The Poultry Keeper

warleybarley · Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 6 Location: Surrey

Hi all - We had our 4 hens for 18m when we thought a fox struck, killing all of them. So 3 weeks ago, we made the coop look like Guantanamo Bay, with avian wire buried in over a foot on two sides and aprons on the other sides. Everything looks secure.

However, 2 weeks after our new chickens arrived, they have just been killed this morning. Still warm. Daughter heartbroken again. The bottom of the garden is wild, shady and backs onto the canal.

There are no holes, no evidence of digging. All the chickens were in a pile, just a few feathers strewn around. No evidence it's gone through the top. There is just one small area of wire that is 2 inches by 3 inches green plastic wiring and this is 2 feet off the ground.

What could have done this?

Kitsune · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 1406 Location: Manchester

can you see any marks on the hens from whatever killed them? I'm thinking it could possibly be a rat, and they would leave different teeth marks to a stoat - I am pretty sure a weasel is too small to kill a chicken, but could be wrong.

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2623 Location: South Cumbria

could it be mink as you are so close to the canal ? if so is there an angling club as they may set traps for it

CP · Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:47 am Post subject:

Does sound like mink could be the culprit. They would be able to get through holes 2" x 3" & so would a rat. Crying or Very sad

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2623 Location: South Cumbria

yes a female mink weighs in at under 1lb smaller than people think ! and they are killers just like foxes Sad

warleybarley · Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 6 Location: Surrey

OK - starting to feel really stupid.

There was a rat in the nesting box a couple of days ago and we killed it. Had never been a problem before. Would a rat kill 4 chickens and just leave them in a pile outside in the run?

As for mink, maybe I need to set some traps. Is there anyway I can mink proof the run/ coop? Is there anyway I can rat proof the run? We're already using aviary wire all over apart from one patch 2 foot up (about a foot square) where there is that green plastic covered thick mesh about 2 inches by 3 inches.

Thanks loads for the replies. It's amazing - we had no problems for a whole year with a far less secure run/ coop and now with a Fort Knox like structure, we have disaster within days..... Sad

warleybarley · Joined: 11 May 2007 Posts: 6 Location: Surrey

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2623 Location: South Cumbria

http://www.defra.gov.uk/rds/publications/technical/tan_02.pdf

Kitsune · Joined: 13 Mar 2008 Posts: 1406 Location: Manchester

well definitely cover up the area that has the larger holes in with some more aviary netting - hopefully that will lock out whatever was getting in...

It could be either a stoat or a mink, I think rats would probably make more mess of the birds and probably wouldn't take a full grown hen on, stoats are known to kill hens and mink are just evil - I would have thought that either mink or stoat would have eaten some too or tried to drag it out - unless they were disturbed..

Viv · Joined: 13 Aug 2006 Posts: 264 Location: Northumberland

My neighbour lives by a burn and her beaut streetwise Maran was killed by a polecat. We were devastated as Ollie was such a lovely hen, we only found out as gamekeeper informed us. As hens warm, sounds like poss disturbed, so sorry for your second loss so devastating for your all Sad

jubilee · Joined: 04 Jun 2008 Posts: 125 Location: nottinghamshire

sounds like definately a mink to me, we had one last year, and they kill very cleanly, they have a terrible odour, can you smell anything around where your chickens were killed, it's an unmistakeable stench! so much so our remaining chickens wouldn't go in the hen house untill we disinfected it! i contacted the local council about ours as i saw it fighting with a rat on the garden! and they advised us to bait it with fish, as this is their prefered diet, so we got some fish heads and guts from our local supermarket (for free!) and put them in a humane trap, we luckily caught it the first night! my husband has an air rifle, and he shot it in the trap, as it is illegal to release them once caught. if you haven't got a gun, call your council and they'll sent someone out to deal with it. mink are classed as vermin, and were un-naturally released into our countryside by lots of do-gooders a few years back! so they are not a native species to Britain, and the river authorities and councils are really interested to find them and set traps to catch them as they are decimating our native animals. hope this has helped. xx