Weasel prevention?

[swakita]

Hi! Yesterday we unfortunately lost one of our ladies, and though we didn’t see what got it, we’ve talked to some neighbors and friends who have chickens and it sounds like it was a weasel. It was pretty gruesome and very sad. I kept the chickens in the coop today, and when I went out to check on them in the evening I noticed something had dug under the gate to the run, which I’ve been told is also a sign of a weasel. We’ve set a trap there overnight, hoping to catch it. But I was wondering if anyone had any luck with any preventative measures for weasels? I know you can dig your fence down into the ground, but where our coop and run is it’s difficult to manage that all the way around because of rock/ledge and large tree roots that make it difficult to bury the fence. I’m not sure what else to do and I’m afraid of letting them out into the run right now considering it’s come back two days in a row. But I also don’t want to keep them stuck inside the coop for long. They’re not full grown yet, and I don’t think the roosters have developed their protective instincts yet so I worry about letting them out. Any thoughts and advice would be great!!!

 

[lagrange chicks]

You can bend the 1/2" hardware cloth to lay flat on the ground and then let the grass grow up through or cover with woodchips, gravel or even a couple inches of dirt. The hardware cloth should be out around 16" or more.

 

[swakita]

You can bend the 1/2" hardware cloth to lay flat on the ground and then let the grass grow up through or cover with woodchips, gravel or even a couple inches of dirt. The hardware cloth should be out around 16" or more.

So we do have the wire like this around the run, but the weasel dug under the gate where we don’t really have a way to bend the wire out since the gate has to move. I’m not really sure how to get around this problem because even if we dig some fence down and just cut it at the bottom of the gate the weasel can still just wiggle under the gate if it tries to. We didn’t have any luck with the trap last night unfortunately, do you think it’s safe to let them back out today? I’m so worried about losing more I’m around all day today, but the way weasels attack the chickens, by the time I heard it and got out there it would likely already have gotten a chicken.

 

[swakita]

So we do have the wire like this around the run, but the weasel dug under the gate where we don’t really have a way to bend the wire out since the gate has to move. I’m not really sure how to get around this problem because even if we dig some fence down and just cut it at the bottom of the gate the weasel can still just wiggle under the gate if it tries to. We didn’t have any luck with the trap last night unfortunately, do you think it’s safe to let them back out today? I’m so worried about losing more I’m around all day today, but the way weasels attack the chickens, by the time I heard it and got out there it would likely already have gotten a chicken.

Do you think laying some large rocks outside the gate would help? So if it tried to dig under the gate the rocks essentially stop it?

 

[AGeese]

Could you post some pictures of the gate and run? If there's a space couldn't you tack a board on the bottom of the gate or a piece of metal flashing? Sounds like you need something extra to set down after you close the gate. I'd still try to bury fence or lay bricks so you don't have them digging under the gate if you end up making it tight to the ground.

 

[lagrange chicks]

Put a board down to the ground standing on edge that the gate/door closes to, fasten to run some how and fasten your hardware cloth to it and bent to lay on the ground. It is kind of a pain having to step over it but was the only way I could find to keep the weasels out.

 

[lagrange chicks]

Took a couple pics of my gate area.

 

[AGeese]

Took a couple pics of my gate area.View attachment 3832623View attachment 3832624

That definitely helps and is how I build my pens.

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