predator attack - what did it?

[chickenfan]

I found my birds had been attacked this afternoon. There were several piles of feathers and one large blue maran lying dead with her throat opened. She was still warm and neighbours told me they heard a commotion at 2.30pm. I'm wondering what did it? Its a large covered run in a tiny smallholding. I had rats in the summer that had tunnelled under the skirting and this could have been an entry point for a mink/stoat/weasel. I had removed all my birds from the run to get rid of the rats and put them in another place for 2 months and reintroduced the birds a week ago.

I've removed all the birds from the run. On close examination, several of them have bite wounds on their heads and they are severely traumatised.

There are ponds nearby. I'd welcome thoughts from the knowledgeable people in this group.

 

[chickenfan]

My conclusion is that it must have been a mink to have killed a large Marans bird and the bite on the side of the neck and the skull seems to be something mink do. In 11 years of keeping chickens its the first predator attack I've had and very gruesome. But I can't understand why it bit so many other birds without killing them. Or how it munched its way through three lovely bantams. Perhaps it was a group of mink. Its strange they only came after the rats had left.

 

[Marigold]

Hi Chickenfan. What a horrible experience, for you and your birds. I don’t know much about mink, thank goodness there don’t seem to be any round here, so I looked them up.
https://www.countryfile.com/wildlife/mammals/mink-guide-how-to-identify-where-to-see-and-species-facts/
It certainly sounds as if it could have been a mink attack, although I also found out that they usually live alone except in the breeding season, so probably just one on a hunting spree. Do you know of any other local sightings of mink? Do you live near a river?
I suppose the only thing to do is to up your security, especially if it seems the attack was in daylight, as now it knows where there is food, it’ll be back. Could you cover the floor of the run with 1/2” netting, and run this up the sides for about 30cms? Nothing else will be so sure to keep out rats as well as mink. I find that rats come and go in our garden, and once I’ve dealt with one family, there will be a few months’ peace and quiet, and then they’re back.
You’ll then need to cover the netting with permeable membrane so the birds don’t get their toes caught when they scratch, well fastened down round the edges with metal tent pegs. I found that the plastic pegs usually sold for membrane are too wide to go through 1/2” mesh. And then top it off with Aubiose or whatever you use for bedding, and it will be safe and comfortable. A big job, but you’ll only need to do it once, and then they’ll be safe from any kind of burrowing predator.
Do let us know how you get on.

 

[chickenfan]

Hi Marigold, thanks for your very kind message and the link to the interesting article. Thanks also for the very helpful tips. It sounds a good idea to put netting on the floor (in my case its grass which will presumably grow through) as well as the outside. It sounds as though mink have very strong jaws and easily chew through netting so I'll look for a heavy duty one. The birds that have been bitten on the back of their necks have survived the night but still look like zombies so they are in cat boxes in my kitchen. One of them was shaking like a leaf for ages when I picked her up yesterday and collapsed when I brought her home but she is sitting up now. She has had some metacam pain killer.

So do you get rats recurring even with the suggested measures? Its just possible it was a pine marten attack, but they normally attack at dusk. My attack was 2.30-3.30 pm although I guess that's fairly near dusk at the moment. Yes, neighbours have been hearing and seeing viscious attacks on squealing rabbits from something a bit like a stoat.

 

[Marigold]

Hi chickenfan. The kind of netting I’d recommend is aviary weldmesh 1/2” which is very strong, and also the holes are too close together for predators to get their jaws in and chew it through. It’s not worth going to the trouble of fixing it and using a less effective quality. Mine has been down for nearly ten years now and was all intact when I had to inspect it last year.
Hills of Devon are good, see https://www.hillsofdevon.co.uk/aviary-mesh.html
We did have an outbreak of rats last year, nesting under my neighbour’s shed which is adjacent to my run. They were also making tunnels under the mesh of my run, but couldn’t get up inside because of the mesh. I had to take up the membrane covering the mesh, to reveal their tunnels, and I just poured pea shingle through the mesh to fill them in solid. No more problems once this was done. My neighbour and I put down some of those rat poison boxes which are not accessible to dogs or other animals, and as the hedgehogs were hibernating they were safe. I hate using poison but there seemed no other way, and as promised on the boxes, the rats just seemed to melt away after a week or so. I did find one body but this is normal where I live as there are grain barns up the road from us and the rats tend to migrate to nearby garden sheds when all the grain has been removed after harvest.

P.S. I had forgotten about Poppy’s moment of glory last January, and that the rats had briefly got in past the mesh by chewing right up through one of the 3”posts! No more problems since I repaired the mesh and fixed it higher up, though. See
http://poultrykeeperforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=11291

 

[chickenfan]

Thanks so much for this extremely helpful information Marigold. I presume if I lay it on grass it will just grow through it. Great to have a solution to rats and burrowing predators! And its a local company.

 

[chickenfan]

Is the 1mm diameter weldmesh strong enough?

 

[Marigold]

Yes- if it’s weldmesh. If you think about it, you actually get as much or more metal mesh per sq.ft with small squares than with larger spaces, and if course nothing can get through it. Rats can get through 1” mesh or larger, and foxes could get their teeth in and chew it. As my photo shows in the link to my previous post, after ten years the mesh wasn’t damaged, and although the rats tunnelled under it, they couldn’t get up through it into the run. They had to chew their way in by biting upwards through the 3” wooden post! I mended this by fixing the mesh round the post to higher up, no more problems. The sides and roof of my run are made from 1/2” aviary mesh so the run is an enclosed weldmesh box on all surfaces, with a clear polycarbonate roof on top.

 

[chickenfan]

Your run sounds lovely Marigold. I now have my weldmesh. The only thing is that one of my birds that was bitten on the head is not recovering. She is strong in herself but she is still traumatised and is not eating or drinking except a tiny amount. I've got her on antibiotics from the vet but she gets extremely shaky if I try to administer them or syringe 'critical care' fluids into her mouth, so this feels cruel. I can't work out whether she perhaps has a deeper head wound than I know or whether she hasn't got over the trauma of Tuesday's attack, and I think its the latter. She has a bit of a twitch in her neck. If I put her with the other birds she will do things like dust-bathing but she soon gets tired and shaky again so I have her in a catbox in the kitchen. I am thinking of letting her go tomorrow as we aren't really winning.

 

[Marigold]

That’s always a hard decision, isn’t it? but she may have internal injuries from the attack and be in pain. Antibiotics may not be appropriate for whatever has happened to her. If it was just trauma and shock, she should have calmed down by now. You know her best and will do the kindest thing for her, I’m sure.

 

[chickenfan]

Thank you Marigold.

 

[bigyetiman]

So sorry to read about the attack, so distressing for you. It is a hard thing to do but sometimes birds just don't get over the trauma of an attack, I know you will do the right thing.

We have the same weld mesh as Marigold, we decided on that after hearing about a neighbour who lost hens to an escaped ferret that got through wider mesh.

Good luck

 

[chickenfan]

Hello Marigold, did you use some sort of stapler gun to attach the weldmesh to the run?

My bantam is gradually improving.

 

[Marigold]

I used 1/2” galvanised staples and fixed them individually with a hammer where the mesh was attached to wood, eg the uprights. https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l2632&_nkw=galvanised+staples&_sacat=3187

Where the underfloor mesh was attached to the side mesh, I bent the edges of the mesh upwards all round the sides and used soft, pliable gardening wire to ‘sew’ the two edges together in ‘stitches’ about 3” long. You need two people for this, one inside and one outside the mesh, to push the wire back and forward. It makes a neat and strong job.
I’m glad your bantam is doing well.

 

[Marigold]

Alternatively, for fixing mesh to mesh, you could buy a couple of bags of cable ties instead of sewing with the garden wire, to make ‘stitches’ to join the two pieces of mesh.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384104462683

 

[chickenfan]

I think her neck was injured but she's getting better. Amazing things chickens!