea you had to jump thru hoops to get a firearm to protect your family & livestock in Canada. Here in Texas you do have to go to class & pay to get a license to carry a handgun in public. Here recently the law was passed that you no longer have to conceal it.

 

[Howard E]

If you have a weasel doing damage, best way to trap it is to use a rat trap inside a weasel box. A ton of youtube videos explaining these.
Do go to the trouble of building a weasel box. If you have one, you will have another someday, so the box won't be a one time shot.
As for the coop.......anything larger than an inch......they can get in. They also climb and dig so your coop has to be tight on all 6 sides.

Question for the OP.......do you also have evidence or rats and/or mice in your coop?

 

[Leaguinea]

I do have an ongoing problem with rats, although I think the weasel has cleared most of them out of the barn where the chickens are and has sent the rats into the dairy barn. (I see them mostly over there)
I have set live traps with no luck yet.. I have purchased the materials for the weasel boxes and rat traps that were suggested, and I am making those today. I will also spend the weekend clearing as many hidey places up as I can find and attempting to proof the hen house better. Wish me luck, this guy is a slippery weasel.

 

[Howard E]

The reason I asked about rats and mice is if you look at information provided by state fish and game agencies, they claim weasels are not a big concern to people growing chickens. Really? Tell that to someone who has been wiped out by one.

But then you read between the lines and find out more. They claim that 90% plus of what a weasel eats on a daily basis is rodents.......rats, mice, gophers, moles, etc. In that arena, they are one of natures most potent and effective predators of these rodents. So why chickens? Most probably reason is that a chicken house, with spilt feed, etc, is a magnet for rats and mice, so you get a large population of them living in and around the birds. That large population of rodents is what attracts the weasels.....a target rich environment....... but weasels being the way they are, they quickly transition to the birds and kill them too. And that is kill them.......all of them.......but they may not eat any of them......just kill them. It is what they do and is their signature. A bunch of dead birds with bites to the back of the neck and maybe small holes beneath the wings (where they dug in their toes to hang on and ride the back of the struggling victim).
But best way to prevent a weasel attack in the first place is to keep an eye on the rodent problem and get on top of that when you find you have them. They are built to go into tunnels so can go through holes as small as a rat can......and can climb and dig too....so are a formidable predator once they get going. One of the best at what they do......meaning the worst.

 

[Leaguinea]

The reason I asked about rats and mice is if you look at information provided by state fish and game agencies, they claim weasels are not a big concern to people growing chickens. Really? Tell that to someone who has been wiped out by one.

But then you read between the lines and find out more. They claim that 90% plus of what a weasel eats on a daily basis is rodents.......rats, mice, gophers, moles, etc. In that arena, they are one of natures most potent and effective predators of these rodents. So why chickens? Most probably reason is that a chicken house, with spilt feed, etc, is a magnet for rats and mice, so you get a large population of them living in and around the birds. That large population of rodents is what attracts the weasels.....a target rich environment....... but weasels being the way they are, they quickly transition to the birds and kill them too. And that is kill them.......all of them.......but they may not eat any of them......just kill them. It is what they do and is their signature. A bunch of dead birds with bites to the back of the neck and maybe small holes beneath the wings (where they dug in their toes to hang on and ride the back of the struggling victim).
But best way to prevent a weasel attack in the first place is to keep an eye on the rodent problem and get on top of that when you find you have them. They are built to go into tunnels so can go through holes as small as a rat can......and can climb and dig too....so are a formidable predator once they get going. One of the best at what they do......meaning the worst.

So the weasel is a 2-edge sword, he is good for rodent control but he also slaughters the fowl...
The chickens and guineas mean more to me than the rats so I will try my best to get rid of the weasel, but seeing that the rat population will most likely attract more weasels I will up the number of bait stations I have and see if I can eliminate them as well.