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[sparkysmum]

The highs and lows in our short hen keeping journey just get worse. Today when I looked out of the kitchen window I noticed the hens were a bit agitated & soon saw why - a black mink in their enclosure . I rushed to the hens and they seemed to be OK and the mink got through the fence into the field which is directly behind the garden I am simply horrifed at what might have happened. Never for a minute did I think my hens would be at risk from mink. I spoke to a friend's hubby tonight who is a fish farmer and he confirmed that what we saw was a mink and advised that it will probably continue to come to the garden for as long as we have hens Although I was totally shocked it does explain some things I didn't understand - strange poo in the garden amongst other things.

Anyway I'm at a total loss as to what to do - I don't want to confine them to their eglu run indefinately but it looks as though I have little choice. My other alternative would be a walk in run with a roof but I have no idea where to start. Does anyone know of aviary builders close to us? If I could find someone to build one for me I could probably fit one in reasonably well in the garden. Sorry to ramble on but the children and I are still shocked. Thanks for reading. Allison

[beach chick]

gosh you poor things. the only sensible thing I can think of to keep mink out is a purpose built run with proper weldmesh etc. I dont even know if an electric fence would work on mink? (spose it would, but they are small and sinous). there are loads of fab ideas on here with photos of people's runs etc.

hope someone with more ideas will come along soon.

[Egluntyne]

You could order a walk in run from **Flytesofancy** if you can't get one locally..

 

I have one from them and can recommend them.

[Joojoo]

I know someone who had 15 hens and lost 8 of them in one evening to a mink. Nasty creatures

 

I hope you get something sorted soon.

[Carol U]

So sorry to hear about your mink problem. The same thing happened to a friend of mine, who lost all of her chickens. The little devils will eat through anything, including wire. I wonder if it would be possible to set a trap or some sort of poison for the mink. Your local pest control officer might be able to advise you. I do wish you luck with it.

[Egluntyne]

**This trap** is supposed to te effective against mink.

 

I am tying to catch a rat with mine and have had no luck so far, but it has only been down a couple of days.

[sparkysmum]

Thanks for your replies folks. Egluntine, Flights of Fancy runs are a bit pricey, but Tony at Aviaries 4 U said he might be able to get one to us I'm not that keen on trapping them. I spoke briefly to Pest control but they are only interested in rats and mice. Anyway feeling more positive esp if Tony can come up with a run

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Mink are evil. I actually have a very old mink stole and refuse to acknowledge the squeaks of the animal rights people I know because mink are into random death and killing in a major way!

 

As well as the aviary, is it worth putting chickenwire under the earth so they can't burrow up and under?

 

The best way to stop them is trapping. It is a bit grim, but it's the only way which surefire deters them. There are a number of guides out there on the web if you do a search for 'mink trapping'.

 

Or you could get otters. Apparently otters are resurgent again and are (hoorah!) doing for the mink. Everyone loves otters, so not only would everyone love you for having otters, but you could end up with a nice mink coat at the end of it. It may be tricky-to-impossible, but it's a pretty plan...

 

Good luck!

[sparkysmum]

Hi chickychickychickennnnnnnnnnnn, thanks for grtting back to us. Otter awww but the menagerie is much too big already, but nice thought. I'm crossing my fingers for a walk in all singing all dancing run. All this for two wee s"Ooops, word censored!"s of hens, are we all mad Allison

[debbie26pet]

**This trap** is supposed to te effective against mink.

 

I am tying to catch a rat with mine and have had no luck so far, but it has only been down a couple of days.

 

how many rings did u get with it? as u know i have a visitor,

what yours overall impression of it?

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Sorry to hear about your mink problem . Hope you can resolve it somehow .

[Egluntyne]

**This trap** is supposed to te effective against mink.

 

I am tying to catch a rat with mine and have had no luck so far, but it has only been down a couple of days.

 

how many rings did u get with it? as u know i have a visitor,

what yours overall impression of it?

 

20. Seems a clever idea, although the instructions were as clear as mud.

 

As Rats distrust anything new, it hasn't worked yet. Am living in hopes.

[foreveryoung]

Hi building a simple run isnt a hard thing (trust me I built part of one!!) all you need are the required lengths of treated wood, whatsever type of mesh you wanted to use eg chick wire (you will prob want some tougher stuff ) and a staple gun (not the paper type. just build 4 frames add the wire mesh and bolt together it the area of your choice!

 

 

good luck!

[Egluntyne]

Chicken wire isn't fox proof and I doubt it will be mink proof. Go for weld mesh.

[HENthusiastic]

All this for two wee s"Ooops, word censored!"s of hens, are we all mad Allison

 

Sounds like you need a few more hens ....... especially with you planning a nice walk in run, eh? Might as well make it big!

[SarahJo]

Hope you have found a good solution - I used to live not far from you, and there was a Mink farm in a local village - animal rights set them all free one year, and now the Central Belt area is probably a fair breeding ground for them. Not nice - they will take a newborn lamb apart .

[A chickychickychick-ENN!!]

Someone on here posted about a nooski trap which kills them but throws them out of the trap in case that's easier to deal with. http://www.nooski.com/