How to Get Rid of Weasels That Kill Your Poultry

For poultry farmers raising chickens, turkeys and other fowl, one weasel can nearly eliminate a flock all by itself. Weasels are agile and cunning predators. Because of them, farmers must take proactive measures to protect their poultry, starting with deterrents that increase to killing the predator if nothing else works. Weasels prefer rats to poultry, often going after poultry only once the rat population dwindles to nothing. Rats themselves are a threat to poultry and weasels targeting rats actually protects poultry. However, with rats eradicated, weasels must still eat. There are non-violent ways to deter weasels from a henhouse.

Things You'll Need

  • Lawn mower
  • Weed eater
  • Hedge clippers
  • Shovel
  • Yardstick
  • Plywood
  • Bricks
  • Wire cutters
  • Hard wire chicken fencing
  • Heavy-duty staple gun
  • Several yards barbed or razor wire
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Instructions

  1. Remove Potential Hiding Spots For Weasels

    • 1

      Remove all potential hiding places around the poultry cages, chicken run and the chicken coop.

    • 2

      Mow any long grasses and weeds, while severely trimming shrubs and ivy. The idea is to remove anything that a weasel may be able to hide under or behind and stalk unwitting poultry.

    • 3

      Remove any woodpiles, junk or debris that might be a sly hiding place for a watchful weasel. Poultry predators are not happy to have to stalk out in the open; clearing a wide path around the poultry areas could be the entire deterrent necessary to protect the flock.

    • 4

      Remove any greenery that prevents a straight view from a home or main building to the poultry pens and coops. This gives a farmer the ability to see a weasel and perhaps reach the coop before any savagery erupts.

    Thwarting Weasel Determination

    • 5

      Dig a trench under the chicken wire fences protecting the poultry. It should be at least 2 feet deep, as cunning weasels can dig that far to get the prize.

    • 6

      Submerge at least 2 feet of plywood along the edge of the fences into the trenches. For home farmers on a budget, using bricks or heavy chicken wire will work as well, as long as it reaches the required 2-foot depth, preventing unwanted visitors from burrowing under them.

    • 7

      Attach the boards or the wire to the fences. With wire fencing, attach with wire ties; with plywood, attach to the fence with a large staple gun. The protection to the poultry is in how secure the fence attaches to the barriers.

    • 8

      Use wire cutters to remove any sharp points that could injure the poultry or the weasel. Humane is the name of the game.

    Barbed Wire May Sound Over-the-Top, But Works

    • 9

      Unroll a length of razor wire or barbed wire to put on top of the poultry housing areas. This may seem like a bit of overkill, but weasels raccoons and other persistent, stubborn and intelligent predators will stop at nothing to get to the poultry.

    • 10

      Staple the starting point of barbed or razor wire firmly to the top of each fence and the top of each poultry building, with a heavy-duty staple gun, coiling it to give it extra girth and spines that are closer together.

    • 11

      Secure all barbed wire or razor wire now with the heavy-duty staples, going back to the beginning where the wire was started and adding staples to ensure stability.

    • 12

      Follow the length and shapes of the fences and coops and trail barbed wire along them, securing them intermittently with a heavy-duty staple.

    • 13

      Use wire cutters to remove any sharp wire that could potentially harm the poultry or the weasel.