I thought I had a foolproof coop, my chickens were safe for four years. In the past week I lost all 6 of my chickens. Any ideas on how to keep the weasels out?
Get a babysitter for them. Seriously.
Muscovy males are great babysitters. They will even beat the living daylights out of stray dogs who come near. Weasels don’t have a chance. Plus, muscovies will eat mice and rats.
If not a muscovy, get a good gander. Geese are also protective and good at fending off the predators. A male goose will watch over chicks that aren’t even the same species and he’ll keep an eye on things for you. While geese aren’t quite as good at watchdogging as a muscovy, they do have a loud alarm to let you know that something is wrong. It’s a trade off.
Um, other babysitters include female goats (Even pygmy goats who love to stomp on small invaders, but that includes cats…), and llammas, but llammas are a BIT big.
A babysitter is better than any live trap, poison, or gun you can come up with. It’s a twenty four seven watch against all predators, so that when one weasel is gone, no more show up. Notice I never mentioned dog. Dogs don’t belong in a chicken coop for twenty four hours a day seven days a week, and besides, they occasionally decide chicken tastes good.
Best of luck.
Try chickens with Mummy Hen and use a fine and strong net.
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get a big wide cage if you think the weasel will come lock the cage
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lol eat the chickens before the weasels do lol
sorry
i needed a laugh..
i raised bannys and layin hens and roosters for 6 yrs and i had a bob cat and chicken snakes to ward off . if you have no more chickens set a live trap and bait it with a cooked chicken catch the weasel live and then take it to your local wild animal authority to take care of.
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Get a babysitter for them. Seriously.
Muscovy males are great babysitters. They will even beat the living daylights out of stray dogs who come near. Weasels don’t have a chance. Plus, muscovies will eat mice and rats.
If not a muscovy, get a good gander. Geese are also protective and good at fending off the predators. A male goose will watch over chicks that aren’t even the same species and he’ll keep an eye on things for you. While geese aren’t quite as good at watchdogging as a muscovy, they do have a loud alarm to let you know that something is wrong. It’s a trade off.
Um, other babysitters include female goats (Even pygmy goats who love to stomp on small invaders, but that includes cats…), and llammas, but llammas are a BIT big.
A babysitter is better than any live trap, poison, or gun you can come up with. It’s a twenty four seven watch against all predators, so that when one weasel is gone, no more show up. Notice I never mentioned dog. Dogs don’t belong in a chicken coop for twenty four hours a day seven days a week, and besides, they occasionally decide chicken tastes good.
Best of luck.
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my farm.
Two pygmy goats live with my call ducks. I’ve never lost a call duck to predators even though I have raccoons, possum, and all sorts of predators on the propery. The cats don’t even dare to go near the call ducks. I’ve also got four geese who have no other job on the farm but to protect half grown ducks who are too old to set with mom, but not old enough to keep out of trouble.
It is almost impossible to keep them out. If you are having a problem you might want to set a trap. There are foot-hold traps and live traps. It would depend on which one you prefer. If you don’t have a dog outside you might consider getting one. They will let you know if something is outside. They will bark if the chickens are getting roughed around. Racoons and Opossums will also get into a chicken house and eat them. If you are not familiar with a foot-hold trap then I would suggest a live trap. You can shoot whatever you catch and you don’t have to worry about them chewing their foot off to get away. If you turn them loose, you will need to take them many miles away or they will be back to feast on your chickens. Just keep your pen in good shape and be alert to noises in the night. Good Luck. We catch just about all the critters that attack our chickens, but they still get one now and again.
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