We have had chickens for about 4 years now. we started with yard chickens, lost them to predators and subsequently built a pen. Even then we lost them, so we reinforced our pen. What we now have is an 8ft. high chain link which is buried in the ground approx. 1 ft. deep and cemented underneath. The gate has hardware mesh wrapped barrel fashion around the sides to prevent anything from sqeezing by. The top of the pen is triple layer chicken wire which comes to a point in the center sor of like a circus tent. We had no problems for 10 months, and suddenly we started finding beheaded chickens with their insides missing iside the pen. This would happen every 2 or 3 days and we lost 12 chickens over a 3 week period. I put a Havaheart trap out and eventually caught a possum, but it looked too big to get in the pen. What could it be??????
Weasels like to eat the heads and can fit through small places. It sounds like that is the culprit. As how to get rid of it, I dont know. Maybe someone else has some ideas.
Boy! you must be in the boonies. Lots of critters. When I got my turkeys, one of our steers kept jumping in their run as we were building it. (cleared about four feet of fencing). Fortunately our electric fence doesn't run far from the pen, so I just rerouted it and suprised Mr. Cow-works great. One breeder suggested running the electric around a foot or two off the ground so the critter would actualy start to climb before he got zapped. There are fence insulators that will stick out about 4 inches from the post, so your chickens won't get hurt. As for your weasels, we are lucky to have a barn cat that catches them every so often.
Dont forget rats or mink both are lethal in the hen house, find a trapper this fall or someone with a Jack Russel terrier, If nothing else the trapper can tell you what you are dealing with. Remember a predator will come back as long as the food source remains available or until it is killed.
By Dhaesche on Friday, October 15, 1999 - 08:10 pm:
By Lightning on Friday, October 22, 1999 - 11:27 pm:
By MEERS on Monday, November 8, 1999 - 11:21 pm: