Lost my beloved guinea to a weasel... one injured, one dead, and one escaped unscathed.

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

An update:
Tiny seems to be on the road to recovery. She didn’t tolerate the bandage and I couldn’t get it to stay on. She is still breathing bad and sometimes open mouth (you can see in the second picture). She is however in much higher spirits, eating, drinking, and acting herself. I let both of them out today and sat with them for a while. She mostly sat down but she walked around a bit. I’ve been spraying her puncture wounds with vetricyn and they’re looking ok. They’re hard to see under her feathers but the one near her chest is pretty large. She’s still putting her head close to her body and has a hunched stance most of the time.

Ever since the ordeal the male (bandit) has been extremely aggressive. I was sitting by tiny and he kept running at my back and pecking me. He has never showed this behavior. I cannot go within 5 feet of him without him attacking me now. It is very upsetting.

I set a trap for the weasel but didn’t catch it. Sneaky little guy!


here’s tiny today when she sat in the sun. Looking ok.

I was wondering how Tiny is doing - go Tiny!!!

 

[SusanMc]

Last night around 12:00pm I heard a commotion. I heard one of the guineas screaming outside my window and knew something was wrong. I had three guineas are a year old. They have free ranged outside every night since they were large enough to move out. They usually roost on the fence or up in my trees at night. I always leave my window at night open so I can hear them need be. Haven’t had an issue till now...
Anyways, after hearing the commotion I immediately ran outside. Right literally 4-5 steps from my deck I saw one of the guineas making strange movements. I ran to it right away to see what was going on. There was a weasel latched on to the guinea by the neck. And a second weasel that had my other guinea. Once I saw it I frantically looked around for a weapon. I found a board and was able to get the first weasel off the neck of the guinea. I was able run inside to grab a weapon and kill the first weasel. The second weasel would not let go of my other guinea, with me standing there it tried to drag the guinea under my deck. I was able to get the guinea away finally and that weasel ran off. Once I got the first weasel off, the first guinea ran to the corner of my lawn. I knew I first had to get this injured guinea (later realized it was peep) in. Things weren’t looking good. I couldn’t find the third guinea (Bandit the male) anywhere. I swiftly moved the injured guinea (the second guinea Peep) inside on a towel. I could tell that it’s injuries were grave so I made the hard decision to leave it be and go try to recover the other two. I knew the first guinea (Tiny) ran to the corner of my yard so I headed that way. I found the first guinea (Tiny) hunched down in the corner of my yard. When I picked up Tiny I could feel blood on my hand. I brought her in as fast as I could. I figured that the third guinea had already been killed so I sat with the second guinea (peep) for a few moments. I saw that the weasel had slashed its artery and poor little peep bled out in a few minutes. Now that I had recovered these two I went out to find the third guinea (Bandit). I found him safe and sound in my neighbors yard. Thankfully he was not injured. I’m thinking the first guinea (Tiny) may have a punctured lung but I can’t tell (keeps pecking me when I get close) it is making a huffing noise and putting its head down. It is still alive as of now and drank some water with electrolyte. Both still seem to be in shock. I will put gloves on and inspect her closely this morning. I’m heartbroken. The whole ordeal lasted less than 20 minutes.
the two live guineas are currently stationed in my shed for recovery. Bandit the male and Tiny the female. I feel so bad that I couldn’t save poor little peep. She was my favorite and was more sociable than the others. She also had white on her wings.

How will I go about catching the escaped weasel? Liver or chicken in a trap? Bait it with the body of the slain guinea?

So a recap one weasel was killed, one w

Last night around 12:00pm I heard a commotion. I heard one of the guineas screaming outside my window and knew something was wrong. I had three guineas are a year old. They have free ranged outside every night since they were large enough to move out. They usually roost on the fence or up in my trees at night. I always leave my window at night open so I can hear them need be. Haven’t had an issue till now...
Anyways, after hearing the commotion I immediately ran outside. Right literally 4-5 steps from my deck I saw one of the guineas making strange movements. I ran to it right away to see what was going on. There was a weasel latched on to the guinea by the neck. And a second weasel that had my other guinea. Once I saw it I frantically looked around for a weapon. I found a board and was able to get the first weasel off the neck of the guinea. I was able run inside to grab a weapon and kill the first weasel. The second weasel would not let go of my other guinea, with me standing there it tried to drag the guinea under my deck. I was able to get the guinea away finally and that weasel ran off. Once I got the first weasel off, the first guinea ran to the corner of my lawn. I knew I first had to get this injured guinea (later realized it was peep) in. Things weren’t looking good. I couldn’t find the third guinea (Bandit the male) anywhere. I swiftly moved the injured guinea (the second guinea Peep) inside on a towel. I could tell that it’s injuries were grave so I made the hard decision to leave it be and go try to recover the other two. I knew the first guinea (Tiny) ran to the corner of my yard so I headed that way. I found the first guinea (Tiny) hunched down in the corner of my yard. When I picked up Tiny I could feel blood on my hand. I brought her in as fast as I could. I figured that the third guinea had already been killed so I sat with the second guinea (peep) for a few moments. I saw that the weasel had slashed its artery and poor little peep bled out in a few minutes. Now that I had recovered these two I went out to find the third guinea (Bandit). I found him safe and sound in my neighbors yard. Thankfully he was not injured. I’m thinking the first guinea (Tiny) may have a punctured lung but I can’t tell (keeps pecking me when I get close) it is making a huffing noise and putting its head down. It is still alive as of now and drank some water with electrolyte. Both still seem to be in shock. I will put gloves on and inspect her closely this morning. I’m heartbroken. The whole ordeal lasted less than 20 minutes.
the two live guineas are currently stationed in my shed for recovery. Bandit the male and Tiny the female. I feel so bad that I couldn’t save poor little peep. She was my favorite and was more sociable than the others. She also had white on her wings.

How will I go about catching the escaped weasel? Liver or chicken in a trap? Bait it with the body of the slain guinea?

So a recap one weasel was killed, one weasel escaped, one guinea was killed, one guinea escaped unscathed, and one guinea was injured.

Hey,

Just going to bed and read this...I am so sorry for your loss. I had a weasel attack, last summer and the dirty beggar killed two of my best Plymouth rocks, and left a third catatonic for a week. We figured the weasels was just stupidly following a rat and happened upon the chickens, Once we took k down the rat population the weasel vanished but not before getting one of my production red pullets, and draining her.
My husband tried to stay up all night waiting for it to return with a shotgun in his hand but to no avail, we also tried baiting it with the body but the weasel didn’t come back, we figured he was full. No problems since we started up the rat trap line.

My heart goes out to you,
Heres a hug

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I was wondering how Tiny is doing - go Tiny!!!

Thanks for thinking of her! I’m hoping she’ll make a full recovery! Things are looking better and I’m optimistic!
Go Tiny go!

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Hey,

Just going to bed and read this...I am so sorry for your loss. I had a weasel attack, last summer and the dirty beggar killed two of my best Plymouth rocks, and left a third catatonic for a week. We figured the weasels was just stupidly following a rat and happened upon the chickens, Once we took k down the rat population the weasel vanished but not before getting one of my production red pullets, and draining her.
My husband tried to stay up all night waiting for it to return with a shotgun in his hand but to no avail, we also tried baiting it with the body but the weasel didn’t come back, we figured he was full. No problems since we started up the rat trap line.

My heart goes out to you,
Heres a hug

Thank you dearly for the condolences. I’m so sorry about your chickens. Thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it! Great idea too. I’ll set out some rat traps and see what I catch. This morning when I went to check the weasel trap I found a mouse in it!

 

[My2butterflies]

I hope you catch it! So glad to see your girl is still doing ok. Hopefully once she fully recovers your male will calm down a bit. I’m sure he is still on edge.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

I hope you catch it! So glad to see your girl is still doing ok. Hopefully once she fully recovers your male will calm down a bit. I’m sure he is still on edge.

Me too! I’m glad too. I hope she will make a full recovery. She seems to be doing ok all things considered.

Yes, I’m really hoping because I’m not sure how to change his behavior. I sat down to clean their pen this morning, he ran at my back with his feet in the air and claws pointed at me. He also tries to jump on me. I’ve had to start wearing a heavy coat, gloves and eye protection to go near them. I’m worried he thinks I harmed peep. I thought maybe he’s scared because I was yelling at the weasel during the attack.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Me too! I’m glad too. I hope she will make a full recovery. She seems to be doing ok all things considered.

Yes, I’m really hoping because I’m not sure how to change his behavior. I sat down to clean their pen this morning, he ran at my back with his feet in the air and claws pointed at me. He also tries to jump on me. I’ve had to start wearing a heavy coat, gloves and eye protection to go near them. I’m worried he thinks I harmed peep. I thought maybe he’s scared because I was yelling at the weasel during the attack.

Oh no! That’s really unfortunate. It does seem likely that he couldn’t see the weasels and he just remembered you and the chaos. I hope he’s able to settle down and trust you again!

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Oh no! That’s really unfortunate. It does seem likely that he couldn’t see the weasels and he just remembered you and the chaos. I hope he’s able to settle down and trust you again!

Yes, I’m quite upset that Bandit associates me with the chaos. I really hope he will settle down and trust me again. He was very docile before the event and liked to sit by me while I was gardening.

 

[FunnyfarmMidwest]

Both Guineas are doing very well. They are free ranging (supervised) again. All but 3 of Tiny’s punctures are healed up. She is breathing better but still not 100%. Glad she is improving though. I’ll get some photos of the sweeties.

Bandit is still extremely aggressive and attacking me. I have to use a towel and wrap him in it to put him in at night.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Both Guineas are doing very well. They are free ranging (supervised) again. All but 3 of Tiny’s punctures are healed up. She is breathing better but still not 100%. Glad she is improving though. I’ll get some photos of the sweeties.

Bandit is still extremely aggressive and attacking me. I have to use a towel and wrap him in it to put him in at night.

Oh Bandit! Come on man and be nice to your savior!