Mink Problems

[mseames7810]

We have had ducks for about 4 years now and we have finally managed to proof our duck house and the enclosure they live in from raccoons, foxes, hawks, and other various larger predators. In the last few months though, we have had 2 minks get into the enclosure. The first time, the ducks were able to flee it but yesterday it got our beloved Indian Runner duck. Is there any way to deter minks from the area? We prefer to let them free range during the day and we lock them up tight at night. We were also thinking maybe it might help deter them if we got a more aggressive breed of goose to help protect our ducks. Is this feasible? If so, which breeds would be aggressive enough to deter predators but still mingle well with our mallards?
Thanks!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

A mink is a hard animal to catch or kill. They can squeeze into an opening that is only 1/2 inch wide. You can always try to trap them but they are darn hard to trap. Go back over your duck house and see if it is secure against a weasel.

 

[Chullicken]

Sadly adding attack geese won't deter anything but your friends from visiting. Barn cats work wonders, guardian dogs, electrified netting and electrified strings. And are you positive its a mink (Mink tend to venture from waterways while the ermine is a rover) and not an ermine? In any case, the solutions are really the same. I sadly lost 90% of my pet flock a few months ago to an ermine who managed to find a hole a squirrel dug in this tiny little patch where I was missing a part of my predator skirting. Be prepared to lose more as your mink will keep returning until there is nothing to return to sad as it is, just how it works with predators and chickens as you know. Predator proofing for mink and ermine isn't any different than larger predators. It's just a matter of using hardware cloth and ensure you have a skirt, even on the corners. Your fowl-house should also be free of any crack and nooks/holes over 1.5" to be safe. If you insist on free-ranging I would recommend electrified poultry netting. It's not really free-ranging, more of pasturing and works well. Hope you get it figured out.

 

[mseames7810]

We managed to trap both minks each time so those particular ones are no longer a problem but after having 2 in the last six months after years of never having them, I’m anxious about more coming through the area in the future. We have a creek nearby that we are guessing where they are coming from. I would really hate to close the ducks up during the day so that they can’t roam so I was hoping to figure out what kind of animal we can get to protect the ducks against these smaller predators

 

[Chullicken]

A mink is a hard animal to catch or kill. They can squeeze into an opening that is only 1/2 inch wide. You can always try to trap them but they are darn hard to trap. Go back over your duck house and see if it is secure against a weasel.

Every year the measurement an ermine or mink can squeeze through gets smaller and smaller, it's like a fishing story! At this rate, we won't eve be able to use hardware cloth.

We managed to trap both minks each time so those particular ones are no longer a problem but after having 2 in the last six months after years of never having them, I’m anxious about more coming through the area in the future. We have a creek nearby that we are guessing where they are coming from. I would really hate to close the ducks up during the day so that they can’t roam so I was hoping to figure out what kind of animal we can get to protect the ducks against these smaller predators

Its so frustrating, I understand as do a lot of us. Take care of one thing, another pops up...I slept a lot better before I got back into chickens.

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Every year the measurement an ermine or mink can squeeze through gets smaller and smaller, it's like a fishing story! At this rate, we won't eve be able to use hardware cloth.

Its so frustrating, I understand as do a lot of us. Take care of one thing, another pops up...I slept a lot better before I got back into chickens.

I go with a general weasel as we don’t have very many minks around here. The smallest hole a long tailed weasel can squeeze through is 1/2 inch. It increases with size but the long tailed weasel is endemic through the entire United States. Should have stated that in my first post.

Edit: minks not monks. We have plenty of monks around here

 

[Chullicken]

I go with a general weasel as we don’t have very many minks around here. The smallest hole a long tailed weasel can squeeze through is 1/2 inch. It increases with size but the long tailed weasel is endemic through the entire United States. Should have stated that in my first post.

Edit: minks not monks. We have plenty of monks around here

One I shot at and missed (By a hair), then I ran after it like a wild man after It killed one of my pets was very large, guessing a mature adult. I don't think it could have gotten past 1" or smaller wire, had a decent head on him. I'll get him though and everything he loves and the rest of his family for a mile. I'm a very live and let live guy, but this really got to me. Getting the boxes ready as we speak.

Odd as it sounds...I have a monk colony 20 minutes from my house. I deliver birdseed to them! ha

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

One I shot at and missed (By a hair), then I ran after it like a wild man after It killed one of my pets was very large, guessing a mature adult. I don't think it could have gotten past 1" or smaller wire, had a decent head on him. I'll get him though and everything he loves and the rest of his family for a mile. I'm a very live and let live guy, but this really got to me. Getting the boxes ready as we speak.

Odd as it sounds...I have a monk colony 20 minutes from my house. I deliver birdseed to them! ha

Haha! You better get it! We have an arch abbey about 50 miles south so I run into them quite often. I love their homemade beer!

 

[roosterhavoc]

Every year the measurement an ermine or mink can squeeze through gets smaller and smaller, it's like a fishing story! At this rate, we won't eve be able to use hardware cloth.

Its so frustrating, I understand as do a lot of us. Take care of one thing, another pops up...I slept a lot better before I got back into chickens.

For what it’s worth a weasel cannot fit through 1” x 2” wire so anything that size or smaller is good. 2”x2” wire a weasel will fit through. This is 2”x4” wire in the pic but I assure you they will not fit. A male adult mink cannot fit through 2”x4” wire. A smaller female may be able to though.

 

[OhZark Biddies]