Lost our flock

[ivan3]

Sorry for your loss. Your description suggests Mink, to me: http://dnr.state.il.us/orc/wildlife/furbearers/mink.htm

Was your screening .5" hardware cloth? We use double layered over windows and venting secured to frames/walls with wood screws through 1.5" dia. washers (raccoon heavy, here). If you have a live trap you could place that in coop and cover all but the door with an old towel or the like (makes it look more like a den/hollowed section of dead tree) and use some fresh/bloody meat. This setup might be a starting point: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2754962#p2754962

Might put together a weasel box (as has been mentioned) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epykoVZ_ufU

Hope you get whatever it is.

Good luck!

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Weasels are just about everywhere...

http://itech.pjc.edu/sctag/long_tailed_weasel/index.htm

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

Quote:
Weasel tracks have the drag mark...

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2653/4221424142_ac5d797c24.jpg

 

[PineappleMama]

Quote:
Sorry but that sounds like the two legged kind to me. Take the carcasses (you have left?) to a vet and ask them if it was an animal that ripped the throat or a blade. They should be able to tell pretty easily, though you or I might not. If you've got some psycho slaughtering pets the police need to be called in.

Now that all your chickens are gone what will they move onto attacking next to get their 'fix'? SCARY!

Yes, yes I do realize I'm a paranoid nut with an overactive imagination.

 

[Judy]

We found one screen pushed in and thought maybe this was how the predator got in.

IMO, this is your clue that it was not a human. The mink, weasel or whatever simply found another small hole somewhere the second night, knowing there was a meal in there. If this was regular window screen you will need to replace with hardware cloth and be mindful of how it is fastened. Screws, lots of them, with large washers under them are a pretty secure way; raccoons are strong, and if you had a weasel, which would be my guess, you certainly have raccoons around.

Sorry this happened to you. My bugaboo was foxes, til I got the dogs trained. Since then, no losses, but I'm not silly enough to think it can't happen.

 

[andysforrest]

When you mention hardward cloth - are you talking about a metal fence? It was just regular window screen. I guess we thought that being up toward the top, nothing would get in. Our mistake! Has anyone ever used electric wiring around the base? I'm wondering if that would help as well. As far as the ventilation (screened) windows went, we boarded them up after the first night.

Do raccoons kill for sport? Or leave head & body?

Andy

 

[ivan3]

Roll of .5" hardware cloth with small pair of `bolt' cutters (makes fast work of sectioning the stuff).

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Do raccoons kill for sport? Or leave head & body?

Coons would have eaten some of the flesh and possibly carried one off.

It would have to be a fairly large opening for a coon to get in and out

A weasel can go through a 1/2 inch hole​

 

[andysforrest]

Thanks for the pic of the hardware cloth - I'm assuming I can pick that up at the local farm supply store? Although we've looked and couldn't find any holes, I'll go back and check again to make sure. If a weasel can get through a 1/2 inch hole - what's the best method to seal them up so I keep things safe in the future?

Andy

 

[ivan3]

andysforrest wrote: If a weasel can get through a 1/2 inch hole - what's the best method to seal them up so I keep things safe in the future?

Minks/weasels won't get through a .5" opening n HW cloth (of course, I'd be glad to see the vid of such a feat). If not secured, as ddawn pointed out, with screws through washers every 4" , or heavy duty fencing `staples', at the most, then some pushy little torpedo with very sharp teeth will make a gap dancing the `stretch and squeeze' to the victuals...

Areas that are often a problem are in the lower corners of coops where mice/rats can gnaw for weeks working from below to exploit any space where the walls are joined into an entry (often under bedding/feeders/etc.) and some slightly larger pred will enlarge the opening at some later tme (there are some members who've covered the underside of their coops with hardware cloth and/or folded it into corners to prevent this sort of tunneling). A quick diagnostic can be perforrmed by having a person stand inside coop with one of those million candle spots and survey the interior with the beam, while another person stands outside to observe for `leaks'.

We deal with potential breaches by preemptive trapping. We started with only one live trap. One night we awoke to growling/whining hens, clucking roo and gobbling toms (baby monitors in coop/shed). One raccoon was in the trap and two others were on the roof of the coop pulling the shingles from the plywood. They couldn't get into the coop through the hardware clothed windows and the door was locked. Raccoons are large and relatively clumsy compared to a slithering mink/weasel (they will usually go for the throats and will just keep killing - there are threads describing just that). Double layer the hardware cloth over all openings (no matter how small). Any holes drilled into coop to run electricity, etc. can be stuffed with steel wool and a sleeve of hardware cloth screwed down over that (cords run through pvc/fountain tubing, etc.). Electric fencing/netting where possible and traps always set. Once initiated, maintenance of Ft. Chook is minimal, anxiety and frustration becomes the exclusive province of the vermin. A good quality, light weight, semi-auto .22 rifle is handy as well.

Hardware cloth can often be ordered, if not in stock; call around, I'm sure Lowes/tractor supply/HomeD./etc. should be able to order 4'x50' (100') compare prices as there can be 20% diff.

ed:sp​