White mink

[ChickenCanoe]

Before anyone feels too bad for poor little mink-y, It just wiped out the last of my 4 young pullets. That is the end of my adult hens. I have nothing left but a goose. Is he next? View attachment 4003085View attachment 4003087
6 chickens total.

I feel you.
I consider myself an environmentalist, almost an 'Earth Firster'. Especially for native wildlife but it hurts to lose so many birds.

In 5 days, mink killed $3,000 worth of my birds. At least mink are native.
To say nothing of birds lost to dogs, coyotes and raccoons - none of which were native to what is now Missouri when Europeans arrived.

 

[gimmie birdies]

We had set a live trap one time for a skunk. The skunk was naughty and killed 2 of my very old hens. With the skunk we released it far from home where wild life rangers said it was best. And we even drove it in our car- yes it was stinky- but I mostly squirted out.(Skunks usually can only catch very old birds.) With hawks you birds stand the chance of at least running for cover. Minks are so quick. One good thing, I had only those 6 birds in the coop, because I went on a vacation and gave my best birds to a friend. I am thinking once I get this darned mink taken care of, I may ask for my other birds back.

I took the time today to really clean the coop good. Everything out. Just bare floor. I did set out the traps for the mink. When the mink is gone, I have so much room now and a bare floor, I am thinking on making a cage on the inside of the coop, using hardware cloth. This will eventually be an enclosed brooder for chicks I hatched out They are about 4/5 days old. I will brooder them in a different area until they are 6 weeks old. I will send pics.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I see at least one problem here. I see it here all the time so this isn't new. It is a statement like, "when I get the raccoon", "when I kill that coyote", "I'll get the mink".
The problem is the word THE or That or any other singular article or pronoun.
There are never single predators unless you are talking bears or cougars. The rest all have mates, kids, parents, siblings, cousins, etc.
Animals aren't spontaneously generated and few species have single offspring.

 

[Seaslug]

Like I posted previously, I had a mink get 4 of my 6 hens in a single night. The two survivors were housed on a screened in back porch (where a cat liked to summer, safe from the dogs going into and out of the house) for maybe three months until such time as changes could be made to the coop and injuries could heal.
We have photos of the mink from the game cam put up in the run the next night. We did not kill the mink. It did not come back after that night and, four years later, we have not had another run in with one.

There are few guarantees in life.

 

[tlcmurphy]

Before anyone feels too bad for poor little mink-y, It just wiped out the last of my 4 young pullets. That is the end of my adult hens. I have nothing left but a goose. Is he next? View attachment 4003085View attachment 4003087
6 chickens total.

Oh no, I’m so sorry.
Get him/her!

 

[gimmie birdies]

The mink didn't kill 4 hens in one night for food, but for fun. The "family" you talk about happens after Feb, I looked it up. They are solitary animals. Traps out and ready! My heart strings were cut 6 hens ago.

 

[gimmie birdies]

Seaslug- We have lived here 30 years out first mink.

 

[StinkyAcres]

I'm sorry you have lost so many birds. But please don't get anymore birds until you secure your coop. An unsecured coop is not fair to your animals or the wildlife. A predator-proof coop is much more effective than trying to kill the predators.

The mink didn't kill 4 hens in one night for food, but for fun. The "family" you talk about happens after Feb, I looked it up. They are solitary animals.

The point is there are always more predators out there. There can be many solitary animals living in the same area. And what you saw was not a Mink.

 

[Seaslug]

Very few wild animals have the resources to do anything for fun, especially animals that are solitary. And very few wild animals are going to do anything as risky as battle for "fun."

In my situation, a mink found itself in an unnatural situation: 6 large night blind birds. The mink did not think: killing these animals would be fun. It saw a unique opportunity to secure for itself meals for the entire month of January. The mink killed four of my chickens and stashed them -- drug them to the most secure places it could find within my coop -- so it could come back to them.

The only living thing that I was unhappy with that day was myself because I had not protected my chickens. Killing the mink was not going to bring back my dead chickens. It was not going to make my surviving chickens any more secure -- for that I needed more hardware cloth. I mention this because there are some people who do not want to kill things and often they are told that their chickens are doomed if they do not destroy every predator that sets toe on their property. Seemingly there are always cheerleaders for killing predators; I am just saying that I let live and the sky did not fall.

I am not meaning to criticize. I am sorry for your loss.

 

[StinkyAcres]

Very few wild animals have the resources to do anything for fun, especially animals that are solitary. And very few wild animals are going to do anything as risky as battle for "fun."

In my situation, a mink found itself in an unnatural situation: 6 large night blind birds. The mink did not think: killing these animals would be fun. It saw a unique opportunity to secure for itself meals for the entire month of January. The mink killed four of my chickens and stashed them -- drug them to the most secure places it could find within my coop -- so it could come back to them.

The only living thing that I was unhappy with that day was myself because I had not protected my chickens. Killing the mink was not going to bring back my dead chickens. It was not going to make my surviving chickens any more secure -- for that I needed more hardware cloth. I mention this because there are some people who do not want to kill things and often they are told that their chickens are doomed if they do not destroy every predator that sets toe on their property. Seemingly there are always cheerleaders for killing predators; I am just saying that I let live and the sky did not fall.

I am not meaning to criticize. I am sorry for your loss.