Look what we caught in our trap....

[blackandtan]

Thanks for your comments @itsasmallfarm, it’s true trappers don’t need to give the antis more ammo than they already have.
That’s also why people (trappers) don’t post specifics of how to set traps and where to get them - I cringe at the thought of an inexperienced person picking up and setting a 330 on their own - yikes!

 

[gimmie birdies]

Meyers is sending me eggs in Feb., and I have some other farm friends that can provide me with 2 extra breeds I want... I did facebook friend a lady from OR and may get eggs from her also, three good reasons farm. Really pretty eggs.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

Thanks for your comments @itsasmallfarm, it’s true trappers don’t need to give the antis more ammo than they already have.
That’s also why people (trappers) don’t post specifics of how to set traps and where to get them - I cringe at the thought of an inexperienced person picking up and setting a 330 on their own - yikes!

thank you.

 

[Building Bridges]

Thank everyone. This is a coop we've had for 7 years. This was the first time I've lost anything inside a locked coop. It was heartbreaking. I really thought they were safe. This one is going sting awhile.

So sorry this happened! It's heartbreaking

 

[Building Bridges]

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.

That's a nightmare story!!! Poor birds...poor you! I will never forget this!