The Poultry Keeper The Independent Forum for Poultry Keepers    FAQ   Search     Register   Log in  Stoats          The Poultry Keeper Forum Index -> Pests and Predators Author Message nigel Moderator Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 2473 Location: Skåne, Sweden Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:54 pm    Post subject: Stoats While tidying up the allotment I found a stoat today. Quite a pretty little fellow, who had just had a run in with one of the local cats by the look of him - a bit soggy on one end. He was a bit dazed but staggered off into the hedgerow. I know he's only a little guy, but is he a threat to the chooks? Back to top Deb_Moderator Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 3661 Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 4:03 pm    Post subject: Did a google to see what that even was. Ummmm, go look at the link. It looks like it can be quite the hunter. http://stevenround-birdphotography.com/Stoat.htm Last edited by Deb_Moderator on Sun Jan 01, 2006 6:48 am; edited 1 time in total Back to top mojo Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 10872 Location: GLENAY north deux sevre FRANCE Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:21 pm    Post subject: hi yes Nigel stoats are KILLERS they eat eggs and small birds as well as mice etc in the wild..so beware chicks and hens eggs are fair game for them ....answer .........small mesh wire.....no egg shells on the compost..........any fatalies in the dustbin not buried.........hope this helps..........mojo Back to top Aussie Chick Joined: 23 Apr 2005 Posts: 2737 Location: Milton Keynes/ Brisbane Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:44 pm    Post subject: I've seen them with big rabbits in their mouths. They are little fighters. Back to top lilly the pink Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 78 Location: Wiltshire Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:25 pm    Post subject: Whats the difference between a stoat and a weasel? A weasel is weasily recognised, but a stoat is stoatally different! They are both extremely ferocious and will polish off your hens given half a chance so don't take any! Back to top CP Moderator Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 15973 Location: Hampshire Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:29 pm    Post subject: lilly the pink wrote: Whats the difference between a stoat and a weasel? A weasel is weasily recognised, but a stoat is stoatally different! Back to top Attila The Hen Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 436 Location: Shetland Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 3:37 pm    Post subject: lilly the pink wrote: Whats the difference between a stoat and a weasel? A weasel is weasily recognised, but a stoat is stoatally different! They are both extremely ferocious and will polish off your hens given half a chance so don't take any! While otters are otterly delightful! ath Back to top Dorset Poultry Joined: 18 Aug 2005 Posts: 90 Location: Dorset/Somerset border Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:35 pm    Post subject: They aren't all that bad! I live next to a small chapel and there is a family of stoats who live in the graveyard, they have nicked the odd egg when the cooks lay in the dahlias but never taken any bird incl chicks and bantams (although a rather large maran cockerel - I'm talking 8 lbs here - with spurs to match has been known to see off most predators). Personally I think they are incredibly sweet unlike Mr Fox who decapitated my five 3week old ducklings within the ten mins of me disappearing for corn and returning again at 2.30pm in broad daylight . The only other predator to be warned about are buzzards esp in winter/spring when there is a lack of food, one made off with a 16week old buff orpington hen this feb, while I was stood in the garden flapping my arms at it Back to top mojo Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 10872 Location: GLENAY north deux sevre FRANCE Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 9:14 pm    Post subject: hi you have been lucky i think ...as they are chick eaters............. as for buzzards and other raptors sound twine(used to protect fruit bushes) with old cds stretch over the garden help keep them away hope this helps.......mojo Back to top jaydee67 Moderator Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5111 Location: Shetland Islands Posted: Mon Sep 19, 2005 10:12 pm    Post subject: Otters will take your birds just as easily though. My bro in law in Yell lost 2 lots of birds to otters. Back to top Attila The Hen Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 436 Location: Shetland Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 2:38 pm    Post subject: jaydee67 wrote: Otters will take your birds just as easily though. My bro in law in Yell lost 2 lots of birds to otters. I beg to differ, Jaydee. Yes, Otters will occasionally take avian prey items, but generally their diet is almost 100% piscine. In this regard they differ from almost all other members of the mustelidae that are more broadly omniverous and opportunistic (i.e, mink, weasels, stoats, polecats and pine martens and of course for us in Shetland, the primary predator of domestic fowl is the feral polecat ferret). That said, Otters can and will take domestic chickens or ducks, usually in times of food-stress (i.e, winter), but certainly not as "easily" as any of their close cousins. Your brother in law may well have been terribly unlucky, or else this might be another case of the undeservedly bad press Otters still get in Shetland. I bet you've heard some fairly tall stories about how fierce Otters can be - I know I have! Another behavioural difference between Otters and their congeners - an Otter will kill, remove to a 'safe' location and devour one prey item at a time. Polecat ferrets will kill indiscriminately and repeatedly in one attack, before maybe removing one or multiple prey items. A henny house here in Shetland that's the scene of a wholescale massacre is 99.9% likely to be the work of a polecat ferret. ath Back to top jaydee67 Moderator Joined: 14 Apr 2005 Posts: 5111 Location: Shetland Islands Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 5:51 pm    Post subject: Attila The Hen wrote: Another behavioural difference between Otters and their congeners - an Otter will kill, remove to a 'safe' location and devour one prey item at a time. ath That's what led him to believe it was otters, he knows there are otters beside him and his birds disappeared gradually one by one. Back to top mojo Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 10872 Location: GLENAY north deux sevre FRANCE Posted: Tue Sep 20, 2005 8:11 pm    Post subject: hi also lots of folks mix MINK and Otters.........now if you have mink you do have problems .....buy traps today they are b....y killers in fur coats...mojo Back to top Attila The Hen Joined: 19 Sep 2005 Posts: 436 Location: Shetland Posted: Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:54 pm    Post subject: jaydee67 wrote: That's what led him to believe it was otters, he knows there are otters beside him and his birds disappeared gradually one by one. Really unlucky chap. It's certainly the exception rather than the norm, which isn't much consolation for him or his hens I suppose! mojo wrote: also lots of folks mix MINK and Otters.........now if you have mink you do have problems .....buy traps today they are b....y killers in fur coats...mojo Absolutely. Thankfully we don't have any here, but they're a complete menace elsewhere in the UK. I believe SNH are taking steps to eradicate them in the Western Isles? Certainly polecat ferrets are on their hitlist. Of course, not to protect poultry folk's hens (groundnesting birds instead), but it'll have a happy side effect for chickens and domestic waterfowl too. ath Back to top Display posts from previous: All Posts1 Day7 Days2 Weeks1 Month3 Months6 Months1 Year Oldest FirstNewest First         The Poultry Keeper Forum Index -> Pests and Predators All times are GMT + 1 Hour Page 1 of 1 Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group