Mink-proofing the hen house door

[cmom]

From my experience a 5 mile charger doesn't have much of a zap and only puts out around .1 joule which is around 2000 volts, like a bee sting. Some predators will get used to it. I would get a stronger charger with at least 1 joule output, around 7000+- volts that will be more of a zap and may discourage the predator. Good luck.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

Picture attached. Sorry it couldn't be clearer but that's about the best I could grab. The tail looks to be close to about half the length of the body, and my wife saw a mink near the road last year on the other side of the hill from us. Hence my suspicion that it's a mink.

Regarding the door, I don't recall the manufacturer of the motor and such, but perhaps you're talking about the design? It's a simple motor with string that has stop switches. It came with the hen house (my father built it several years ago then gave it to me), but looks to be around $100 on Amazon. I did think about replacing it with the rod/piston type that I saw when browsing around but don't know much about those.

Tail looks quite long and bushy, seems bigger than a mink. Do you have fisher or marten in the area?