The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: mab on August 26, 2016, 08:18:17 pm
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hello all,
Last summer I made a run from Herris fence panels as my neighbour said the fox can't get in - and indeed, the hens have been safe from the fox. But about a month ago, I came home and went to let the hens out only to find one had been killed in the run (but not eaten - maybe I disturbed the predator). It appeared to have been moved to a small gap (2" tops) under the fence panel, a couple of yards from where the scattered feathers suggested it was killed. I filled the gap.
Today another has been got - apparently in the same spot in the run as the first, not moved, but partially eaten. One of the two remaining hens has lost some neck feathers but is otherwise fine. There don't appear to be any gaps apart from the regular vertical gaps between the panels.
I'm assuming it isn't a small fox as they have a reputation for killing all the birds. Any ideas what it could be? stoat? mink? buzzard?. I'm wondering if I'm better off leaving them out as at least they can run away.
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stoat
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OK, that sounds quite definite - enough to not go out and buy netting to go over the top of the run :) - thanks.
I guess the next question is how small a gap can they go through? - I suppose I should chicken-wire over the gaps between panels & I bury the bottom of the fence - though I'm not sure what to do about the gate...
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In my experience they can get through really small holes... we lost two batches of hens inside their house at night.... door was shut (indeed the stoat shot out when I opened up 1st thing in the morning and all hens inside were dead, could have only got in either during the day/evening and then waiting for the hens or through small holes from knots in the wood)... and unless you have a good hunting cat there is not much you can do about it. Touch wood, we have not seen one for a while, we used to have one mooching round the house and garden...
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Huh - so there's not much I can do? The neighbours semi-feral cats are marauding the area already. Can you catch 'em with a rat trap I wonder?
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I use Harris fencing on my pheasant pens but don't use the foot blocks to attach them together just cable tie them, I also fasten a roll of chicken mesh round the bottom and half way into the ground, also a string of electric wire round the perimeter.
Keeps most out.
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I think a stoat would be able to get through the mesh on standard Herras fencing - they really can squeeze through the tiniest of gaps.
Mink are another possibility of course.
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Stoat sounds the most likely candidate. I lost four turkey poults to one last year - it got through a 6cm gap. I think the turkey hen must have sat tight on the poults while the stoat scrabbled at her back to get her to move, because she was bare of feathers from neck to tail along her back when we found her (terribly distressed) in the morning.
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Yep stoat. Mink likely to kill everything but it could be a young one. Both very difficult to keep out as can squeeze through the tiniest of gaps. Herras fencing is actually not that strong. The wire bends quite easily,
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Ok, I've got some 1" mesh chicken wire I could run aroud the outside and bury. I didn't stand the fence in blocks either but stamped the poles into the ground so that the horizontals are on the ground - except where the ground is uneven, using the regular bolt on clamps higher up which leaves gaps between the verticals.
Oh well, Mr Fox defeated, Mr stoat now; I wonder who's next.
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Could you have a small secure house inside the wire fence, so at night they are completely shut away?
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Stoat, we had the same with our heras panels, hadn't thought of a stoat as we're next to housing.
A few birds of ours sleep on top of their coop in summer so an automatic door opener would not have kept them safe, but if yours always sleep inside that would be the best option. I spent weeks and lots of money adding 1/2 inch welded mesh on the floor and sides with slightly lighter mesh on top (it weighed a ton). Was worth it as even a mouse can't get in.
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Could you have a small secure house inside the wire fence, so at night they are completely shut away?
They have a house with a pophole opener on it which they go into at night (though probably not that secure as a rat chewed a hole into it last year) but both attacks have occured in broad daylight when I'm away working. whatever it is, it seems to leave them alone unless I've been away for several hours.
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Add a scarecrow?
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;D if only it were that simple. I suspect I'll end up following your example Eve and turning it into fort knox.
For the moment I'm somewhat randomly leaving the remaining birds out during the day - at lease they can run if they're free - but if I leave them out all the time Mr Fox will cotton on sooner or later.
Now, where's a good place to buy lots of 1/2" weldmesh cheaply...
thanks for the ideas folks :)
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Do you work full time? If not, a rat & stoat proof smaller run for working hours will be much easier and cheaper to build. Our run is 50sqm and it costs hundreds of pounds to cover with the additional mesh (it's a hobby so we didn't mind; playing golf costs even more and you can't eat golf balls ;D )
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Maybe give hens perches to get up off the floor of the run while they're outside so they can rest or doze in a bit of safety.
Put in some weld mesh/chicken wire at bottom of fence and leave a trapping point. Their fearlessness makes stoats fairly easy to catch in small cage traps.
Once they (one?) knows where a food source is, they'll keep going again and again. :-[
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Stoats will climb onto anything, though, they go up in trees to take chicks and eggs. :(
When we had a stoat problem we put up a trail camera with 2 quail in a stoat proof cage with the trap towards it as we then still weren't sure what did the killing. The stoat was clearly camera shy because it killed a much larger bird that night behind the camera. That was the last bird it had as we then locked them all in each night until the 1/2 inch mesh lining was finished weeks later. Catching the al fresco sleepers every night to put them inside the coop was entertaining...
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How about a line of electric wire a few inches off the floor around the outside of the fence?
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I did think about an electric wire but wasn't sure how high to put it for stoats, and, if a stoat is that small would it be in contact with the wire long enough to get zapped - my zapper has a slow pulse.
Do stoats usually hunt in the daytime?
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Day and night. And they are so fast so could easily miss the pulse.
They can also squish down to an inch or two high, or bound a foot in the air - so perhaps not!
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Set some traps and catch it would be my advice. You can also sit outside with a spotlight at night and 'squeak' it within range if you have a gun, a good airgun will take care of a stoat or rat as it may be..
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well I can rule out the sit out with a spotlight option as I don't have a gun of any sort.
stoat trap? mmm... that may be worth looking into...
:)
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I've caught them with Longworth, uglans, and cage rabbit trap off eBay. The wire/cage needs to be either solid or small mesh, and the door must fit securely as they can squeeze out of tiny gaps.
For the rabbit trap I had to make the doorway narrower so that when door closed there was no half inch gap at the side.
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Thx :)