Mink tips and advice

[chickenlady2004]

does anyone have any tips and advice on how to scare away/get rid of mink? i have a talk radio almost always going, and automatic sensor lights. i’ve got some live traps set up as well but was trying to find more effective ways to keep them away as much as i can

 

[Callender Girl]

A mink is the only predator that has ever killed any of my poultry (despite having raccoons, possums, coyotes, eagles, hawks and owls all around), and I think you are doing things right. I added Nite Guard solar-powered blinking lights after the massacre. I've been told that they don't really deter minks, so maybe it's coincide that I haven't had any more losses.

Once a mink attacks, it will come back. Well-secured hardware cloth on and in the ground around your runs makes attacks less likely.

One bit of good news I discovered in my research is that if the mink is a male, it will have its own territory and won't allow other males in. So, you may only have to deal with one.

Best wishes keeping your birds safe.

 

[chickenlady2004]

A mink is the only predator that has ever killed any of my poultry (despite having raccoons, possums, coyotes, eagles, hawks and owls all around), and I think you are doing things right. I added Nite Guard solar-powered blinking lights after the massacre. I've been told that they don't really deter minks, so maybe it's coincide that I haven't had any more losses.

Once a mink attacks, it will come back. Well-secured hardware cloth on and in the ground around your runs makes attacks less likely.

One bit of good news I discovered in my research is that if the mink is a male, it will have its own territory and won't allow other males in. So, you may only have to deal with one.

Best wishes keeping your birds safe.

i had my first mink attack a couple days ago (my first ever attack in general) and they really are resilient brazen creatures. it did not stop just because i ran out. there was only one at the time but it got away


the thing i have a hard time with is when i let them free range, and im inside or something, i worry that they aren’t safe.

so sorry about your birds, it’s such a terrible loss when that happens

 

[Callender Girl]

You are correct about how brazen they are. I laid in wait, in the dark, after I discovered the kills. The mink came back twice that night, chased by me and my three-tine cultivator both times. I had never wanted to kill an animal until then. Only a hole in the hay shed wall saved its murderous life.

And, I understand your concern about free-ranging. When mine are out of their coops, they are in the side (fenced) yard and within both sight and earshot. Although my geese could not care less about protecting the chickens and ducks, they will sound an alarm if they see a critter that doesn't belong.

 

[lagrange chicks]

Mink and Weasels are hard to trap also, they do not like rotten meat so any meat in a trap needs to be fresh. When my Dad would have mink attacks he would most times use a live bird for bait (in a mink proof cage of course) and set foothold traps around the caged bird covering the traps with a little fine straw or grass clippings. Allways caught the mink most times the 1st night.

 

[chickenlady2004]

You are correct about how brazen they are. I laid in wait, in the dark, after I discovered the kills. The mink came back twice that night, chased by me and my three-tine cultivator both times. I had never wanted to kill an animal until then. Only a hole in the hay shed wall saved its murderous life.

And, I understand your concern about free-ranging. When mine are out of their coops, they are in the side (fenced) yard and within both sight and earshot. Although my geese could not care less about protecting the chickens and ducks, they will sound an alarm if they see a critter that doesn't belong.

yes when mine are out there is always someone home, and they are very close to the house where i leave the windows open in case they need me. i find my ducks aren’t very loud when attacked though, which worries me.

the mink that attacked came back twice as well in the night, dragging my male duck into our pond, i shouted and shouted and it did not care, i physically had to jump in and grab the mink off of him, while holding my other injured duck. And even then it got away, im just glad it didn’t bite me. i’ve looked for it since, i have traps set where i saw it go to, but i’m using fish which hasn’t worked yet unfortunately. I know that it will just come back after it has got a taste for my flock, so i’ve been on edge since. they’re terrible creatures.

 

[chickenlady2004]

Mink and Weasels are hard to trap also, they do not like rotten meat so any meat in a trap needs to be fresh. When my Dad would have mink attacks he would most times use a live bird for bait (in a mink proof cage of course) and set foothold traps around the caged bird covering the traps with a little fine straw or grass clippings. Allways caught the mink most times the 1st night.

thanks for the tip ! i’ve had fish in the traps for two days; i should probably change it now. i definitely wish your dad was here to catch this little bastard lol they’re such a pain

 

[CoriM]

A mink is the only predator that has ever killed any of my poultry (despite having raccoons, possums, coyotes, eagles, hawks and owls all around), and I think you are doing things right. I added Nite Guard solar-powered blinking lights after the massacre. I've been told that they don't really deter minks, so maybe it's coincide that I haven't had any more losses.

Once a mink attacks, it will come back. Well-secured hardware cloth on and in the ground around your runs makes attacks less likely.

One bit of good news I discovered in my research is that if the mink is a male, it will have its own territory and won't allow other males in. So, you may only have to deal with one.

Best wishes keeping your birds safe.

Did the mink make it into your coop? I have hardware cloth buried a foot deep around my coop, but just discovered that something has tried to dig in. I have a mold tunneling all the way around as well, so I'm trying to differentiate between the two. How likely is it that the mink would dig down underneath the hardware cloth? It seems like something has tunneled under the inside of my run, but not come up, so thinking that might be a mole since we have so many of those and I've seen a lot of mole hills close by.

 

[Callender Girl]

The mink got inside my coop because I forgot to close the door one night, and my run wasn't predator-proof. Much hardware cloth has been added, along with double rows of 12-inch square concrete stepping stones along the outside edges of the runs.

I have learned it's not wise to speculate on this forum, but I, personally, would think it's unlikely that a mink would dig that much. I feel like they are much more opportunistic and look for an easier kill. Again, that's just my opinion. Someone else may be able to better answer that concern.

I don't know if the moles are your diggers. The tunnels I've had to contend with out here have been dug by rats. A few years ago, they constructed passages that led between two of my coops and would pop up in the runs to steal leftover feed.

 

[BDutch]

Mink are useful creatures to keep away other critters like rats.
Imho it is not useful to kill wildlife like mijn. Better make your coop (and run) a Fort Knox. Many predators are more dangerous during the night.

From google: The carnivorous mink hunts a variety of aquatic and terrestrial prey. Frogs, fish, crayfish, mice, voles, muskrats, shrew, moles, freshwater mussels, turtles, snakes, birds and their eggs, and even insects are some of the animals that occur in the diet.

How to build a safe coop: https://vjppoultry.com/tag/do-mink-hunt-at-night-or-day/