Well, I decided the only recourse for my remaining poultry was to get them out of here for the time being.
I made arrangements with Boss to board them at the farm 10 miles away until things get squared away.
I just could not keep them in my kitchen forever, and didn't even dare let the geese out during the day, and the two of them were crammed in a large dog crate by the bathroom for a night and half a day.
We packed up the two ganders, the one remaining guinea, and the two hens and set them up in a back stall at the goat farm. The injured rooster is still in a cage in the house, and pecked at some food today, but I have not a lot of hope for him. He was just too much of a mess to take to the farm, and I didn't want Boss to have to deal with a hurt rooster in addition to the others.
I warned my neighbor I had borrowed the live trap from, told her I got mine out of here and she might be next, and she called me early evening to tell me the mink had gone across the brook and hit her chicken house and killed five. She got some of them in cages into HER kitchen. One of the roosters flew out in the dark and commotion and she found him beheaded in the snow this morning.
I went over to check in with her this morning and they were trying to secure their coop for tonight. I was a bit not too encouraging, because their coop is older than mine with its own security issues. I had read if you can stick a hot dog in an opening a mink can get in.
I checked in with her via phone this afternoon, and she had gone to the local has everything store and bought fox urine to sprinkle about hoping to deter the mink. I told her I had read that there was no deterrent to mink, and that she should check the coop because it was about the time of day the mink first strikes.
She called me tonight and had gone out right after I called and found five more dead and has two left, again in her kitchen.
I promised her I would go over in the morning and we would make a plan for tomorrow night to try and take care of this thing once and for all. I lost 9 and she lost ten in 4 nights work.
I made arrangements with Boss to board them at the farm 10 miles away until things get squared away.
I just could not keep them in my kitchen forever, and didn't even dare let the geese out during the day, and the two of them were crammed in a large dog crate by the bathroom for a night and half a day.
We packed up the two ganders, the one remaining guinea, and the two hens and set them up in a back stall at the goat farm. The injured rooster is still in a cage in the house, and pecked at some food today, but I have not a lot of hope for him. He was just too much of a mess to take to the farm, and I didn't want Boss to have to deal with a hurt rooster in addition to the others.
I warned my neighbor I had borrowed the live trap from, told her I got mine out of here and she might be next, and she called me early evening to tell me the mink had gone across the brook and hit her chicken house and killed five. She got some of them in cages into HER kitchen. One of the roosters flew out in the dark and commotion and she found him beheaded in the snow this morning.
I went over to check in with her this morning and they were trying to secure their coop for tonight. I was a bit not too encouraging, because their coop is older than mine with its own security issues. I had read if you can stick a hot dog in an opening a mink can get in.
I checked in with her via phone this afternoon, and she had gone to the local has everything store and bought fox urine to sprinkle about hoping to deter the mink. I told her I had read that there was no deterrent to mink, and that she should check the coop because it was about the time of day the mink first strikes.
She called me tonight and had gone out right after I called and found five more dead and has two left, again in her kitchen.
I promised her I would go over in the morning and we would make a plan for tomorrow night to try and take care of this thing once and for all. I lost 9 and she lost ten in 4 nights work.
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