Mink

[dishfickle]

Aww! A mink killed Monica, our little call duck. I don't know how, but my husband just KNEW something was wrong. He thought he got a good whack at it, but it got away. We didn't even know we had them here. The duck house will be finished in sshor order.

 

[cavemanrich]

Mink are Lil devlz that are difficult to control. They are also small and squeeze thru very small openings.
Do your best to secure coop. There are YouTube vids on making Mink Traps. Check into those.
I never like to suggest trapping and eliminating any predators,,,, but you need to do whatever is best for your Ducks, or other animals in your possession.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

[bobbi-j]

You never know what preditors are lurking about until after you get chickens or ducks. Mink are relentless. They will kill several birds at a time, if given the chance. We trapped one that got into our coop last year. (We don't relocate.) We had another one this past summer that took out 9 of my 30 birds in one night.

 

[Abriana]

Make sure no hole in the coop or run is more than 1/2 to 1 inch in diameter. Weasels are another terrible predator that can wipe out twenty birds in one night, and they can fit into tiny tiny spaces. I’m sorry about Monica

 

[Howard E]

Aww! A mink killed Monica, our little call duck. I don't know how, but my husband just KNEW something was wrong. He thought he got a good whack at it, but it got away. We didn't even know we had them here. The duck house will be finished in sshor order.

Where is here?

Due to my setup, I've never lost a bird to a predator, but having said that, the first may be tomorrow. If that were the case, and I caught a predator in the act and needed to react, the best and most lethal means of "whacking" a fast moving varmint in close quarters is a 12 gauge shotgun. Size BB's or larger for anything the size of a mink and up. Think buckshot for a coyote or big cat. Out to about 30 yards....... graveyard dead.

Shotguns are lethal up close, but the shot string will quickly defuse, so there is less concern about what is downrange as you would have with a rifle. You gotta worry about a rifle out to half a mile or so.

 

[dishfickle]

Thanks.. We have a good air rifle. My husband put out a couple of traps out last night. We have two ducks left they're inside till were able to up our security.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Of all the vermin that I have sorted out mink are the hardest to clamp the steel jaws on.

In the past I have had to over hall all 75 of my fly pens until I got everything so mink proof that the little devil hade to go back to his last kill or else go hungry.

 

[bobbi-j]

We used a live trap for our mink problem last year. DH has just caught some walleye, so we used the carcasses for bait. (The mink was not alive when it left the live trap. It died of a sudden case of “lead poisoning”.)

 

[dishfickle]

Of all the vermin that I have sorted out mink are the hardest to clamp the steel jaws on.

In the past I have had to over hall all 75 of my fly pens until I got everything so mink proof that the little devil hade to go back to his last kill or else go hungry.

 

[dishfickle]

What did you do? Ours free range, so I don't know if we have to worry about the run too much. We found a security problem on the floor, my husband is gonna cover the whole thing with sheet metal.