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The ferret is a beautiful but dangerous animal. Having got into a chicken coop, he will not calm down until he destroys all the bird. Having found traces of his stay, you need to urgently decide how to catch the ferret in the chicken coop.
Catching a ferret is not easy at all. This is an intelligent and cautious animal belonging to the weasel family. To cope with him, you need to know his habits well.
Description of the animal
The ferret is unusually dexterous and cunning. Its long, narrow body with a bushy tail is perfectly adapted to penetrate narrow burrows. If necessary, he excellently defends himself or quickly runs away, knocking the dogs off his track with a jet of stinking liquid. He lives on the edge of a forest or on a plain. He digs a hole, but if he finds a ready one, he settles in it. By feeding on rodents, the ferret is beneficial as it reduces their number. Reptiles and birds also serve as food for the animal. He even knows how to dive into the river for fish. Both insects and honey from forest bees are a treat for him.
If you tame a ferret at a young age, it will become an excellent guardian of the owner's chicken coop and will not let mice or rats near him. However, no one guarantees that he will not raid the neighboring chicken coop - after all, this is someone else's territory.
Arrangement of a chicken coop
If the ferret has not yet appeared in the vicinity of the hen house, the room must be well strengthened and equipped so that not a single predator gets inside:
- concrete or cover the floors in the hen house with metal sheets;
- experienced owners strengthen the base of the chicken coop with a fine-mesh metal mesh up to half a meter deep;
- one of the best options is to install the poultry house on high supports, while it is better to cover the floor with iron sheets;
- the ceiling can also be sheathed with mesh;
- install a reliable lock on the door;
- the territory should be fenced off with a metal mesh;
- around the chicken coop, flat stones can be laid out next to the net - in this place the ferret will not be able to dig;
- all cracks and holes need to be repaired;
- replace old, bent boards with new ones;
- in the vicinity there should be no trash heaps, dumped building materials so that the ferret cannot hide there.
After watching the video, you can get acquainted with the ways of arranging a chicken coop.
Aggressiveness
The ferret in the chicken coop is very aggressive. Having sneaked up unnoticed, with a sudden jump, he attacks the chicken, strangles it, and then eats it.
However, the ferret kills much more than it eats. Chickens and young hens are a delicacy for him. Traces of the ferret in the hen house remain in the form of strangled chickens. The survivors behave restlessly, do not get off the roost. If a ferret visited the hen house at night, the chickens must be rescued urgently - they must be transferred to another place, and the premises must be strengthened.
Catching the animal
The ferret goes hunting at night. In order to catch him, you need to be well prepared. Wear tight gloves on your hands to protect your hands from his sharp teeth. You can throw an old thick coat over the animal. Having wrapped it up, put it in a cage. Further, the best way out is to take the ferret caught in the chicken coop away into the forest and release it into the wild. If, while catching the animal, he nevertheless managed to bite the hand, you need to pinch his nose and stick a piece of wood into his jaw.
You can catch a ferret in a chicken coop and with a trap. But at the same time, it should be remembered that the animal will not come close to it if it smells a human smell on it. Therefore, the trap must be processed in one of the following ways:
- boil with spruce needles;
- smear with manure;
- hold in slaked lime.
If there are already tunnels around the coop, then a trap should be placed at their exit. And bird feathers will serve as bait.
Homemade traps
You can easily make them yourself at home.
Under the emphasis, place a cardboard box obliquely, placing a piece of fresh meat there. When a ferret appears under the box, attracted by the smell of meat, it will slam shut. You can use a cage or bucket instead of a box. However, this method does not fully guarantee that the ferret in the chicken coop will fall into a trap. It may not hit the support or walk past the trap.
You can prepare a simple trap yourself:
- cut off both ends of a 2 liter plastic bottle;
- put a piece of meat bait at one end;
- a chair is placed on the path of the ferret in the chicken coop, and a bottle is placed on it so that its end with the bait is on the edge of the chair;
- in this place an empty bucket is placed under the chair - it is necessary to correctly calculate its position so that the ferret falls from the chair directly into the bucket;
- the lid of the bucket is fixed in such a way that it closes with the slightest movement.
Having set a trap for the ferret in the chicken coop, it remains to wait for the animal to appear. Smelling the smell of meat, the animal will covet the prey. When he grabs the bait, with the weight of his body he will outweigh the end of the bottle and fall into the substituted bucket.
After that, the ferret must be taken away from the farm and released into the wild.
You can also put a bucket of chicken in the coop. Place a few traps around it. Even if on the way to the bait the animal is able to avoid traps, moving back with the prey, it will still fall into a trap.
Modern technical means
One of the modern ways of dealing with a ferret in a hen house is a repellent flashlight that responds to any movement. They are installed next to the chicken coop. When the animal appears, the flashlight reacts with light and sound effects, scaring the animal away. Ultrasonic repellents can also be used.
Live trap
Since it is difficult to get rid of a ferret in a chicken coop with ordinary traps and traps, you can try using a live trap. It consists of:
- an elongated wooden case equipped with a door on the side of the end, which falls at the right moment and closes the entrance;
- guards with stops in the form of two nails driven through the lower part;
- a gatehouse with a ring on it;
- sim card passing through the hole to the ring;
- the door lift height is regulated by a SIM card with a special spring;
- the back wall has a small window, closed with a transparent material - plastic or plexiglass.
As bait, you can use pieces of meat, rodent carcasses. The bait is placed against the back wall.
Moving towards it through the open passage, the ferret steps on the alert. The emphasis falls, setting the gatehouse in motion. The SIM ring flies off and the door falls down, blocking the entrance. What to do with a caught ferret? The best way to get out into the field.
Folk ways
To get rid of the ferret in the hen house, some summer residents advise covering the walls of the hen house with tar or spreading sheep or goat skins around it. The specific smells will scare off the ferret, and he will prefer to look for another territory for hunting.
You can put a doghouse next to the chicken coop. Having felt the smell of the animal, the dog will make a noise and drive it away. It is not recommended to leave the dog in the hen house itself, since both she and the chickens will behave restlessly. If a dog just runs in the yard, it will scare away the ferret, even if it does not catch it. You can leave a cat in the house overnight, but not all of them can cope with a ferret in the hen house.
One of the ways to protect the chicken coop at home are geese.They sleep very lightly and will make a noise at the slightest rustle. Perfectly protect the poultry house and turkeys. Having raised a commotion, they will scare off the little predator and discourage him from visiting the chicken coop.
Conclusion
When fighting a ferret in a chicken coop, one must remember that this is a predator, which nature has endowed with a certain instinct. It is not suitable for plant foods. The animal destroys the bird, guided by its instincts, and not a desire to harm. Therefore, you should not kill him. It is better to take care of the chicken coop ferret protection with sturdy walls and floors.
