Short Tailed Weasel on the Loose

[Madie'sOddFlock]

I went out this morning to do chores, and 30 chickens flipped out and came crashing through the slightly open coop doors. I went to go check it out. About a foot from the doors, out came a little brown thing followed closely behind by a little white thing. At first, I thought it was two weasels. Then about 5 minutes later I saw the little white thing carrying the little brown thing. At least the weasel has only gone after the rats so far, it just scared the chickens. Spent thirty or so minutes chasing it across the yard with shovels and a straight hoe... failed, but I'm watching out for it still. Just wondering what you guys have done/suggest to do, I'll be gone for most of the afternoon so I'm a little worried.
Thanks,
Madie

 

[DobieLover]

The first thing you need to do is stop it and the rats from getting into your coop.
Loosely fitting doors and gaps larger than 1/2" need to be corrected.
Tighten the doors by adding barrel bolts or equivalent.
Cover all openings with 1/2" hardware cloth.
Chicken wire is useless at keeping anything out.
Pictures of your coop would be useful.

 

[Madie'sOddFlock]

The big flock uses this 10x8 shed, reinforced with 2x1s and it has a wooden floor, there's really no room except through the open door that a weasel could get in, and since it was in there this morning and whoever opened them up didn't see it, I would assume that it got in once the door was opened.
The rest of coops are either off the ground or have no gaps for anything to get in... of course we've never had a weasel problem, so I might be underestimating them. We have no problems with the rats because they're more interested in rolling in the pig trough.

 

[Howard E]

Your experience seems to confirm what a lot of Fish and Game agencies will tell you.....that weasels are attracted to concentrations of rats, mice, gophers, etc. In that, they are one of natures most potent predators. The problem for you is they will easily make the transition to killing many if not all of your birds. They attack things that move, so as long as your birds are alive and moving, you can expect them to attack and kill them. They do so by severing the spine on the back of their neck where the neck meets the base of the skull.

Your weasel is about one rat short of looking for something else to kill, and it might very well end up being your birds. Surprised he hasn't already done so.....but the day is young.

In the short term, you could try trapping the weasel.....either a box trap or tree set. You can google those to see how.

In the long term, you have a rat problem and it needs to be fixed. If you have rats in your hog lot, you have rats with your chickens.

 

[Howard E]

PS: If you can get close enough to your weasel to chase it with a shovel, you can make quick work of him with a .410 shotgun. #4 shot.....aim center mass.