How can you scare a ferret away from your home? Protecting the chicken coop from forest rodents
Many poultry farmers have had to deal with the tricks of predatory animals that kill chickens. In the mornings one could see a population of birds with their heads torn off, paws chewed, and blood drunk. All this is the work of a ferret. However, chickens can also be threatened by animals such as foxes, martens, and weasels.
Although the ferret can be called a beautiful animal, it is considered a real thunderstorm for poultry. The animal will not calm down until the birds are destroyed. Therefore, if the first victim has been found, all necessary measures will need to be taken to get rid of the predatory rodent.
In order for the fight against the predator to bear fruit, know that the ferret's hunting time occurs at night. During this period, you can try to watch and get rid of the pest. But how to deal with the animal without harming yourself?
To do this, you can resort to several methods:
- Use a heavy coat, raincoat, blanket. Try to pin down the predator, wrap it up and move it into the cage.
- You can use thick gloves and catch the chicken killer with your hands. If the ferret manages to grab onto your hand, you should pinch its nose and insert some kind of piece of wood between its teeth.
The life of a caught predator, be it ferrets, martens, weasels or foxes, can be disposed of in different ways. If you don’t want to kill an animal, just take it away from houses and leave it in nature.
Using traps
Have you seen the first signs of ferret activity? Try to set traps immediately to prevent the chickens from being completely destroyed. Remember that a predator is cautious. If the traps have a human smell, he will not approach them.
You can get rid of the aroma by using one of the following methods:
- smear the trap with manure;
- boil the trap in spruce needles;
- Cover the device with lime.
After processing, the trap can be placed in a specific place, after putting fabric mittens on your hands. If the ferret has managed to dig holes near the chicken coop, you need to set traps at the beginning and end of the digging to get rid of the pest. Chicken feathers can act as bait. The ferret will become curious and will definitely come over to take a look.
In order to get rid of a ferret, you can take a bucket, put a dead chicken in it, and place it in a certain place, placing traps around it. Even if the pest bypasses all the traps on the way to the container, it will cling to the bird with its teeth and begin to back away. And at this moment one of the traps will work. This technique is also effective against foxes, martens and weasels.
Using homemade products
Fighting a predatory animal may involve creating homemade traps. To do this, you should use a regular cage, box or simple bucket. Place bait (a piece of meat) in the selected container. Set the door so that it closes automatically the moment someone gets inside. When the ferret or fox is caught, move the trap away from the house. You can simply kill the predator.
When creating a homemade trap for a ferret, marten, weasel or fox, do not use poisoned bait if you have pets. Curious cats or dogs are able to climb into the cage and feast on the meat. As a result, the predator will not be caught, and the pet will die.
The video will demonstrate what a homemade trap is.
Pet Help
Four-legged pets will help you get rid of a ferret. They are called good defenders. You can place a dog house next to the chicken coop. You can also put your pet on a chain, giving him the opportunity to move freely around the yard. Cats can be placed directly in the house. But it is not recommended to let dogs into the chicken coop. They will begin to feel stressed and anxious.
How to prevent the destruction of birds?
The fight against predators may also involve some kind of preventive measures. It should be noted that the ferret and fox have such qualities as cunning and ingenuity. Traps are not always able to help, since adult individuals easily overcome them. How to deal with a chicken killer? Take measures to ensure that a predatory animal does not have the desire to climb into the chicken coop.
To do this, the barn will need to be strengthened:
- Seal cracks and crevices.
- Cover the floor using tin plates.
- It is necessary to get rid of rotten boards, replacing them with new ones.
- A mesh should be dug around the perimeter to a depth of at least 50 cm.
- Equip the door with a secure lock.
When building a chicken coop, keep in mind that not only a ferret will try to get into it, but also foxes, martens, weasels and other animals. A concrete base will help get rid of visits from uninvited guests. A ferret simply won't be able to dig.
The desire to visit the poultry house can be discouraged by tidying up the area adjacent to it. If there are no piles of boards, various boxes, branches and other things, the animal simply will not be able to hide.
Did the ferret manage to destroy several chickens? It is recommended to carefully monitor the birds for several days, keeping them in pens and hiding them in a secure chicken coop at night. If a predator remains without prey for several days, it will simply leave.
Why do predatory animals destroy chickens? Ferrets, martens, foxes, weasels and other animals act based on instincts. They simply do not realize that they are harming people by killing birds. And in such a situation, you should carefully think about whether they should be destroyed for such actions?
Summing up
It is necessary to combat the actions of a ferret, fox or weasel at the stage of building the poultry house.
There are some important factors to consider:
- Predators can be eliminated by building the house on poles rather than on bare ground. It is recommended to make the floor from thick boards, upholstered with iron. Concrete flooring will help save chickens.
- Wide stones can be placed around the poultry house and walking area. It will not allow the predator to dig right next to the net.
- You can combat chicken storms with the help of your pets.
- You can have geese. Why are they called excellent watchmen? This is due to the fact that they are sensitive sleepers. When birds hear a predator approaching, they will immediately cause a commotion. Instead of geese, you can use turkey, which provides excellent protection against feathered predators that often steal chickens.
Video “Chicken coop setup”
How to make a reliable chicken coop? The video will cover some tips and tricks to consider when creating a poultry house.
Kira Stoletova
The ferret, like many wild predators, can cause harm to rabbit or bird owners. However, most often these animals do not approach people. Many chicken coop collapses are attributed to ferrets, although the culprits are martens or foxes. However, these small flexible animals can visit the poultry house, resulting in the death of all poultry.
Animals often do not control their instincts and can gut up to 80% of the chicken coop in one hunt. That is why farmers try to catch the animal as quickly as possible. Before catching a ferret, you should decide where the animal will enter the house and the type of traps.
Signs of a ferret appearing in a poultry house
First of all, you need to determine the type of animal. Very often the chicken coop is ruined by marten or ermine; for them you need to use other traps. You can distinguish animal breeds from photographs. Ferret traps are also suitable for weasels: these predators are similar in build and habits.
The ferret, like many small predators, prefers the mass slaughter of birds. For him, the most important thing is the hunting process itself, and not how many carcasses the animal can eat. The first sign of a ferret appearing in the poultry house is the behavior of the birds. If the chickens do not leave their roosts, a predator has made its way to them at night.
In this case, you should act immediately: a ferret can destroy the entire population of chickens in a poultry house in a few forays. The animal kills all the birds because it considers the premises to be its own. In this way, the animal prepares supplies for itself.
Even if laying hens are reintroduced into an empty house, the ferret can again enter the room.
Many farmers wonder how to catch a ferret in a chicken coop. To do this, you can use various methods of catching small predators.
ferret traps
It should be immediately noted that the ferret will not go into an empty trap or trap. To catch this smart animal, you should use bait. For these purposes, you can scatter bird feathers around the traps or pour animal blood into the traps.
A dead bird is ideal for bait. She is placed on the ground and traps are placed around her. Even if the ferret can avoid the traps, after dragging the prey, it will end up in a trap. The fact is that a predator usually drags its victims, backing away.
Before installing a trap or cage, they should be thoroughly treated to remove human odor. For these purposes you can use:
- pine decoction;
- infusion of wormwood;
- manure.
If traps are installed around the perimeter of the yard, the movement of all pets should be restricted. Not only ferrets, but also dogs and cats may be interested in meat.
Before getting rid of a ferret in a chicken coop using a trap, you need to seal all the cracks and holes in the room, except where the trap is. To install the trap correctly, you should watch a training video, otherwise you may violate safety regulations.
Use of pets
To get rid of ferrets and weasels, many farmers use dogs and cats. Specially trained dogs are released around the perimeter of the yard on a long chain. The animal patrols poultry houses at night, excluding possible attacks by predators.
Properly trained cats can be locked in a coop at night. They do not harm poultry, but are good at hunting rats and ferrets.
Some farmers take domestic breeds of ferrets to guard their chicken coops. Ferrets are excellent at hunting small rodents and scaring away their wild counterparts. However, both cats and domestic ferrets should not be allowed into a poultry house where there are chickens: this may cause the animals’ hunting instincts to awaken.
Dogs are prohibited from being locked in poultry houses: in confined spaces, animals experience stress and can attack chickens.
Homemade Ferret Traps
You can make a device for catching ferrets with your own hands. The simplest type of trap is a regular box or bucket with a support. A piece of meat is placed in the center, preferably with a lot of blood. The animal usually knocks out the support with a careless movement when it grabs the bait. However, such a trap should be checked several times a day. If you don't act quickly enough, your ferret may escape.
There is also a more advanced design for catching small predators. It is usually used if they want to catch a ferret alive in order to tame the animal. For this trap you will need:
- a cage with a front door that lowers vertically;
- bait;
- rope;
- external lever.
Before getting rid of a wild ferret or weasel, you need to determine from which side the animal is getting into the chicken coop. To do this, the day before you should sprinkle the ground around the chicken coop with ash or sand and see where the traces remain. A bleeding piece of meat is hung from one end of the rope, the other is tied to the cage door, after which the resulting loop is thrown onto the external lever.
As soon as the predator grabs a piece of meat, the door will close under its own weight and the animal will be trapped. This method of catching animals has several disadvantages:
- The bait may attract other domestic or wild animals.
- In some cases, the ferret prefers live chickens to meat.
- If you incorrectly calculate the proportions of meat, the ferret will be able to escape and will no longer approach such a structure.
In the northern regions, homemade ice traps are used to catch the predator. The materials for such a trap will cost practically nothing, and it is extremely easy to make. To catch one ferret you will need the following tools:
- 10 l bucket;
- bait;
- water.
A metal container is filled with water and left outside the house overnight. The next morning, an ice block is pulled out of the bucket, at the end of which a hole with a diameter of 10 cm is drilled. The tunnel should not be through. Bait is placed in the hole or bird's blood is poured into it. Once the ferret crawls into the trap, he will not be able to crawl back out.
This method often ends in death for the animal. The ferret either suffocates in the narrow passage or dies from the cold.
Ferret repellent methods
There are several ways to scare off an animal without catching it. To do this, you can use special electronic devices that emit signals at low frequencies. These sounds do not cause any inconvenience to human hearing, but predators tend to leave such a place as quickly as possible. The fact is that animals classify low purity as an approaching earthquake. The disadvantage of this method is that it disturbs dogs and poultry.
You can also use a light source with a motion sensor. As soon as the ferret approaches the house, such a lantern can scare away the predator. However, such a repeller cannot cover the entire perimeter around the chicken coop, so the ferret can always sneak into the blind spot. Very often, lighting devices are also equipped with sound signals to ward off predators. This method of scaring is suitable for a dacha or country house, since it does not require human control.
Folk ways to fight ferrets
Some farmers recommend treating the outside of the poultry house with tar. This method is used by private breeders and poultry farmers. However, without strengthening the foundation and roof, tar is useless: a ferret can easily dig a hole or get into a crack. There is an opinion that such material can scare away predators with its smell, but this has not been officially confirmed.
Poultry owners also advise spreading or hanging goatskin on the wall of the barn. It is believed that the smell of these animals repels members of the mustelidae family.
With some dexterity, you can catch a ferret with your own hands. To do this, use a fur coat or a heavy jacket. You can also use fishing gear with a fine mesh. The device is placed over the animal, after which the ferret is pulled out by the withers. Before contacting a wild predator, you should wear rough gloves: ferrets have very sharp teeth. If an animal bites through the skin, you should immediately consult a doctor. Ferrets are carriers of many diseases.
Preventive measures
Ferrets have a high level of intelligence. These predators are very inventive and cunning, so an ordinary trap will not always save chickens from the animal. Experienced farmers recommend taking into account the possibility of attacks by predators even during the construction of the poultry house.
If the coop is sealed, the ferret will not be able to get to his prey. To ensure the safety of poultry, the following preventive measures should be taken:
- Strengthen the walls, seal cracks and cracks with cement.
- During construction, the foundation of the shed should be poured with concrete. This security measure is needed to prevent predators from digging under the ground. The concrete base will protect not only from ferrets, but also from larger foxes and martens.
- The floor of the chicken coop needs to be covered with iron, covered with boards on top.
- A fine mesh should be dug in around the perimeter of the room from the outside. In some cases, you can replace the grate with heavy stones.
- The house itself should be free of unnecessary items, since ferrets like to hide in a cluster of boxes or drawers. If the predator does not have shelter, then he will be afraid to attack the chickens.
- The chicken coop door should close tightly, and the house should be locked with a lock or latch at night.
- The ventilation system should be at a level of 2 m from the ground. Openings for air circulation are covered with grilles.
Many poultry farmers know firsthand about the problem of rodents or predators in the chicken coop, which cause enormous damage to the farm. Sometimes it can be difficult to get rid of them.
This article will discuss effective ways to expel one of the representatives of the predatory brethren - the ferret - from the poultry house.
About ferrets
Before we start fighting the pest, let's get to know it better. The ferret is a predatory mammal that belongs to the mustelidae family. This is an animal with a long body (about half a meter) and a tail up to 20 cm long. It has disproportionately short limbs, so the body looks squat. The head is oval, elongated.
The muzzle is blunt with a characteristic pattern in the form of a dark mask. The body is covered with thick fur of various colors - from light beige to dark brown (albinos also exist). The fur is especially thick and fluffy on the tail.
The animal is very active, nimble, and dexterous. It moves easily through trees, digs deep holes, swims well, and can crawl into very narrow crevices.
Did you know? In addition to the fact that ferrets have a long, narrow body, they also have a very flexible spine, thanks to which they can penetrate the narrowest openings. Because of this ability, at different times people used the animal to help in the construction and equipment of various objects. So, in 1960, he was involved in the design of a Boeing aircraft to lay wires. The ferret was needed to lay the cable during the preparations for the wedding ceremony of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. Not long ago, the animal was useful in the construction of the Large Hadron Collider.
The animal has a unique ability for a wild animal - it is absolutely not afraid of humans. Therefore, for several millennia it has even been kept as a pet. He is smart, can learn various tricks, and does not take up much space.
In general, the ferret is a rather cute and cuddly creature, but for poultry keepers it can be a real punishment. Settling in the vicinity of human dwellings, it attacks poultry (it is especially merciless towards chickens), eats eggs, sometimes leaving a completely ruined chicken coop. His visits take place at night. In one visit to the poultry house, it is capable of destroying up to 15 birds.
Traces of appearance
You can tell a predator is visiting your coop even before you discover dead birds and crushed eggs. This can be done based on a characteristic sign - when you first visit the chicken coop early, the birds are sitting on the perches and are not going to leave them.
Important! Having once visited your poultry house, the predator will already consider it its territory and will most likely come again and again until there is not a single bird left, and then return after launching a new population. Therefore, at the first sign of the appearance of a pest, measures to combat it should be started..
Unfortunately, predator visits rarely occur without victims. Most often, the owner of the chicken coop discovers bloody traces and headless, gnawed carcasses of birds.
How to get rid of a ferret
There are several ways to deal with predators. You can catch them, scare them away, use traps, folk remedies, and special repellent devices. We propose to consider each of the methods in detail, understanding their advantages and disadvantages.
Catch
It is quite difficult to catch a ferret alone, because it is very dexterous, smart and careful, and also has sharp teeth and claws that can harm a person. Nevertheless, one of the ways to combat it is to catch it “hot”. You will have to watch at night and, when a ferret appears, catch it manually, after throwing an old coat or other heavy cloth over it and protecting your hands with gloves.
It is necessary to prepare a cage in advance in which the caught animal is placed. What to do with it next is up to you. You can try to tame it and keep it in a cage as a pet, or deal with it in another way, the most humane of which is to take the animal several kilometers from your place of residence.
This method is not very reliable, since it will not be very easy to deal with an agile animal. In addition, you can run into scratches and bites. Safer methods for you are traps and live traps.
Trap
Specialty stores sell traps designed specifically for ferrets and weasels. If the animal has already made a hole into the chicken coop, then the trap can be installed directly next to it or in it. Before placing it, you should get rid of the human smell, otherwise the animal will easily detect it.
You can remove the smell by boiling the trap in water with the addition of spruce needles for 30 minutes or coating it with chicken droppings. In the future, the trap can only be handled with thick gloves.
You can also place traps in the chicken coop in the evening, covering them with bird feathers. Or place them around bait in the form of a chicken carcass. The traps will need to be removed in the morning so that the birds do not accidentally injure themselves on them. You can also try to find a predator's hole and set a trap near it.
live trap
You can purchase a live trap or make it yourself. To do this, you will need a box or box slightly larger in size than the animal, equipped with a self-closing door. A bait is placed inside it - part of a bloody chicken carcass. The door should be adjusted so that it falls when the predator enters the trap.
There are many detailed schemes for making a live bait trap. For example, you can see the version of its manufacture in the video.
Video: live trap for ferret, mink, weasel
Scare away
It is not necessary to catch the predator; it is enough to simply drive it away from the area. There are several options for keeping the animal away from your yard permanently.
Using Pets
In the process of scaring away a ferret, your pets - dogs and cats - can become your assistants. So, you can install a dog house in the immediate vicinity of the chicken coop or tie the dog near the hole already made by the animal.
Important! You should not use poison to fight a ferret. This can be dangerous for your pets.
The dog most likely will not be able to catch the pest, but it is quite capable of scaring it away by barking or its scent alone. In addition, the dog will signal you that an uninvited guest is in the yard.
Cats can also be used to repel a ferret, but it should be understood that fights between animals can have disastrous consequences for your pet.
Repellers
Today, specialized stores offer a wide range of modern devices that allow you to scare away predators:
- ultrasonic;
- light and sound.
Ultrasonic devices affect animals by emitting low-frequency sounds that are unpleasant to the ears of the predator. As a result, he does not come close to the place where the source of unpleasant sensations is located.
For example, one of such devices is “Fox”. This is a small device with dimensions 74x118x22 mm. In addition to generating high-frequency ultrasound, it also flashes a bright red light. Safe for people and pets (except hamsters). Due to the fact that ultrasound frequencies are constantly changing, pests do not get used to it.
In addition to ferrets, it also acts on rats, mice, and moles. “Fox” can be powered by a power outlet or batteries. Installed on a vertical surface or attached to a wall.
You can use other devices of the same principle of operation: PR-4, “Tornado”, “Typhoon LS 800”, WK-600, “CHISTON-4 BIOGUARD”, Grad A”, Greenmill. They differ in design and range.
The principle of operation of light and sound repellers is to blink and make sound noise when an animal approaches. They are equipped with a motion sensor. The device starts working the moment a warm-blooded creature enters its range of action - the infrared sensor is triggered. After this, the device begins to generate sound and light that can scare away the animal. Powered by mains and batteries. Has compact dimensions. Such a repeller may also include an ultrasound generator. For example, like the Tornado-1200 device.
It is designed for a range of 1.2 thousand square meters. m. When a ferret hears ultrasound and simultaneously sees flashing lights and loud sounds, he experiences anxiety and sometimes pain, so he tries to escape from this territory.
This repeller model can be installed on the wall or suspended from the ceiling. It comes with a remote control, thanks to which the device can be controlled within a radius of 6 m.
Traditional methods
Over the years, people have resorted to a variety of methods to combat the pest. As a result, the most effective of them were identified:
- Hanging goat skins around the chicken coop. They have a specific, unpleasant odor that repels the ferret.
- Coating the walls of the poultry house with tar, the smell of which the animal cannot stand, which means it will not want to come close to the room.
- Setting up simple traps: for example, installing a large pan or bucket on a support. Bait is placed inside the structure. When the ferret approaches the tasty treat, he will knock down the stop and the container will cover him.
Traditional methods are significantly inferior in effectiveness to modern repellent devices or traps, but they can be used in combination with any other method.
How to prevent the occurrence
The penetration of a predator into a room where poultry lives can be prevented. To do this, you should use the following recommendations.
Many poultry house owners are familiar with the picture of a devastated chicken coop: severed heads, sucked blood and chewed off legs. This is how a ferret works, doing its “wet” business. In appearance, this animal is quite cute, but behind its cute and innocent face hides a dangerous predator. He considers it a matter of honor to destroy any bird in the area that catches his eye. It is very important to take all appropriate measures at the first sign of its appearance to prevent a series of further misfortunes. How to get rid of a ferret in a chicken coop - there are many ways: from installing homemade traps to hunting traps, each of which is quite effective.
Perhaps every second poultry farmer has encountered the problem of night robberies. The style of this small predator is to attack until the last bird is killed. Therefore, if a ferret has been to a poultry house at least once, he will never forget the way there.
Intoxicated by the abundance of prey, it can even strangle geese. Since he is unable to carry such a large trophy into the forest, he leaves the half-eaten carcasses in the chicken coop.
With a fairly small body size, which reaches a maximum of 45 cm in length, it can easily kill a huge number of domestic birds in one walk. Like the weasel, he lives in conditions of complete impunity, since the owner usually finds out about their visit after the fact. Therefore, the problem of how to protect domestic chickens from weasels and ferrets is especially relevant in a number of other concerns about home-grown pets.
The ferret's attack style is quite aggressive: it sneaks up unnoticed, overtakes the victim with a sudden jump, strangles it with its paws, and then starts eating. He prefers small chickens as a dessert, but the basis of his diet is chickens. If I don’t eat it, I’ll take a bite - this saying clearly demonstrates his style. Greed drives him to the point of absurdity: after night visits, many birds remain dead, but uneaten. When eating birds, he does not touch their heads, but manages to gnaw through the throat in the most destructive way: the soft tissues begin to decompose very quickly and depreciate the value of the entire carcass as a whole. Therefore, it is almost impossible to use a dead bird after his arrival for culinary purposes.
Signs of uninvited guests
The ferret leads an active nocturnal lifestyle. Therefore, you can catch him red-handed only in the dark or in the morning, observing the behavior of the birds, if they survived. If you enter the chicken coop and the birds do not leave their roosts, you can assume with 100% certainty that unwanted guests came to them at night. Just because of this nuance, inconspicuous at first glance, one should think about taking preventive measures.
Having tasted chicken at least once, the ferret considers the entire nursery to be his property. For him, it turns into a strategic reserve for the future. Even if you replace the killed bird with a new population of birds, the problem will not disappear. The petty thief will definitely find a way to kill the renewed flock of chickens. Therefore, it is better to think about how to catch a ferret in the chicken coop .
Getting rid of a ferret in a chicken coop
Considering the animal's nocturnal lifestyle, you can try to watch for it in the dark. However, the animal is quite dexterous and nimble, and catching it alone is quite problematic. In addition, it is necessary to provide for not only the safety of chickens, but also your own.
If you want to fight a predator alone, you must proceed according to the following scheme:
- when you see a ferret, throw a fairly heavy old coat or raincoat over it;
- then wrap it up and place it in a pre-prepared cage;
- to get it out of there, you should protect your hands with very thick gloves and only then touch the animal;
- If a predator somehow manages to bite a trapper, it is necessary to pinch the animal’s nose and place a small piece of wood in its jaw.
The further fate of the thief depends only on the mood of the farmer. This method is not the most pleasant, since the anal glands of the animal emit a strong stench at the moment of fright.
Despite the damage that ferrets cause to poultry farms, one should be aware that the animals act according to their nature. There is no deliberate malice in their actions. You need to think several times before harming an animal in a fit of rage.
Ferret control methods
If catching the animal yourself is not part of your plans, then you can solve the problem of getting rid of the ferret using the old fashioned methods.
Trap: tested in practice
At the first alarm bells, it is necessary to correctly place hunting traps. The small predator is quite careful and has an excellent sense of smell, so it is recommended to treat the trap with special solutions in order to remove the smell of human presence. You can use the following options:
- coat the trap with manure;
- rub with dried lizard skin;
- take a brush and apply slaked lime to the device;
- place in boiling water and boil for several minutes in spruce needles.
After the trap has been properly processed, it can only be handled using thick fabric gloves.
If the animal has already acquired its own burrows in the area adjacent to the poultry house, the trap should be placed at the entrance to the tunnel.
To choose the right trap, experienced farmers recommend purchasing two No. 1 traps at once. You can buy other varieties: the most important thing in a good trap is a sensitive guard.
The first trap should be installed directly in the chicken coop. It is necessary to hang a bird that was previously strangled by an animal on a hook located 10 - 20 cm from the floor surface, and place the trap itself under the dead carcass. It is recommended to set the trap at a time when the birds are calm and comfortable in their perches. If a predator comes into the house, you can place bait on the doorknob.
Place the second trap near the animal hole. For greater persuasiveness, the body of a killed bird can be treated with poison or tranquilizers - depending on the degree of hatred for the annoying thief, you can choose one or another remedy.
Immediately after waking up, you should inspect the traps and, if the animal did not make a night foray, put them aside until next time.
Homemade traps
There are several options for traps for small predators.
First way | Second way |
---|---|
To build this homemade device, you will need a regular cage or box, in which you should put bait in the form of a fresh piece of meat. The door of the device must be adjusted so that when an animal enters the middle, it closes. When the animal is caught, you should take the device into the forest and release the animal. | The key to the success of this method of catching an animal is in the bucket! The trick is to place a chicken carcass at the bottom of the bucket and place traps around the perimeter. Even if the ferret manages to bypass all the traps on the way to follow the desired prey, when he gets the prey and grabs it with his teeth, he will begin to back away and will certainly fall into one of the devices. |
When placing various ingenious devices on the territory, do not forget that in addition to ferrets, welcome pets may also live on the site. Domestic cats and dogs can easily fall prey to these simple devices, so care should be taken to ensure that your pets do not wander around the areas where the traps are installed.
Catching ferrets using a live trap
If this method was chosen, the following equipment will be needed before installation:
- live trap;
- bait;
- sand;
- wormwood decoction;
- well trained dog;
- mastic or goatskin;
- fortified barn;
- thick gloves.
After all the necessary components for catching a ferret have been found, the following measures must be taken.
- Familiarize yourself with the habits of the predator and make every effort to identify its holes. If you have any guesses about possible places for night visits other than the chicken coop, you can pour sand there, and then use the tracks to build a picture of the ferret’s movements.
- Since the predator activates at nightfall, prepare a live trap in advance. It is a trap with which you can catch a ferret safe and sound. Despite the fact that catching small predators on farmland is possible without obtaining a permit, for humane reasons it is better not to use killer traps.
- If you don’t have the time or financial resources to buy a live trap, you can make one yourself. To do this, you will need a cage made of boards, equipped with a screening door. A device should be placed above the roof, similar in appearance to a “crane” well. One end of the rope must be tied to the door, and the bait must be fixed to the other - preferably, it should be a piece of fresh meat with blood.
- Try to apply the techniques of experienced hunters and lure the animal with baits made from the musk glands of animals, like Akron, for example. They are sold in hunting shops.
- The trap should be wiped with a rag treated with a strong decoction of bitter wormwood: this will kill the human smell.
- Hide the live trap in a secluded place: skilled predators often ignore them, and they only serve as bait for household utensils and long-suffering birds.
Video - Live trap for ferrets in the poultry house
Four-legged guards
Don't discount your pets. They are also able to ward off the annoying beast. A dog house should be placed near the poultry house, or even better, the dog should be put on a chain so that he can freely explore the territory entrusted to him. Accustomed cats can also be allowed into the chicken coop itself.
It is better not to leave dogs alone with birds in a closed poultry house. Locked in a closed space, they begin to get nervous.
How to Avoid a Ferret
If there is no need to resort to such drastic measures as installing traps, you can try to protect the poultry house using feasible measures. One of the most important preventive measures to protect a chicken coop from martens and other members of the mustelid family, which includes the ferret, is to concrete the floor. You can also lay a special mesh under the floor and be sure to seal all the holes. The animals are very skilled at digging holes: they can make tunnels even in hard frozen soil, which can be difficult to work with a shovel. The sharp teeth and tenacious claws of the animals cope even with such a difficult task.
One of the most important protections for a chicken coop from foxes, ferrets and other living creatures is to clear the area: the adjacent area should be cleared of any boxes or haylofts. Animals can hide in a pile of stones or boards, in tall grass and any premises located next to the chicken coop. They especially love places with high humidity levels.
Since the ferret does not make forays into the barn during the daytime, he can attack a bird located far from the yard. Accordingly, the area for birds to walk should be carefully fenced. You can surround the entire space with buried sheets of iron or slate, and surround the summer enclosures with fine mesh.
Be a caring owner so that one tragic morning you don’t have to see a pile of corpses in the middle of the barn. Keep your birds in well-protected pens during the day, and move them to a well-locked coop at night. Once the animal has made several unsuccessful attempts to attack the house, it will lose all interest in resuming attempts. And caring bird owners will be able to sleep peacefully, being in full confidence in the safety of the chicken population.
Conclusion
The ferret is an intelligent and resourceful creature. Relying on his instincts, he becomes more and more inventive each time in ways to penetrate the chicken coop. If you are thinking about how to prevent the destruction of birds , you can attack first and start your own hunt for the beast. To do this, you should find the dwellings of night robbers in the surrounding areas and destroy them. You can use a trained dog to search for the animals’ places of residence or use the services of an experienced hunter. Destruction of the holes of petty robbers will be the most effective and efficient measure, but it cannot be called humane.
It would be much more advisable to take preventive measures in the fight against the ferret and carry out a number of measures to strengthen the poultry house in order to prevent the possibility of penetration of predators while still standing. Do not tempt the animals with easily accessible prey!