Looking for info on mink

[Trish1974]

I live on 18 1/2 acres most of which is wooded river bottom. As you can imagine I have about every predator known to man. Being that, I have made some upgrades to my run, covered larger fence openings and completely surrounded the run in electric fence. There are still some smaller openings in the bottom part of the fence (1"x3") behind the two bottom rows of electric polytape. The only predator I now fear is mink, as I've heard they can fit through a 1" opening. The river is about a third of a mile behind my house with a marsh in between. I have seen mink in the river but never up on the high ground where my house and barn is situated.

I've tried internet searches on mink behavior. One site says they only hunt during the day, yet I've read of nightly mink attacks here on BYC. I've read *this* only to be contradicted by *that*. So I was hoping someone here that has had real life experiences with mink can give me the true scoop on how and when they hunt, how to deter them, etc. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I read a mink cannot catch a full grown chicken during the day. True or false? I am mostly concerned about my flock during the day in their run, as nothing other than a bear could break in their coop. My run is large... 600 sq ft. for 7 hens. Thank you in advance.

 

[centrarchid]

Mink will follow moist corridors up through open fields. I do not think they hunt only at night. They are not able to go through 1" openings, that is an ability of the their smaller relatives the weasels. Even the little weasel can catch a full grown chicken and kill it.

Mink are important in my fish culture ponds as they help control muskrats. They will sometimes take fish from cages is lid not tight. My control efforts involve trapping that is done some distance from where chickens are kept. That means it is not targeted.

My dogs deal with mink very well but that is not god option for everyone.

I would work on mink proofing the coop and run using the extremes of hardware cloth.

 

[Folly's place]

Me too! Weasels, and maybe mink, are everywhere, and will kill ALL your birds in one sitting if they can. Night time attacks are the worst, when the birds are totally helpless, so having their coop very secure is #1. Then any run upgrades are worth the effort, but having the flock in a safe coop at night is the most important thing. Mary

 

[Trish1974]

Thank you both very much. I have considered asking some of my hunter friends if they want to trap mink, though I know its impossible to kill them all. I've also considered a dog, but I have had an altercation with a neighbor where I had to shoot his dog that he would not keep off my property (trust me, it was completely justified). I'm sure he'd jump at the chance to retaliate.

There is a 3-4 hour window during the weekdays where no one is home to supervisor the flock. Would putting a radio out by their run during that time deter them at all? I do plan to eventually cover every opening in the run with hardware cloth, but dang that stuff is expensive!

 

[Folly's place]

I wouldn't count on sound effects or flashing lights to deter predators for any time at all!
Mary

 

[Sandy D123]

I live on 18 1/2 acres most of which is wooded river bottom. As you can imagine I have about every predator known to man. Being that, I have made some upgrades to my run, covered larger fence openings and completely surrounded the run in electric fence. There are still some smaller openings in the bottom part of the fence (1"x3") behind the two bottom rows of electric polytape. The only predator I now fear is mink, as I've heard they can fit through a 1" opening. The river is about a third of a mile behind my house with a marsh in between. I have seen mink in the river but never up on the high ground where my house and barn is situated.

I've tried internet searches on mink behavior. One site says they only hunt during the day, yet I've read of nightly mink attacks here on BYC. I've read *this* only to be contradicted by *that*. So I was hoping someone here that has had real life experiences with mink can give me the true scoop on how and when they hunt, how to deter them, etc. Any info you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I read a mink cannot catch a full grown chicken during the day. True or false? I am mostly concerned about my flock during the day in their run, as nothing other than a bear could break in their coop. My run is large... 600 sq ft. for 7 hens. Thank you in advance.

I have a 250 pound dog that guards my chickens and I think that you need to get a guard dog for your chickens !As long as you keep your dog on your property then there's no problem with your neighbor and you can tell him if he shoots your dog you will sue him! Dogs are the best protectors, especially caucasian ovcharka! BIG DOG raised from pup so he knows his job! But if you do decide to get a dog for protecting your animals look into it and get one that the breed protects live stock. Not the herding breed or the hunting breed, a protective breed

 

[Folly's place]

Guard dogs can be very effective, BUT they take a couple of years to train, must be fenced on your property, need to work in pairs (nobody's awake all the time!), and are the most expensive way to protect your flock. Hardware cloth and electric poultry fencing will be way less expensive!!! Mary

 

[Sandy D123]

Guard dogs can be very effective, BUT they take a couple of years to train, must be fenced on your property, need to work in pairs (nobody's awake all the time!), and are the most expensive way to protect your flock. Hardware cloth and electric poultry fencing will be way less expensive!!! Mary

Hi Mary, if you get a dog that is bred to guard as in the Caucasian Orvcharka, it is their instinct to guard they don't have to be trained to guard. They will guard the family they will guard the chickens they will guard the dogs they will guard the horses and sheep and anything else you have on your property they are nothing but guard dogs they are good family pets but they are not friendly to strangers. But they can be wonderful pets. I know a girl that has one that's a-year-old and she has horses and that dog is great around the horses. I live in town and I have 20 chickens, and my guard dog watches them like watching TV! Nothing comes into my yard day light or dark. And he's part of my Family but he still prefers outside. He is WORTH the expense! But all need to follow their now way. CO is not for everyone. They guard sheep and prisoners in Poland and Russi

 

[Ranitameya]

Dogs can be awesome, but be aware that if they're not raised with birds, they often see them as prey. Our Cu (a Shepherd/Retriever mix) was wonderful with our flock; we never had a problem with any predator setting foot on our property until about 2 weeks after he passed away, last summer. Then a mink showed up. They can squeeze into shockingly small spaces. They hunt constantly (day or night) because their bodies are unable to store fat, and they have high metabolisms. They are smart, fast, vicious, and tenacious. They tend to be territorial, so except for a mother with young (or during the spring when they're seeking mates) there won't usually be more than one in a given area. We tried numerous different deterrents, traps & lures to no avail. The boys were finally able to shoot it after multiple attempts, but by then it had brutally killed 2 of our chickens, and maimed a duck. The duck was saved in the nick of time when we heard the commotion in the coop. It had bent the chicken-wire from the edge of the wall, and gnawed through the wood of the floor. It was biting her head & face when we threw the door open and she was lucky to have only lost an eye. I therefore believe the hardware cloth to be a worth-while investment.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Mink are EXTREMELY territorial. Depending on the sex of the mink and the food supply of the minks' territory, a mink will occupy a territory of anywhere from 5 acres up to several thousand acres. While they like to forage along the banks of streams, mink are not strictly aquatic. In the past I have suffered loses to mink without a river or significant stream anywhere near. I know that the varmint was a mink because the evidence was waiting for me the next morning in a steel trap.