Weasels visited my coop last nite

[roosterjack]

I think a weasel(s) was in my pen last nite judging by the tracks in the snow this morning. my chickens were safe in their coop and didn't have any problems. Now I'm worried that they might come back during the day or just before dark before I get out to my coop to put the birds away for the nite. Has anybody else had to deal with weasels? Are they generally nocturnal animals or will they show up during the day? Can they be trapped with a small animal live trap?
I live in northern Michigan and my coop is about a half mile from a river and lowland and I know the area has weasel and mink in it. Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

[Flufnstuffs~FluffySilkies]

Put something stinky in the trap, TUNA SARDIENS put one bite out side the trap.
Then they will want the rest and go for it.

GOOD LUCK

 

[Poison Ivy]

Hope you catch them before they cause any trouble.

 

[gritsar]

Don't know if this will help you, but here's what my one and only book on chickens says:

Oppossums: usually kill a single bird per visit, typically only the abdomen will be eaten.
Raccoons: will visit a coop infrequently, once a week or so. They prefer heads and crops; more than one chicken may be killed.
Skunks: they will likely chew off one or more chicken heads; and they leave a lingering odor.
Minks or weasels: A neat stack of dead chickens with necks eaten and heads missing.
Foxes: catch alot of the blame, but if you find dead chickens they are unlikely. Foxes like bobcats, coyotes, and predatory birds like to carry their prey away with them.

Bait:

Foxes: chicken entrails or raw chicken, dead mice, or commercial lures. Will work for coyotes too.
Oppossums: like fruit, especially melon or apple.
Raccoons: like marshmallows, sweet corn, canned cream corn and honey.
The book doesn't name a specific bait for weasels, but says:
In general, baits of choice include: fresh fish, chicken heads or entrails, fresh raw liver, crisp bacon, fish flavored moist cat food, and table scraps. **

Don't jump on me folks, I'm just quoting the book and of course you have to keep in mind that predators like every other living creature are individuals and what may work for one, etc. I just believe strongly in identifying the predator before you act against it, to make sure you have the right predator.

** Chickens, Tending a Small-Scale Flock for Pleasure and Profit, by Sue Weaver

Madam Moderator, I hope it's okay if I posted that. I didn't see anything in the forum rules that forbid it.

 

[princessthelmared]

I recently had the same problem with a weasel. Yes it did attack my chickens in the broad of day. They are very aggressive and will not think much about attacking humans.

My Farrier is having issues at his house too with a weasel. He has confined his flock to dog crates in his garage. He is trying to bait it into a haveaheart trap with raw cut up chicken.

They are very nasty and will fit into the smallest of holes.

Good luck, I hope you catch it.

 

[howlingwoodsfarm]

Again I agree with princessthelmared. I had a mink attack my flock tuesday am. between 7:30 am-9am. that is when he did the killing but he came back ALL DAY LONG and into the night until we finally got him at 11:15 pm. He came back into the coop when I was in there talking. I stayed in my coop all day and he was in there roughly every 45 min even when he looked in and saw I was in there, he came in anyway. I am so glad your coop is secure but I do believe he will come during the day. We tried a small havahart trap with tuna in it. It ignored it mostly but it did run full speed through one side out the other. so needless to say that did not work to catch him. We finally got him by staking out in the coop with gun pointed toward door which was just cracked and he poke his head in there and he was gone.

If you have snow right now I would suggest looking around the base of the coop. our mink had a network of tunnels made in the snow so he could move about without being seen. I dug all the snow around the coop up so he had to show his face to get near the coop. GOOD LUCK.