Just had a stoat attack!

[Miss Lydia]

Wish the gamekeeper would hurry up and come!, i have just had to sit up there for four hours in the freezing cold!, i let thme out then just when i was about to leave i turned around to look at them and saw the stupid stoat running up the field!!! and also it wasnt just the orpington to get attacked it was the first hen too so now she has hardly any feathers left the poor girl!, i think my young cockerel saved them because there is a few of his feathers in their big pacthes of them on the ground. Also he loves his mother so he would and when the hen that started this thread off went into the woods i went to get her because i wanted them to stay together and when i picked her up she squaked and the cockerel came running to see what was happening!

Johnn I believe I'd keep the up till the game keeper get the traps set up, the stoat is not going to give up you know that.

 

[Johnn]

Johnn I believe I'd keep the up till the game keeper get the traps set up, the stoat is not going to give up you know that.

I know it wont give up!!, cant wait for it to be trapped im sick of it!

 

[Johnn]

I know they are very skilled to kill a hen, but this one has attacked the same hen twice and the hen is really ill and week and it still hasnt managed to kill her :/! i wonder what it eats in the wild if it cant take down a ill henafter two attempts :/

 

[Johnn]

If its been back tonight, they will probablies just get let out a couple of hours a day when i can supervise untill the stoat has been trapped.

 

[Miss Lydia]

I know they are very skilled to kill a hen, but this one has attacked the same hen twice and the hen is really ill and week and it still hasnt managed to kill her :/! i wonder what it eats in the wild if it cant take down a ill henafter two attempts :/

The stoat could be young or sick, it probably will eventually kill one it's working on it. I hope the game warden gets the traps set up, the only problem is usually there are more than one stoat,weasel, etc we have to always be on the alert.

 

[Johnn]

The stoat could be young or sick, it probably will eventually kill one it's working on it. I hope the game warden gets the traps set up, the only problem is usually there are more than one stoat,weasel, etc we have to always be on the alert.

I know :/, adleast this one is taking its time so i have time to get it!

 

[janinepeters]

The stoat could be young or sick, it probably will eventually kill one it's working on it. I hope the game warden gets the traps set up, the only problem is usually there are more than one stoat,weasel, etc we have to always be on the alert.

Or maybe it's one of the two smaller weasel species, perhaps the smallest. I don't know where the OP is located, but there are 3 species in the US, each with a distinct range. The smallest, the least weasel, is tiny, and a chicken would be an enormous prey for it. It (all three species actually) usually eats mice and voles. As Centrarchid said, it probably came initially for rodents (perhaps there are mice in the coop), but then found these huge defenseless hens sitting pretty.

From what I know about them, they are solitary, except for female with young during breeding season, which is well past. However, if one is trapped and killed, and there are still mice in your coop, it might not be long before another finds you.

 

[Johnn]

As far as i know there is no mice, the other day i forgot to put the feeders in at night and all the food was still there :/, and for everyone wondering why i dont stoat proof my "run" this should answer your question, considering this is less than quater of it:

 

[centrarchid]

Johnn,

Regardless of the species of stoat / weasel, I think you can resolve this pretty easily if critter comes up in the open. A small caliber rifle or even a BB gun can be very effective. Even better would be a dog that a neighbor might allow you to borrow. My dogs are not bred for it but when a weasel or mink visits the dogs catch them with ease and gusto. Obviously you may have to confine birds if dog also a threat but dog can be managed. An adult cat would also deal with weasel / stoat very well.

Are the birds being attacked after dark? If yes, then move them to another location. I would rather put birds in burlap sacks every night than have them attacked with such regularity.

 

[Poultry Couture]

They attack at dusk