Becky Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Hi guys I'm quite sure this may have come up at some point before but can't find anything. I am looking for advice on how to protect chickens from polecats, my boyfriends family have already lost a hen and 3 chicks to one and he keeps coming back to check out the scene to see if there is anything else to rip apart! They have put up a trap which they have baited with meat but so far nothing. I just wondered if there are any great tips out there for proventing polecat attacks. It's for his little brother and sister's sake, they were so upset (having seen the devistation) I don't think they could take much more of that!! All advice appreciated.Becky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulb Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 put rocks around it so it looks like a tunnel, and dont touch it. and make sure your chicks are in a polecat proof house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Polecats, polecats, polecats. Horrible things (but sadly lovely as pets). We have just caught 5 of the little buggers in traps - 2 a day in the course of a week. Anyway, they have been dispatched and the traps re-set. We bait them with tinned sardines or cat food. Both with equal success. Make sure the traps are disguised and not particularly visible except for the entrance, ie bury them in hay. Alternatively, if you know someone with a pet ferret, preferably an unneutered male, you could try this method. it sometimes works to fill up a carrier bag with ferret droppings mixed with newspapers shreds, sawdust bedding, cat litter - whatever is used in their house to poo on. Cut off the bottom corner of the bag and walk around the outside of the henhouse allowing the ferret droppings/litter to scatter itself on the ground. A visiting polecat will immediately think this is not his territory but some other's and will stay away to avoid confrontation. To be honest, the best method is to make your hen-house ferret proof and that means blocking up holes, even the little ones - they can get into anything and shut your hens up at night without fail. Just because it is raining, you still have to go out in the dark and shut up the henhouse. There is no excuse. Polecats rarely attack during the day but you must make your henhouse 110% polecat-proof because any little hole will let in a polecat. You may think it won't but they are tenacious and resourceful little beggers. Good luck. Frances Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Becky Posted September 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Wow, thanks Frances, never thought I would advertise for ferret poo on a forum but I have now. Thanks for the advice, they are off to cover the trap now, until now it had been quite obviously a trap so that advice may well help!! B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rasmie Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Following a suggestion from a friend, I put a light in the henhouse connected to a timer so the light came on before dusk and for a couple of hours after dark. Also it came on a couple of hours before dawn. The theory being that they mainly hunt just after dusk and just before dawn and avoid the light . I only lost a hen twice and that might have been a domestic cat? Also if you have a high enough roost in the henhouse, hens will naturally settle as high as possible on something quite narrow - like a broom handle - that also reduces the chance of a predator getting them- mine was 6 foot high and they managed to fly up easily enough. The main risk is after dark, so if you can lock them in safely.................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frances144 Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 A hen with chicks will not roost and leave her chicks to fend for themselves on the ground. The polecats (now recently deceased) manage to kill two of my hens (5 months old and doing very well - one even laid an egg!). I don't think they had got to the roosting stage and the polecats managed to get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ of Hildisvik Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Polecats are certainly crafty little so and so's, i think live traps are best because some people are killing Stoats, which are only about 7 inches long with a white tipped tail, they turn white in winter.Stoats were introduced around 1600 so are naturalised into the Shetland enviroment, and do need protecting from humans , but also from polecats a larger animal altogether. Mind, i see about 10 road kill polecats every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeemsie1989 Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Best advice I can think of: get puppy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ of Hildisvik Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Or perhaps a well trained Eagle Owl might do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeemsie1989 Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Ah, go all out! Get a Tiger!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaxFusion Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 7 inches long with a white tipped tail, they turn white in winter. PJ, dats a Black tipped tail getting rarer these days too, altho I have seena couple goin roundlethal bunny killers too!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJ of Hildisvik Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 Black tail, not white ,quite right, must need more Caffiene! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeemsie1989 Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 You must do, your even spelling caffene incorrectly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtothet Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 You must do, your even spelling caffene incorrectly! *facepalm* caffeine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fjool Posted September 18, 2008 Report Share Posted September 18, 2008 your even spelling caffene incorrectly! Also: subject=polecats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now