how do you catch a weasel?

[blucoondawg]

Could have been a coon they're known to get hold is them and try to pull them through fences. Sausage could work but when I'm after coon I'll use either sardines or tuna. I have had better luck with tuna I think it smells more.

 

[golfaz]

I lost my whole flock this week, just in one night. I believe it was a weasel, and I am about it catch the bastar*!

I built a trap!

 

[DesertLab]

I haven't let up on him.   I think he laid low yesterday because of the trap setting etc.  He's sly.  I've caught fox, and house cats and have only lost one chicken so far to this guy.  He likes my eggs though.  I was only getting 6-7 eggs a day with 30 hens.  Now I'm gathering eggs every hour or so and production has picked up drastically.  NOW, I just need him!!

On another thread about getting rid of snakes that the folks could not find ..... The person said they got an egg, blew it out and filled it with salt. The egg was gone and they didn't see the snake again. Maybe if you do something similar and put it where the critter can find it.. He will not like your eggs anymore and stop returning. If he is too crafty to be trapped perhaps this could be a plan B by making him not want your eggs.

All the best.

 

[EeyoreD]

Could have been a coon they're known to get hold is them and try to pull them through fences. Sausage could work but when I'm after coon I'll use either sardines or tuna. I have had better luck with tuna I think it smells more.

This. For just about every point (I find sardines work better for me but my coons may be packing crackers to put them on or something

)

I've said this on many threads (but I will continue to say it and I have no affiliation with the company) get a few Duke Dog Proof traps. You can wire them to a tree or wire them to a corkscrew dog tie out. Bait them with fish - sardines or tuna or even mackerel. But the fish bait seems to work best for me. Well until spring/summer when they find randomly laid eggs (my birds are almost entirely pastured) then I bait them with bits of hard boiled eggs. You may need to change your bait up. This year the coons are skirting the fish bait and going for the random eggs laid around. Hard-boiled egg bait in the traps solved that.

golfaz - Awesome that you built a weasel box! But if you have or can get an extra connibear trap the right size and you can find a "highway" it might be useful to lay it in there and disguise it - no bait necessary if you find their normal path. (I haven't done this but my outsourced trappers have)

I'm so sorry about your flock. I haven't lost everything but lost about 80% once so I know how you feel .

After that I realized that part of keeping birds is trapping predators and being ever-vigilant and never getting complacent. Got a reminder of that last night when I went to tuck the chickens into bed later than usual and three of four met me at the door. I should have grabbed the gun then (I will from now on) because it was pretty dark and they should have been well settled. Got to the coop and found a coon IN THE COOP. It didn't kill anyone (thank god) even though there was a chicken on eggs and a duck on eggs. But it ate all the unprotected ones. I ran back to the house for the gun but by the time I got back it was gone.

Needless to say, not complacent anymore - until I am again :-/. Whenever I go into the yard or by the coop around dawn or dusk I will have the rifle with me.

 

[chicka pucella]

That's a bummer. These weasels are tricky. My neighbor was the one who caught the weasels. It turns out it was a family of em. The would come over to my coop for some chicken and them over to his vegetable garden for a salad...well they are gone now. And I have taken extra measures to protect my new flock. Of course new predators have shown up. There is a buzzard that has slipped in early in the morning through the gap between the top of my fence where the wall.. Which is now taken care of. It is a challenge though. Even more so now that I've gotten involved with banty's.

 

[EeyoreD]

It is a bummer and a challenge. An almost constant challenge. And I hear you on the rid yourself of some predators and have new ones show up (I've cleared many coons - now I have fox that were never here before).

Good luck. I've resigned myself to just being ever-vigilant with trapping preds. I don't like it but...

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I lost my whole flock this week, just in one night. I believe it was a weasel, and I am about it catch the bastar*!

I built a trap!

Google how to build a weasel box. If you have any lumber left over Google how to build a mink box. For coons bait a Duke Dog proof trap with marshmallows. Don't forget to dispatch the raccoons.
Good luck!!

 

[Tambo26]

Every morning that I don't have to go to work I sit out with my coffee and let my 3 girls out of the coop. We are still in sort of a fenced in area, just to contain them although they stay right near me the whole time. This morning there was a terrible commotion behind me (I'm in the woods) an I immediately picked up the closest chicken. Right there, not 3 feet away from me, was a weasel who had just caught a chipmunk!! Believe it or not, I've never seen a weasel before. My girls were freaked, I was freaked. My coop is pretty secure but that sucker was pretty small.... I've been frantically scrutinizing every inch of the coop and run looking for any possible weak points. I'm going to buy a pellet or bb gun too.... I'm not going to be able to sleep now!!

 

[jtn42248]

Every morning that I don't have to go to work I sit out with my coffee and let my 3 girls out of the coop. We are still in sort of a fenced in area, just to contain them although they stay right near me the whole time. This morning there was a terrible commotion behind me (I'm in the woods) an I immediately picked up the closest chicken. Right there, not 3 feet away from me, was a weasel who had just caught a chipmunk!! Believe it or not, I've never seen a weasel before. My girls were freaked, I was freaked. My coop is pretty secure but that sucker was pretty small.... I've been frantically scrutinizing every inch of the coop and run looking for any possible weak points. I'm going to buy a pellet or bb gun too.... I'm not going to be able to sleep now!!

First read the thread above your posting and pay attention to the discussion on traps. Now, what kind of wire do you have on your coop/run? I would suggest using a good quality strong 1/4 inch wire (I think they call it fence fabric) and make sure that it goes at least 8-10 inches into the ground all around your coop/run...sort of like a skirt. That way if anything tries to dig under they will hit wire and move on...hopefully. Weasels will climb so don't just use the 1/4 inch wire at the bottom but all the way to the top. Make sure you have your run covered also. As for a gun...pellet/BB gun is only going to sting and run them off for that time, they will return and some predators (raccoon) will just ignore it and go about their business of killing your hens. I once had a raccoon continue to try getting into my coop with 3 22 caliber bullets in him. We finally had to use a shotgun to bring him down. Now, as for traps, if you trap something you need to dispatch it in the trap. Do not attempt to let it go as it will return to plague you and your hens and trying to release some predators can result in you being bit or scratch which can be very dangerous. I suggest you get a good but inexpensive 12 gauge shotgun just for this purpose. Oh, and if you have to use it, make sure the animal is actually dead before you try to move it. A wounded animal is probably 10 times more dangerous than normal.

 

[DesertLab]

Every morning that I don't have to go to work I sit out with my coffee and let my 3 girls out of the coop. We are still in sort of a fenced in area, just to contain them although they stay right near me the whole time.  This morning there was a terrible commotion behind me (I'm in the woods) an I immediately picked up the closest chicken.  Right there, not 3 feet away from me, was a weasel who had just caught a chipmunk!!  Believe it or not, I've never seen a weasel before.  My girls were freaked, I was freaked. My coop is pretty secure but that sucker was pretty small.... I've been frantically scrutinizing every inch of the coop and run looking for any possible weak points.  I'm going to buy a pellet or bb gun too.... I'm not going to be able to sleep now!!

Many folks who are not experienced with firearms do not realise how much of a challenge it is to shoot a target.. A moving one is even harder. If you do not have alot of experience shooting .... Invest the money you would have spent on the gun into securing your kennel. A secure pen will be secure even when you are not home. A gun only works when you are there and watching and waiting.

All the best =)