Weasel habitat?

[KSH1]

Hi! We're planning our coop and run, and of course hope to minimize risk to the birds. My husband said that weasels will stay near a stream or pond, but that's not the impression I'm getting from Google. My barn cats moved in last summer and have really minimized their prey sources, but I'm bringing in tempting chicken nuggets next month! We're in a rural area with lots of hiding places, hay fields, etc, but no body of water very close to us. What do you think? Hardware cloth everywhere or can we go cheaper in some places? Are weasels mostly nocturnal, so if the coop is secure will the chickens be safe in the run during the day if it has bigger mesh fencing?

 

[llombardo]

They say within a mile with the water sources or something like that. I know recently a family of weasels were in a home in the wall--no water source but heavily wooded.

I was not aware of a water source right across the road behind the houses until last month. Find weasel sounds on the Internet. I hear some strange things and from what I heard and what I heard when the weasels were in the house and trapped--there are weasels near by here.

 

[centrarchid]

I have seen weasels mostly in low lying areas and areas dominated my herbaceous vegetation. They may very well be harder to see in wooded areas that I do not monitor as closely. Voles and mice generally abundant in areas the weasels appear to concentrate activities in. Apparently our keeping of free-ranging cats and dogs over rides the attractiveness of some high rodent density areas as the larger predators are partial to going after weasel. Most weasels I see around home, which is infrequent, are brought up dead by cats or dogs. Weasels are fast to our eyes, but do not seem to fare well against the larger predators.

 

[Naser]

I live in Ireland, near water we get mink and otter, pine marten and stoat live near and away from water.
Mink is the worst.

 

[Liddy]

My coop has served well for 5 years with normal screens on the windows and 4' poultry wire enclosing the coop (inside a former equipment shed) and hen yard.

Weasels are common here in northern Maine. A few weeks ago, I came literally nose-to-nose with one in the garage, in early afternoon. That was a bit too close for comfort -- and it explains the disappearance of the squirrels that had moved into the garage.

When I rebuild the coop next month, all entry points will be shielded by hardware cloth. That little critter was totes adorbs but I just knew while we stared at each other it was thinking, "If I tear your face off, I'll eat like a king!"

So far I have lost two hens to a fox and one to a hawk. The hens are now confined to the Henitentiary (6' chain link fencing enclosing a 30' x 40' yard) with clipped wings, and their coop will be hardened well before my new chicks join the flock.

I recommend as much hardware cloth as you can afford. IMO, it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. If you do have visits from a weasel or two, you don't want to know about it.

My outer walls and windows will all be covered with hc, and the inner divisions will be separated by plain old poultry wire. As time goes on, I plan to cover the bottom foot of the chain link with the old poultry wire and extend it out at least several feet outside the yard. I'll put some soil to cover it and scatter rocks with plantings between them. (The most prevalent crop in Maine is rocks...)

Good luck!