Help...I seem to be losing my whole flock. :(

[DuckLady]

How are things going?

 

[gottsegnet]

Haven't found anything specific. I changed feed though it was a new bag and there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. I bought a new waterer hoping they'll stay out of this one because keeping their old one clean was a full time job. I still have three but there's no way of knowing for sure that it has anything to do w/ any of this w/out actually finding something.

A neighbor said to look more carefully for weasels. She had one kill several of her goslings some time ago and said it can be hard to find the bites. We just had a chick dragged partway through a dog kennel that had two bite marks just under one eye. I thought it was the hens because it happened in the henhouse in broad daylight when the whole place was crawling with hens and chicks and there was no evidence of anything trying to eat it.

I don't really know what to do, but I think I'll pull their tractor up closer to where we keep the beagle tied out. If it is a weasel, it is hunting during the day and maybe our chickens & geese have only been left alone at night because we normally have dogs in the kennel attached to the henhouse over night.

We had a ton of voles and perhaps we haven't had any issues up until now because we are only just now getting the voles under control. Grrr...

 

[GoodEgg]

I don't really know much about weasels, though I've looked for info. I worry about them with the chickens, rabbits, and young geese. My chickens and rabbits are pretty well protected (at least at night -- the idea of weasels hinting in the daytime is discouraging!)

however my young geese are in a house made of 2x3 wire, which of course won't keep out snakes or weasels. What I did was take the vinyl mesh that I use for hawk netting overhead. It has 1/2" squares. I covered all the wire with that and buried the ends a bit. I'm not sure if weasels would chew through it, but if not it should keep them out. It's very inexpensive so I mention it in case it can help?

I hope the dog helps as well I have my geese in a fenced yard used by a dog, since my real concerns are coyotes, raccoons, and the like.

Whatever it is, I hope you don't have any more problems.

 

[gottsegnet]

We have one dog that runs the property and IF it's a weasel, that is probably why there wasn't any more damage. He'd certainly interrupt something if it started, and perhaps the fact he's been retreating the coolness of the house at lunchtime is why this is occurring in the early afternoon?

We have another dog that is a killer. She's a hunting dog and is FAST and aggressive. The only problem is, she'd wipe out my poultry faster than any weasel could hope to. I want to build some nice strong tractors and work with her a bit and maybe at least let her run the property a couple times a day. The kind of weasel that frequents this area most only has a 2 acre range which would mean it could live its whole life on our property. Maybe Pepper can flush it out.