Got a buddy has had eight chickens killed in two nights. Some have heads pinched off, one has had the breast eaten, and one had tail feathers pulled out, but most just looked to be killed and untouched. After consulting google and another friend a mink has been put at the top of the list of suspects. I have had no experience with mink, but when I look up anything on them 90% of what I find are water “blind sets” or pockets. What do you guys recommend I try? I wanna know baits, traps, types of sets, any and everything you guys can tell me. This guy really wants/needs this to stop sooner than later. Thanks in advance!

Bait is easy...chicken. Have no experience with mink and not sure of y’all’s laws, but I’d find the entrance and set some footholds provided they are in a coop and no possibility it’s death from above.

But if the animal isn’t primarily eating it why bait with dead chicken? The coop is technically a chicken run between two old chicken houses. With 1x2 wire fence at each end. No top either so raptor isn’t off my suspect list. But all dead birds are on the far end away from the mans house and main entrance. I did find some scratch marks on a crawl under but not sure what they were so blocked that with a coil spring blind set.

98% of my chicken predators are coons, then hawks, I lost 5 ducks one night to a fox but that's a single occurence.

Target mink/weasel but put some sets out for coon. You may be suprised.

I did put 4 DPs out just to be safe. I saturated the area just outside the run. I think it was 6 sets in a 50x50 sq ft area. Felt kinda stupid but it made the guy feel better.

Did the fox eat them or just kill them

Carried them off. I followed blood drops for quite a ways. It was spring I figured they were taken to hungry pups.

I don't loose many chickens now. The coop is on a 16" car trailer it stays with the goats inside of there electric net fence. When we move the fence the coop goes right along as well. They get locked in ever nigh and let out after 9am. In the last few years that has reduced our losses down to two incidents.

We lost one to a hawk(spooked it off the kill) and 6 young ones that were still small enough to fit through the net and had not been trained to go in the coop yet to coons. The coons died the hawk vanished must have been passing through.

The system works well. Caught a coyote and coon ver close to the chickens the last two days yet have had no predation on them. Still doesn't hurt to reduce the predators numbers though.;)

I found a good way to keep mine and neighbor's chickens alive. I ring the area with Wolf Urine. Nothing seems to want to mess with the big dog.

I've seen on TV guys use a mailbox type cubby for mink with a 110 (I'm guessing). Kinda like they use for pine marten.

Don't rule out the common house cat. Ive caught more chicken killing house cats then any other critter.

Nothing this morning, but no dead chickens

Had a skunk kill 6 of my ducklings. Caught the son of a gun but only had one duck left. Blind set were the animal can get to them and put a couple baited sets well away from the coop.

Coon

My guess is... Mink!

Sure sounds like the coon kills we see here. My vote is for coon!

I'm with Beav on this one. Had a landowner with duck and pheasant pens having the same problem. He was bound and determined it was a fox. i checked the sign around where it had gotten in and I said "cat". It wound up being the biggest, meanest feral cat I have ever encountered.

Moosetrot

What ever this is it came back after 10 nights and killed again. There has been no action or disturbance of any kind then BAM! Bunch of dead chickens again. This time it dug small holes under the house and pulled chicks outside the house. Any thoughts on what it would be and how to catch it? I have a frustrated farmer and honestly I’m loosing faith in my abilities

I'm no expert, but when I was young I raised some pheasant and a fisher did something similar to what your describing. Killed a dozen in one night, ripped heads of some, eat part of others, rampaged the flock. I'd guess, and only a guess based on my experience, it's a something in the weasel family. A weasel or mink, and when you described the small holes being dug, that would seem even more likely.

Bama and small holes...how small? Not that small
if chickens drug outside. So, possum or coon. Box trap,
blended, with chicken carcasses inside, multiple traps if possible.
Block off hole and give easier meal. Seems pet animals may be an
issue so why i recommended cages. If no pet critters, and no cages, BG's
over holes. Get rid of any other outside bait. Maybe fence off inside coop in meantime.
Gotta get on it tonight, theyll be back.

Weasels are notorious for killing for the sake of doing it. I caught 3 of them around my neighbors coop over the last 2 weeks.