Chicken bald back

[JS1]

We moved house recently and this morning I saw a stoat in the garden. Obviously it sent me into a tail-spin and I got the chickens into their (Cube) run. Normally they free-range within an electric fence but I don't think this will be enough to protect them. We do have the space for a large walk-in run so that is an option (although not my preferred one - I like them to free-range).

 

My questions are:

Is the mesh in the Cube run small enough to keep the blighter out?

Am I panicking unnecessarily? (I am a bit of a catastrophiser)

What have other people done in similar situations??

 

We are in a very rural area.

[Eggasperated]

I've always assumed an electric fence would keep stoats and similar out, I shall be interested to hear what other people think.

[JS1]

We've bitten the bullet and ordered the components for a walk-in run with half-inch weld mesh. We've also been round the electric fence pegging down every slightly raised bit and are only letting them out of the cube run if we're close by. Fortunately with this hot weather they're happy to huddle under the cube whether the run is open or closed.

 

Would still appreciate any insights from anyone with stoat experience (now that's a sentence I never thought I'd write!)

[Flowerpot]

I had this conversation with Omlet and we agreed that the WIR mesh would not keep stoats out so I bought a run with a finer mesh. The Eglu itself is fine but the runs were a different matter.

[sparkysmum]

Hi, Really sorry to hear you have had a stoat visit you. Horrible things. Cant add to what others have said, just adding my sympathies. We had a mink visit - scary. Thankfully I saw it, scared it and as far as I know it hasnt been back. Good luck . Ax

[coco]

A friend of mine had some of her hens killed by a stoat/mink. She had a WIR with weldmesh but it still managed to dig underneath. She eventually got her husband to concrete the whole of the base of the run. Also not very nice but they found the stoat/minks hole and poured petrol down it before setting light to it. Drastic but it worked.