Maine

[annabananaandfamily]

We havent had trouble with weasel-type predators (knock on wood!) but lost a few last year to hawks. We had a nest of them right across the street from us. We strung fishing line all acorss the yard and I hung cds from that that spun in the wind to scare them off too. Once we did that we didnt lose another one....but we really did look like everyones nightmare of a crazy neighbor!

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I had a mink at my coop yesterday, grrrr. thankfully didn't take any chickens but I've lost so many to weasels in the past.time to get out the dogs and guns.

Have-a-heartless trap?

 

[hoppy]

have afew leg hold traps and a have a heart. the leg hold is what we got one 2 yrs ago with, caught him by the toes. didn't catch last yrs weasel just moved all the chickens until spring.
I've taken the dogs out bythe coop several times but since both are lame,never one wants to stay out long (one slipped on the ice and the other broke a toenail at the base)
hate weasels and minks.

Have-a-heartless trap?

 

[superchemicalgirl]

have afew leg hold traps and a have a heart. the leg hold is what we got one 2 yrs ago with, caught him by the toes. didn't catch last yrs weasel just moved all the chickens until spring.
I've taken the dogs out bythe coop several times but since both are lame,never one wants to stay out long (one slipped on the ice and the other broke a toenail at the base)
hate weasels and minks.

Knock on wood haven't had those around, I still have my battalion of skunks.

Your dogs toe sounds painful, and the ice has been really bad this year. I don't blame the dog for not wanting to hang outside in it.

 

[buckabucka]

We havent had trouble with weasel-type predators (knock on wood!) but lost a few last year to hawks. We had a nest of them right across the street from us. We strung fishing line all acorss the yard and I hung cds from that that spun in the wind to scare them off too. Once we did that we didnt lose another one....but we really did look like everyones nightmare of a crazy neighbor!

Nice to know that worked, despite the crazy neighbor image! I haven't had trouble with weasels yet, but I know they are around here. I used to have a cat that would catch and release in the house (alive) all kinds of animals. I kept hearing a noise in an upstairs room, but never saw anything. I complained to DH, but he never even heard anything and said I was imagining things. One morning while I was lying in bed, I heard something again in the next room, and yelled to DH that something was moving around in the other room at that very moment. He came upstairs to prove me wrong, and when he went in the room he let out a shriek. It was a weasel! It was quite a chase, but we managed to herd in downstairs, and eventually out the door.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I'd like to say that the fishing line worked here, and we don't have CDs on it, either. Just strung up a ton of line across the chicken run in a very haphazard cats-cradle like mess.

We had had some hawk attacks in the fall - lost a chicken and a duck in 2 days - then I strung up the fishing line. For a few days the line would be broken in parts, and I'd just replace it. Now it doesn't break (no more hawks trying to get in?) unless we get heavy snow and a few will snap. I still see hawks circling on occasion, but haven't lost anyone, thankfully.

I do, however, sometimes forget there's fishing line strung up in the run and have on occasion caught myself up in it. It's really fun in the morning at say, oh, 5 AM when I'm letting the girls out and it's dark.

 

[buckabucka]

Quote:


Ha! Not sure I could deal with being caught up in fishing line that early in the morning! I don't have fishing line to get tangled in, but in the summer we were setting up electric fencing to contain the chickens. It wasn't electrified, so I was able to swing my leg high and step over it. Many times, the fencing would grab ahold of my foot, knocking me off balance and slamming me into the ground. I was always glad no one was driving by at the time!

 

[casslarrabee225]

How do you know a weasel or mink from a fox? Well Ok...besides the obvious LOOKS of them! HAHAHA! But when they come around at night. Like the tracks or what they try to do to get into your coop?

 

[hoppy]

weasels will bite off your chickens heads and not take the body, they will do as many as they can catch at one time. I lost 11 one night and figured the rest were safe until night fall, wrong, it came back and killed 3 more. only then did it try to drag one through the fence but it wouldn't fit. it killed big chickens 10# birds and small.what ever it could corner. someone told me they only suck out the blood and make your birds weak, this was total carnage! maybe if I had turkeys it would have just sucked out the blood. weasels this time of yr are white, minks are dark brown and well foxes, you know. foot prints may also tell you what animal. weasels can slip through a hole big enough for an extension cord (that's how mine got in the coop)
I had guineas the first time, and they never said a word. those survived, they were in the rafters.

How do you know a weasel or mink from a fox? Well Ok...besides the obvious LOOKS of them! HAHAHA! But when they come around at night. Like the tracks or what they try to do to get into your coop?

 

[kinsey228]

I'm thinking of taking the following to one of the upcoming swaps, but was wondering if any fellow BYC'ers thought they would sell. They are all either laying or semi-broody right now: 2 Barred Rocks, 3 Unknown breeds, and maybe a Golden Comet. I might sell one of my EE's also. They are more like pets and are not flighty. I don't really want to get rid of any, but if I want to get ANY chicks this year, I need to make room first.

By the way SCG, I think that both of the chicks that I hatched from your eggs are females. They look kind of comical with their big feathers growing in ! If they would ever hold still I would take and post pictures.