Weasels! How do I keep them out?!

[DobieLover]

So we just lost 3 of our roos to weasels. After the attack, I moved the other 2 boys back into the main coop with all of the girls and it seemed like we managed to dispose of the weasels causing the problem. But then, this evening, everyone was out in the run and we heard a lot of noise and I went running, only to find a weasel chasing my girls (and guys). We quickly dispatched of it and got everyone safely inside. Now I have to figure out what the best way to keep them safe is. I was planning to pick up 1/4" hardware cloth in the morning to wrap around the bottom of the run, at least 2' high. Does anyone have any suggestions on anything else I can do? I just want them to be safe.

I'm probably going to get grief over this but, oh well!

I read the OP request as how to stop the weasels from getting in, not how to kill them. The OP seems pretty capable at killing the weasels that have attacked their flock. However, I don't really believe in baiting and killing them. The weasels are just trying to survive. It is our job as chicken owners to ensure our birds are not on the menu of any predator and that means properly securing their enclosure.

I would recommend enclosing the entire run in hardware cloth, installing a 2' predator apron of HC around the entire perimeter of the run and running 2 strands of electric wire at 6" and 12" up from the ground around the entire perimeter of the run. Anything that can get past that deserves a chicken dinner!

 

[Howard E]

Weasels are one of natures best designed killing machines. Lethal weapons!

They can climb like a squirrel and dig like a mole.......so if your area is infested with them, the enclosure to keep them out cannot have a hole larger than 1/2". So entire run has to be 1/2" hardware cloth. Covered roof and roof / side connection has to be that tight too, as does the house.

And wire apron all around to keep them from digging in.

And FWIW, fish and game agencies tell us weasels are NOT a threat to chickens? Try telling that to someone who has been wiped out. But the reasons F&G give are weasels diet is almost exclusively rodents. Like rats, mice, moles, ground squirrels, etc. Weasels will lay in to a large colony of rats and go to work on them. So F&G thinks of them as good guys. So an extension of that is to be mindful of having rats and mice in your coops. A large population of rodents is what attracts weasels to you in the first place.......not the birds. But they are indiscriminate killers and will quickly transition to your birds, killing anything that moves. So despite what F&G says, they are a threat and you really don't want them hanging around.

So the long term solution is exclusion. The short term solution may include trapping the problem animals until you can get the long term solution in place.

 

[halfpintlc]

Weasels are one of natures best designed killing machines. Lethal weapons!

They can climb like a squirrel and dig like a mole.......so if your area is infested with them, the enclosure to keep them out cannot have a hole larger than 1/2". So entire run has to be 1/2" hardware cloth. Covered roof and roof / side connection has to be that tight too, as does the house.

And wire apron all around to keep them from digging in.

And FWIW, fish and game agencies tell us weasels are NOT a threat to chickens? Try telling that to someone who has been wiped out. But the reasons F&G give are weasels diet is almost exclusively rodents. Like rats, mice, moles, ground squirrels, etc. Weasels will lay in to a large colony of rats and go to work on them. So F&G thinks of them as good guys. So an extension of that is to be mindful of having rats and mice in your coops. A large population of rodents is what attracts weasels to you in the first place.......not the birds. But they are indiscriminate killers and will quickly transition to your birds, killing anything that moves. So despite what F&G says, they are a threat and you really don't want them hanging around.

So the long term solution is exclusion. The short term solution may include trapping the problem animals until you can get the long term solution in place.

Exclusion is in the works. There was an abundance of wild rabbits in the area, which seem to have disappeared (wonder what happened there...) I think that because they seem to be gone they have now targeted my birds. The coop is very safe, and getting safer by the day. The other coop is next. 1/4" hardware cloth for everyone!

 

[Howard E]

Rabbits are one of the fury rodents they go for. Interesting video.....note the method of attack. Back of the neck to sever the spine A signature move of a weasel........

So lots of dead birds, with bites to the back of the neck is the work of a weasel, mink, martin, stoat or one of the cousins.

 

[halfpintlc]

Horrible little creatures. They tore the necks wide open on my roos. They are most definitely the problem. Here we thought that hawks would be our worst enemy. Saw them all last year, this year I don't even think I've seen one.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Several closely spaced electric wires would work well too.