Look what we caught in our trap....

[UThobbyfarmer]

The little guy has been dispatched. It had to be done but still makes me sad. Glad my husband was around to handle that part.

Oddly enough we have 1 hen that made it. I have no ideas where she bunkered down. She look completely unscathed. Maybe she just stayed put on the roost instead of running around panicking? She's an Olive egger. 2nd generation from our farm. Not exactly sure what to do with 1 lone hen. Get her a buddy and regroup next spring when we've built something stronger (or fortified existing coop)? Give her away hoping they'll keep her safer? I'll have to think on this a few days before making a decision.

 

[Howard E]

Good information.

Belief by some is that rodent predators like weasels, minks, snakes, owls, skunks and perhaps many others are initially drawn to our chicken coops by the rodents, but being opportunistic, will easily transition to killing birds instead. If so, another good reason to keep rats and mice in check.

Multiple kills with damage to heads and necks, and the birds piled up (vs scattered randomly about) is a signature move that points to minks or one of the cousins. Victims are killed by bites to the back of the neck at the base of the skull......severing the spine. Once they do that, it's not hard to rip the head clean off if the victim is still flailing about.

A lot of fish and game literature on minks suggests they do not go on "thrill kill" sprees.......instead killing only one or two at a time (as opposed to weasels which do keep on killing). There is plenty of evidence on BYC to suggest otherwise with minks too. Related, the piling up of the victims is a form of caching, so it is expected they may tend to return to the scene of the crime to dine. A good reason to do as you did and use body parts as bait.

 

[Howard E]

PS: Don't mean to sound so callus, but while others tend to focus on condolences, I focus on learning and results.....to as to help folks avoid similar attacks....or at least recognize what is going on so they can stop the carnage as you were able to do.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

So sorry for your loss!
Good thing that you dispatched the mink or weasel, somebody has released a raccoon in my area and because it knows about traps now, i can't trap it anymore. It is lurking around at night, trying to break into my duck house and the storage shed with the food.
Don't blame yourself! - Minks and weasels are the stuff of my nightmares because they will find a way into the coop, sooner or later and then …


Your lone survivor: I would keep her, try to get her a buddy so she won't feel lonely. And maybe she can share her experiences with your new flock and teach them how she survived. It is always good to have an experienced hen in the flock.

 

[Pigpye]

I say keep her and adopt a couple buddies for her for winter !!

 

[ValerieJ]

I would absolutely keep her. Might be hard to find flock mates at this time of year, but not impossible.

 

[Pigpye]

I would absolutely keep her. Might be hard to find flock mates at this time of year, but not impossible.

Unfortunately it's probably easier than youd think may not be the youngest or spriest of the chickens but a buddy is a buddy none the less

 

[roosterhavoc]

Good information.

Belief by some is that rodent predators like weasels, minks, snakes, owls, skunks and perhaps many others are initially drawn to our chicken coops by the rodents, but being opportunistic, will easily transition to killing birds instead. If so, another good reason to keep rats and mice in check.

Multiple kills with damage to heads and necks, and the birds piled up (vs scattered randomly about) is a signature move that points to minks or one of the cousins. Victims are killed by bites to the back of the neck at the base of the skull......severing the spine. Once they do that, it's not hard to rip the head clean off if the victim is still flailing about.

A lot of fish and game literature on minks suggests they do not go on "thrill kill" sprees.......instead killing only one or two at a time (as opposed to weasels which do keep on killing). There is plenty of evidence on BYC to suggest otherwise with minks too. Related, the piling up of the victims is a form of caching, so it is expected they may tend to return to the scene of the crime to dine. A good reason to do as you did and use body parts as bait.

Are you going off of literature you read or do you have any first hand experience with how mink kill and are caught?
Mink will absolutely chew off the heads. So will raccoons and red fox will too. Regardless of what the books say first hand experience trumps it all.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That is definitely a mink. I'm here to attest that they will go on killing sprees and take everything in a building. In my case they didn't bother piling up the carcasses and caused no visible damage. They were just dead and nothing eaten.
My family has raised chickens here or within a mile of here at the old homestead since the 1870s. We never had an issue with or even saw a mink.
About 6 years ago Walmart built a store 3/4 of a mile from my house as the crow flies. In the process, they cut about 80 acres of old growth forest along the creek at the bottom of the hill. Within a couple weeks, the attacks started and I was trying to figure out how, what I thought were raccoons, were getting in. It soon became clear the culprit/s weren't raccoons. In less than a week I lost about $3,000 worth of birds. Each night they got into another building and killed everything inside. I installed a baby monitor in one of the remaining buildings and was awakened by carnage. I ran out and was able to stop it after it had only killed half the birds. That was when I realized they can get into an opening as large as an inch. There was a gap above the concrete floor at the base of the door. I fixed that and hadn't lost another bird for a couple weeks. But every other building was invaded over time. One had no opening over 1/2" but after losing every bird in that building I found a small gap where the bottom of the siding had pulled away from the sill plate.
That experience almost got me out of the chicken business.
To try to salvage the rare genetics I cut out eggs from some of the hen's and it took me a week to burn all the carcasses.
I've killed 3 mink but I'm not naïve enough to think they are no longer around.
Those losses set back my breeding program by many years.

 

[ValerieJ]

Unfortunately it's probably easier than youd think may not be the youngest or spriest of the chickens but a buddy is a buddy none the less

Hey, a buddy is a buddy, right?