Green Wellies and Baler Twine

pepperami · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:06 am Post subject: mink in the hen-house

on my little shoot where i do the ratting, we have had a disaster Shocked

i went there the other day to find only half the resident chooks around??
Hmmm?? whats going on here?? me-thinks.
i call the owner to ask if this is right and he informs me that something is getting in the run and killing/taking his hens.

so as chief ratter and hen compound security bod Shocked

i do the rounds and can find no breaks in the wire, tunnels, or any signs that indicate a fox.
none of my baited rat-traps have been uprooted and only have rats in them.

there are no houses close by so i am inclined to discount cats, plus it would have to be some cat to get over the wire and get out with a dead chook.
i found one hole near the doorway and it`s to small for a foxbut big enough for a large rat/mink.
i have looked for tell-tale signs of fox (hairs on posts, dig marks, paw prints) and have found none,
as there is a small water-course at the bottom of this land i am thinking that this may be a mink corridor and the hen-house has become thier snackbar Evil or Very Mad

i feel for the owner as these are all unusual breeds and not your standard chooks so they were not cheap,
he has had them for a couple of years now so he knew them.
no eggs until this issue is resolved.

MK4`s are not going to do it with mink so i am going to have to get some cage traps to see what we get.

any advice regarding the capture of mink would be welcome, but i am guessing that fishy bits in a cage trap will be as good as any????

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Quixote · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:22 am Post subject:

You could always try something similar to this? The idea is to leave a 'raft' with a clay-based surface to monitor the spoor of whichever animal is around to measure activity. Then the trap is placed on the raft once the main areas of activity are identified........................

http://www.gct.org.uk/uploads/minkrafthighres.pdf
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pepperami · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 10:36 am Post subject:

top thinking batman!! thank you for that Smile

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i am the sum total of my own existance

Quixote · Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 11:21 am Post subject:

You're very welcome! Hope it works! Very Happy

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A man should be moderately wise, never too wise. He who does not know his fate in advance is freest of care

ratman · Milk Maid Joined: 06 Sep 2007 Posts: 140 Status:

Worth setting a mink trap but I suspect it is something else to be honest. Mink will kill for lust the same as a fox and the usual tell tale signs of a mink kill is the back of the neck or top of the head is eaten. If there are mink about then the rat population will also take a nose dive. Mink are easy to trap and a cage trap along the waters edge will do the trick. Bait it with a piece of fish or a rabbits head etc. I have even caught them with a tin of tuna in a sock tied in a cage. Have a good look around for signs of evidence though like feathers, bits of fur, droppings and footprints. I have not known many situations where mink just take one at a time to be honest so a bit of snooping is definitely required. Good Luck
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pepperami · Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 9:17 pm Post subject:

thank you mr R now i have a use for the rabbit heads, so even less waste from what i have shot, and that cant be a bad thing.

do you know i had`nt even thought of that???
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pepperami · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:14 am Post subject:

the hen house is no more Sad

dispite my best efforts by being around the venue, air-rifle, traps, and the owner doing some selective poisoning.

there were only three chooks left out of twenty plus and as one was nobled the night before, the owner has now re-homed the last two Sad

we tried everything we could think of to keep them safe.
we had regular visits, solar powered electric fence, traps, poisoning,air-rifle.
we are begining to suspect that it might of been an idiot with a dog having some kind of weired and twisted fun Twisted Evil

as a stranger with a dog has been seen about the place but was/is always absent when we were about????
we suspect this as all the fencing and gate are in good order and we still cant find any gaps??

sad days Sad

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Calli · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:20 am Post subject:

Pep - what breed were the chooks....only because if they were rare its more likely they were taken by the two legged fox....
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pepperami · Posted: Thu Aug 07, 2008 8:54 am Post subject:

i dont know if they were particulary rare but they certainly were not your ordinary chook.
some where grey, some had hairy legs, a few were HUGE!!..
these are technical terms i am using!!!

anyway if it was a two legged fox, then there is nothing left to steal now Sad

and i may possibly may lose my little shoot as there is not so much of a reason for me to be there now Twisted Evil

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pepperami · Posted: Fri Aug 15, 2008 5:50 pm Post subject:

update on the sorry tale that has been this thread Sad

i went to my little shoot a couple of days ago and all the chooks were gone. Sad

.
the bunnies were Really jumpy and all in all it was not a good outing!!!

i spoke to the owner today and i turns out that what ever it was killing/nicking his chooks has made the owner decide to call it "quits" at this venue Sad

.
he thanked me for my services in keeping down mr ratty and said as he has no chooks anymore he would not need me to shoot any more Sad

.

so who or whatever you are i hope you have a terrible death Mad

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i am the sum total of my own existance