Killer Weasels/Mink

[shadow82399]

I have been battling an unknown predator since late summer. My coop is over 2 feet of the ground and completely sealed. The fencing for the run around the coop is buried into the ground several inches and I piled logs and rocks around the entire run to deter anything from trying to dig around the edge. Unfortunately, something got in two nights in a row and killed all 13 of my chicks and hens. Both nights they were left with bite marks on the back of their neck and one missing a head.

I found a small area where a weasel could possibly get in (although we live near a pond, so mink is the most likely) and patched it up. I started a new flock of 8 and things seemed to be going well. Until this week. I went out one evening to close the coop to find them all freshly slaughtered. We have been trying all week to bait the animal with first the freshly killed chickens, dead mice, chicken livers, Havahart traps, weasel traps, and metal snap-traps. We cannot seem to sure it back. We found that it dug straight down through the ground and up into the run. The hole was about the diameter of a coke bottle, maybe smaller.

Is there much more I can do? We don't notice many rodents on the property, but are thinking of getting a cat in hopes of it will keep the few we have away, which would hopefully keep this predator away. I have read that radios on talk stations help as well...

This all started after my rooster died- are they generally pretty good at keeping small predators away?

 

[cavemanrich]

Those weasels/minks/and others of similar type can be troublesome for sure. I do not have any suggestions on how to control them.. Only thing I can suggest is to FORT KNOX your coop. It seems the activity is at night.
SOOOOOOO SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS.

 

[Zoomie]

Get some hardware cloth (with small holes, like, 1/4") and put an apron around your coop/run. I like at least 18", nail or staple it to the edge of your coop and lay it on the ground, maybe even bury some of it. That might help. Also keep feed inside, don't leave spilled feed around if you can help it, it brings in mice and that brings in the weasels.

A rooster is no match for a mink or a weasel. It will just create one more body to add to the stack. Mink or weasel are triggered by the motion of living prey; a dead chicken is not too enticing to them. Plus, they are just hard to trap. A good tight coop and run are going to be really useful in keeping them out.

Very sorry for your loss, that really sucks.

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry, and x3 with the others. Re-evaluate your coop and run, and fix every little thing that can be fixed. a deep/ wide skirt to prevent digging, and no openings larger than 1/2" diameter anywhere. You could check with Premier1supplies.com about weasels and electric fencing too. It seems to me that it would be difficult for electric to work, but ask. Howard E has good advice here about electric fencing too.
Mary

 

[pennyJo1960]

I have been battling an unknown predator since late summer. My coop is over 2 feet of the ground and completely sealed. The fencing for the run around the coop is buried into the ground several inches and I piled logs and rocks around the entire run to deter anything from trying to dig around the edge. Unfortunately, something got in two nights in a row and killed all 13 of my chicks and hens. Both nights they were left with bite marks on the back of their neck and one missing a head.

I found a small area where a weasel could possibly get in (although we live near a pond, so mink is the most likely) and patched it up. I started a new flock of 8 and things seemed to be going well. Until this week. I went out one evening to close the coop to find them all freshly slaughtered. We have been trying all week to bait the animal with first the freshly killed chickens, dead mice, chicken livers, Havahart traps, weasel traps, and metal snap-traps. We cannot seem to sure it back. We found that it dug straight down through the ground and up into the run. The hole was about the diameter of a coke bottle, maybe smaller.

Is there much more I can do? We don't notice many rodents on the property, but are thinking of getting a cat in hopes of it will keep the few we have away, which would hopefully keep this predator away. I have read that radios on talk stations help as well...

This all started after my rooster died- are they generally pretty good at keeping small predators away?

I am so sorry for loss of all birds like that how horrible to walk into.. The other folks are right fort knox is one way we have 5 dogs our German Shepard guards at night...
mink or weasels can also kill a cat you buried wire was it chicken wire or hardware cloth please....

 

[lazy gardener]

Agreed with above. A cat is no match for weasel or mink. If you are in an area where you can shoot, that might be one option, though the evil beasties are secretive, as you've found out, and getting a bead on one would be very difficult. I've also heard that they are hard to trap. Have you checked with your local game wardens or ACO for advice??? Your skirt should be buried underground, and at least 18" wide, or buried at least a food deep. Chicken wire will not keep a weasel out. If you can push a quarter through a hole, the weasel can get through. With the size of hole you are describing, it could very well be a mink. Both, as far as I know are good climbers. I've had old timers tell me they don't climb. But have seen video footage of them in trees. So... that tells me that the critters are good climbers.

 

[Naser]

If you buy a game cam, at least it will help you to find what you are up against, another way to trap predators is to put a hen or rooster in very secure small cage with food water and cover from sun and rain, and put the cage against the trap, from my experience watching hens they don't get scared of predators as much as we think, once I saw my hens following a fox through the fence, they were led by the rooster. as live bait you can also use a rabbit or a rat, I mean put up a live rat trap and if you catch a rat, put some food and water in the trap and put it against the predator trap

 

[aart]

The hole was about the diameter of a coke bottle, maybe smaller.

A 2 liter coke bottle or a 6 oz?

 

[lazy gardener]

Naser, I love the idea of the live bait, preferably a rat!!!

 

[Howard E]

Of all the predators to be stuck with, weasels......and that little least weasel in particular......may be one of the worst. They are ferocious killers, which makes them one of nature's most effective means of rodent control. If only they would confine themselves to hunting rats and mice, they would be welcome most anywhere. Unfortunately, they opportunistic and don't discriminate, so once one finds out about your birds, the OP's experience is not uncommon. BTW, fish and game folks claim that weasel attacks on chickens are quite rare. That 90% plus of all they eat and kill are rats, mice and other furry ground based rodents. As such, one reason why some folks may get visited by a weasel is if they have an infestation of rats and mice around their chicken house. Weasels are attracted by the rats and mice, but then find the birds. Moral to that story is if you live in an area that has weasels, and you have rats and mice around your coop, get busy to eliminate the rats and mice else you are courting disaster if you also attract a weasel.

Not sure how well an electric fence would work for weasels. Issue is that the smallest netting still has a 3" horizontal x 3.5" vertical opening......and the lowest is 3 inches off the deck, so a weasel could slip through that with east without getting zapped. You would probably have to lay a board on the ground, then staple the bottom strand....which is not hot......to that to reduce the gap to only a couple inches. Maybe he would try to crawl over the bottom hot wire, in which case he would probably place a foot on it.....but might go through it so fast he would not get zapped. I am probably BYC's biggest advocate of using electric fences to protect our birds, but in this case, I doubt it would help much. But here is a link to such a fence if you want to give it a try:

http://www.kencove.com/fence/detail.php?code=NRCG2

To protect from weasels.....or one of the cousins......you pretty much have to construct a physical barrier. All openings 1 inch in size or less. Preferably less than one inch. What makes it even tougher is they can climb as well as dig....so that pretty much means everything has to be that tight......and that includes a covering on top of the run.

As the OP also found out, burying a vertical fence does not help......which is why it continues to amaze me why folks go to so much work to do so. The apron trick is what is needed. Aprons place the wire horizontal on the ground, as far back as 18 to 24 inches from the vertical wire that forms the run. Predators tend to always try to dig at the base. If an apron is used, they immediately hit that and are defeated. They may cast up and down the line digging again and again, but always the same result. They hit the wire laying flat on the ground and are defeated. They are smart, but not that smart, and never figure out they need to move back a full 2 feet and start their tunnel operation way out there behind them.

Last option if you want to rid yourself of this particular varmint is to use a weasel box. One of the best trapper guys on YouTube is this guy. In this video he shows you how to build a weasel box and in others how to set one. There are tons of others, but a weasel box is the way to go.