[bramble]

Hi all

I am new here but love the site, having had an allotment for 18 years and
kept hens for that time too.
I love to learn tips from anyone out there
But this winter I have had a new problem
something is killing my hens, I have lost 4 bantys 3 hens and my cockerel
whatever has killed them has kind of cut their throats?
any advice?
I really don't know how anyting is getting in? they have been fine for 10
years.

[muntjac]

when you say cut thier throats can you explainn in more detail .sorry to ask but i need to figure out if its human or animal doing it . is . it a clean cut or has something eaten the throats out of the birds?.where are they kept ? when you say you dont think anything is getting in ,, have you checked all around the inside of the coop and shed for holes in the floor sides or roof  and checked the pen for smooth marks on the soil near to a hole . this will show that an animal is using this pathway , the coat of the naimal will smooth the soil as if it was with a pallet knife ..... is it possible that you have a stoat or ferret roaming around . also the friendly hedgehog is a killer  biting the birds on the head and then drinking the blood ,

[mercury]

sounds like a stoat to me muntjac.

[bramble]

Had my chucks quite a few years so have been a bit upset to loose them like this but it was as if they're throat area had been attacked, but the hens were left in the pen. Whatever it was only attack about once a week,
so I have lost one hen  per week.
My pen is home build but attached to the side of a shed, but the hens don't have access to the shed but I have had rats in the shed on previous
occassions as I use it as a dry store for my straw bales.
So something small could be using the old rat holes I guess,
So would a stoat do this?  they were only small hens  (Old english game bantys)

[muntjac]

thees your cuplrit , you ned to get some traps . fen mk 4 is the one for stoats . bait with chicken liver ,from butchers .this will also kil rats . make tunnels from 3 planks nailed together to form a tunnel wide enough for trap to sit in and close make them 3 ft long  put bricks on top top stop them being moved by anything else   place around the outside of the coop and also in the shed where you think it may have taken up residence ,they will use rat holes after booting the rats out . you have no other recourse to this except rewiring all the run with 1/2 inch wire to a couple feet high arounf your coops shed etc