Sorry to hear about the predator, I hope you are able to catch it, or it at least moves on, and doesn't bother your flock anymore.
Thanks I believe we've been plagued by this little bugger for two-three years now if it's the mink(like myself and everyone seems to think) closer to two but almost 2.5 on and off. We don't even live near water. There's a tiny trickle/spring out behind two fields a mile or maybe even two from our property, probably closer to two. There's also a creek a few miles the other direction but we don't live on or near water. It's very frustrating. We have lost many birds to this thing. Including some of my pet birds(lifers).
Unfortunately we haven't been able to get it yet. I think next we're going to try a mink trap with a conibear boxed in with a small hole.
Are they in a run? I hope you can figure out a way to make things more secure for them.
Predators are terrible!
They free range during the day because the flock is too large to fence in the entire property plus the tractors must have access to the fields.
Of course free ranging I know losses are a possibility and we've also been plagued by a fox from time to time. The fox can be foght against.
(None of our predators seem to follow the usual signs our rats attacked the birds and ate out their insides, our fox never enters the coop and unless with it's mate or young it never attacks and takes more than one bird it also has carried a 12 pound bird over a mile as we chased-something I've read fox can't do because they're small but this fox is huge!, Our mink attacks dusk and night time and a few times during the day. The fox also attacks any time of day but mostly at dusk and night. The raccoon I shot was out during the day(there again I think it was sickly))
I’ve never had a mink and hope I never do. Skunks are bad enough.
Was this a day/dusk time kill or night time?
As to the rose they are pretty hardy once established. If your temps are in the 30 degree range at night could you cover them once planted with a 5 gallon bucket?
I think it was a dusk/very early night kill. Our birds are usually pretty good with going in on time but despite it being rainy last night it was warm and they were really enjoying that.
The mink almost always seems to come when it's raining... I wonder if there's any significance? Any ideas?
As to the roses if some of the plants already have new branches and leaves sprouted/sprouting would being under a bucket kill them?
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It would appear something actually entered the coop and drug out and killed a pullet right out front of the door. Note: it may have killed and then drug the pullet out.
The bird was intact except her head and neck had been pulled off. These lay beside her body. There was very little blood. We have in the past had problems with fox, coyote, possum, and one time with a raccoon.
Her crop may also have been taken I don't remember to be honest.
It was raining and it seems to be raining every time we have a mink attack but I'm not really sure. We set traps both leg hold and havaheart and hopefully we get something.
We will be building a mink trap asap.
That sounds like a mink or stoat for sure.
Poultrykeeper has a good article about how to get rid of them- they're smart little buggers, and vicious too.
https://poultrykeeper.com/pests-and-predators/stoats-and-weasels/[/QUOTE] Thanks! I'm going to go check out that article right away.
It's not the first time the mink has taken the head off a bird but I've never seen it rip the head and neck out like that before. It looked quite bad. It hasn't been around/or at least made a kill since October/November. They don't hibernate right? What's it been living on? Perhaps it was so savage last night because it was extremely hungry?
I admit we got a little careless and DH2B and I were just talking about it this last weekend because he thought(hoping I think) that the mink had moved on and I told him I thought it would be back. Sometimes I hate being right.
The coop seems secure enough for now with our makeshift fixes last fall after the mink came in through an old rat hole and killed my precious self blue oegb hen, Crocket, we wrapped it in wire. We're planning a rebuild this year hopefully and the hardware cloth will be under the siding(reclaimed wood from old farm out buildings on our own property) and under the inside walls which we plan to make glass board for easy cleaning.
Any suggestions on the above plans?
For now we will be extremely diligent in making sure the door is closed as soon as the last bird goes in. It's hard when the weather is nice and they're daudling. I'm sure if it did enter the coop and not grab her on her way in then it went in through the door we hadn't closed yet.
