laur
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 Posted: Tue Aug 19, 2003 8:24 pm Post subject: Weasel or something killing our pullets |
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For the last two mornings I have gone into the chicken pen and found
fewer pullets than the night before. Something small and rather
inobtrusive has tunneled under and dragged off the missing pullets.
One was found dead in the pen with only a bit of blood around the beak
and eye as a clue. So far we are talking about 3 birds. I know about
digging under the fence line and placing chicken wire under about 12
inches so nothing can get in, but in the mean time what I>d like to do
is trap or repel the varmint. I>ve kept chickens for about 10 years
and have never had this problem before. I live in NW New Mexico and we
have the occasional fox, many skunks, and reputedly, the weasel as
possible contenders. This is not the work of a coyote. If anyone has
ideas about baiting/trapping, or repelling I would surely appreciate
hearing about them. Thanks in advance! |
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Jonathan
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| Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2003 4:00 am Post subject: Re: Weasel or something killing our pullets |
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hankinson@aol.comspamfree (Hankinson) wrote in message news:<20030819123411.10781.00000220@mb-m14.aol.com>...
[quote]Lauren,
Consider the possibility of a racoon. They can go through a much smaller
hole than you would imagine. I have watched one go through a four inch long
slit in two joined pieces of chicken wire. You can try adding another layer of
toed-in wire to reinforce the bottom three feet. In the end you may want to
install electric, that may be the only sure bet.
Burl
[/quote]
Don>t know how big weasels are in your part of the world Laur - I
think what you call weasels might be similar to our stoats (UK), which
are a fair bit bigger. However, both can gain entrance through tiny
holes, a stoat a rat hole, a weasel a mouse or vole hole. Both are
capable of killing poults, though, obviously, stoats are the more
formidable predator. I>ve seen UK weasels kill adult rabbits, by
systematically hunting them by scent wherever they went, reducing
them, finally, to a crawling, screaming wreck. Whether chickens would
succumb so easily is doubtful, but poults might. Rather than eat the
whole carcass they often simply drink their blood, leaving few marks
on the carcass itself (on a rabbit they often break in just below the
ear). They will come back to feed though - many years ago I left a
dead lamb overnight in a shed (yes, I know it>s not the right thing to
do, but at lambing time things can get quite hectic!) and noticed the
carcass was being fed on. I was so intrigued I sat and watched for a
while the next morning - to my surprise it was a weasel.
As for trapping, if it is a weasel, I>d recommend blocking up any
holes, however tiny, that you can see from inside the pen. Then
ascertain whatever trap you can legally use in your area and check the
jaw width. Place a board, in width that won>t impede the closing of
the jaws on your trap, at a 45 degree angle to the outside of your
pen, and set the trap within. You can constrict the entrance with
twigs if you>re concerned with poultry entering (they won>t if you get
a long enough board and set the trap in the middle). The best bet is
to construct a permanent tunnel trap (a pipe that you can simply lift
a lid off to inspect the trap) that will pick up most small predators
before they attack your poultry.
Hope this helps.
Jonathan |
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