Mink - how to stop the digging on a dirt floor

[jenwhite]

We lost all but one of our birds last week. my daughter found the awful scene when she went to pick eggs and do chores. heartbreaking and traumatizing to say the least. We have since re-homed our only chicken that survived... Our coop is setup in an old horse barn stall. It had been predator proof until it wasn't... for 9 months it was great. the Mink got in by digging under the barn and into the coop. the entire building is on concrete with the exception of 3 horse stalls. What is the best way to secure our future coop while trying to keep costs at a minimum? Would it work to bury 1/2" mesh hardware cloth down 12" around the barn that doesn't have concrete? Would a mink chew through wood? Another thought was to bury green treated plywood down around the sides of the barn 12" that aren't concrete to keep the diggers out... I also would like to surround the entire coop (just the one stall) internally with hardware cloth to double secure it. Any advise would be greatly appreciated! with the advise being geared towards making our existing coop work. I've added a couple pics to try and provide a visual of the coop and the love my daughter has for her chickens... which is why i'm trying to make this never ever happen again!!!

We live in MN.

 

[aart]

Beautiful pics, and sorry y'all had to go thru that shocking discovery....
.... but.... please show us where the mink got in, both inside and out?
Did it come directly into the coop or just into the barn?

These might give you some food for thought:
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation.
If rodents are prolific, burying the apron ~12" would be good.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

 

[jenwhite]

Beautiful pics, and sorry y'all had to go thru that shocking discovery....
.... but.... please show us where the mink got in, both inside and out?
Did it come directly into the coop or just into the barn?

These might give you some food for thought:
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation.
If rodents are prolific, burying the apron ~12" would be good.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

Thank you! I don’t have a pic of where the mink got in, but I can post one later... the mink got in by digging a hole from outside under where the horse stalls are. We allowed our chickens to roam free inside the entire horse barn as they really enjoyed roosting in the rafters and I never dreamt that they could be unsafe! Here is a pic of how they were roosting and also a pic of the inside of their coop so you can see the floor and walls. Under the shavings is dirt. Where the chickens are roosting is above the middle horse stall and where the mink got in thru the dirt floor (only shavings are on the right side where we consider their coop to be)

 

[pennyJo1960]

How difficult to loose any like that... I would bury hardware cloth where there is no concrete
as you have thought

 

[ariri30]

Thank you! I don’t have a pic of where the mink got in, but I can post one later... the mink got in by digging a hole from outside under where the horse stalls are. We allowed our chickens to roam free inside the entire horse barn as they really enjoyed roosting in the rafters and I never dreamt that they could be unsafe! Here is a pic of how they were roosting and also a pic of the inside of their coop so you can see the floor and walls. Under the shavings is dirt. Where the chickens are roosting is above the middle horse stall and where the mink got in thru the dirt floor (only shavings are on the right side where we consider their coop to be) View attachment 2012718View attachment 2012719

My heart goes out for you. I lost two last year to a racoon I think. I cried for days. I can’t even imagine losing almost all of them. I’m sorry

 

[WthrLady]

I'd enclose that stall and make it critter proof. Mink can climb. so all those chest high and higher openings are fair game for predators.

Yes, the hardware cloth around the stall is a great idea.

I'm sorry you had one of the beasties visit. Your poor daughter.

 

[Howard E]

There is an old adage that simply states "form follows function". In the world of farm barns and buildings, that notion applies like no other.

The point being that a barn of the type the OP was using.......while sturdy and useful for a lot of things......like sheltering large animal livestock and their feed.....or perhaps even some farm equipment and/or farm tools.......is not the best place for housing chickens. Not even the box stalls. I have two such stalls in my horse barn and predators can access them with ease. Same with the stalls in my daughter's horse barn.....same with just about any other barn I've been around.

In days past, on just about every farm that ever existed.....at least one that raised chickens.......the chickens were kept in special purpose built housing......chicken houses. Chicken houses provided what the barns could not.......light, ventilation, and most important of all, security.

Case in point, the OP found a dig site in the dirt......made by what they believe to have been a mink....but in truth, could probably have been made by a variety of varmints. The birds roosting in the rafters would have been low hanging fruit for coons, possums, weasel, a mink, bobcat, etc. All of which can climb into the rafters with ease. So while they were sheltered from the weather, they were not safe there from predators. A barn of that type would also be a haven for rats.

I think one of the hardest lesson folks have to learn when they start raising chickens is the danger these birds face on a constant daily basis. We don't know what we don't know. Regretably, we often find out the hard way when we are faced with the carnage dished out from a whole variety of predators.........who tend to be very good at surviving in the wild on things far harder to catch and kill than our chickens, which to predators.......are about as tough to snag as sitting ducks. The loss can be both traumatic and overwhelming.

Back to the problem at hand, to keep birds safe in a confined area of a livestock barn, you basically have to build a jail cell or chicken house within the barn. The box stall may have four solid walls (bars on doors don't count), but you also need to secure the floor and ceiling as well. Best floor is cement......but that is a big project and big expense to go with it. A person could line the entire floor with hardware cloth to stop diggers (and that includes rats), then cover with litter. The ceiling has to be equally secure......something like 1" x 2" welded wire, supported by rafters itself, and secure all the way to the corners.....no gaps anywhere. In short, a fully enclosed cube. The kicker being the chickens ain't going to like being confined to this cube. They would prefer the rafters........but they don't know what we know......which is a chicken roosting in the rafters of a barn is dead already.

Option B is to consider moving them out of the barn in purpose built chicken house that is secure and meets the other needs of the birds as well.

Probably not what you wanted to hear........but.............

 

[hayley3]

How do you know it was a mink?
And sorry for your loss...my daughter found our Ivy killed by a hawk and she called me sobbing so I understand how devastating it is to find your beloved birds slaughtered.

I had the same barn setup and I buried hardware cloth...I had some guys come in and remove a bunch of dirt from the horse stall and then they laid down a floor of 1/2 inch hardware cloth and added the dirt back so that the chickens didn't have to dig into the hardware cloth... but mine was a raccoon who had found a tunnel underneath the floor. I also attached hardware cloth on the top half of the stalls and screwed 1x2's on top of that, which is decorative as well if you stain it. Raccoons will climb all over the hardware cloth and try to peel it back if you don't add the 1x2 boards. My stalls had a roof, not sure if yours does.

 

[jenwhite]

How do you know it was a mink?
And sorry for your loss...my daughter found our Ivy killed by a hawk and she called me sobbing so I understand how devastating it is to find your beloved birds slaughtered.

I had the same barn setup and I buried hardware cloth...I had some guys come in and remove a bunch of dirt from the horse stall and then they laid down a floor of 1/2 inch hardware cloth and added the dirt back so that the chickens didn't have to dig into the hardware cloth... but mine was a raccoon who had found a tunnel underneath the floor. I also attached hardware cloth on the top half of the stalls and screwed 1x2's on top of that, which is decorative as well if you stain it. Raccoons will climb all over the hardware cloth and try to peel it back if you don't add the 1x2 boards. My stalls had a roof, not sure if yours does.

Thank you for your note. We caught the mink so, we know it was a mink And... we saw it running around the barn going toward the last survivor. The barn really works well... we have a really old coop on the property, but its not good enought to use, it needs to be torn down and a new one built. I think i'll try what you did with the 1x2's and hardware cloth. we haven't had any other critters get in, the barn is secure other than the dirt floor.

 

[jenwhite]

There is an old adage that simply states "form follows function". In the world of farm barns and buildings, that notion applies like no other.

The point being that a barn of the type the OP was using.......while sturdy and useful for a lot of things......like sheltering large animal livestock and their feed.....or perhaps even some farm equipment and/or farm tools.......is not the best place for housing chickens. Not even the box stalls. I have two such stalls in my horse barn and predators can access them with ease. Same with the stalls in my daughter's horse barn.....same with just about any other barn I've been around.

In days past, on just about every farm that ever existed.....at least one that raised chickens.......the chickens were kept in special purpose built housing......chicken houses. Chicken houses provided what the barns could not.......light, ventilation, and most important of all, security.

Case in point, the OP found a dig site in the dirt......made by what they believe to have been a mink....but in truth, could probably have been made by a variety of varmints. The birds roosting in the rafters would have been low hanging fruit for coons, possums, weasel, a mink, bobcat, etc. All of which can climb into the rafters with ease. So while they were sheltered from the weather, they were not safe there from predators. A barn of that type would also be a haven for rats.

I think one of the hardest lesson folks have to learn when they start raising chickens is the danger these birds face on a constant daily basis. We don't know what we don't know. Regretably, we often find out the hard way when we are faced with the carnage dished out from a whole variety of predators.........who tend to be very good at surviving in the wild on things far harder to catch and kill than our chickens, which to predators.......are about as tough to snag as sitting ducks. The loss can be both traumatic and overwhelming.

Back to the problem at hand, to keep birds safe in a confined area of a livestock barn, you basically have to build a jail cell or chicken house within the barn. The box stall may have four solid walls (bars on doors don't count), but you also need to secure the floor and ceiling as well. Best floor is cement......but that is a big project and big expense to go with it. A person could line the entire floor with hardware cloth to stop diggers (and that includes rats), then cover with litter. The ceiling has to be equally secure......something like 1" x 2" welded wire, supported by rafters itself, and secure all the way to the corners.....no gaps anywhere. In short, a fully enclosed cube. The kicker being the chickens ain't going to like being confined to this cube. They would prefer the rafters........but they don't know what we know......which is a chicken roosting in the rafters of a barn is dead already.

Option B is to consider moving them out of the barn in purpose built chicken house that is secure and meets the other needs of the birds as well.

Probably not what you wanted to hear........but.............

Thanks for your reply. I have a couple of months to think about what we want to do, appreciate your response.