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Original poster

Fox has eaten my chickens

73 replies

steppemum · 16/03/2021 11:07

I am so sad.
We have chicken house, with a secure run. During the day we let them out of the run to free range.

We have lost a few chickens over the years to foxes, but always when we were a bit late shutting them in, or the fox came round in the middle of the day.

But, until last night, when they were in the coop and run, they were safe.
4 chickens, one of whom is our oldest lady, part of the very first group we ever got. Safely tucked in last night.

The fox smashed the side of the nest box until the bottom fell out and then went on and killed them all.
2 missing and 2 dead bodies this morning.

I am so sad.
and I don;t know what to do next. Soldi wooden hen house, if he can rip off the screwed on solid wood planks that make the next box, then he can smash it anywhere.

I have 2 chickens left, who were nesting in another little house. But I just think he will smash the other hen house tonight. I'm going to take them into the garage.

I disturbed him this morning, and he is massive, the biggest fox I have ever seen. We have seen him several times this week, he had a go on Saturday night but failed to get in. He obviously came back for more.

OP posts:

UltimateBlends · 16/03/2021 11:10

Oh gosh, as a fellow chicken owner I just wanted to say sorry for your loss.. we have been very lucky no foxes but lots of rats and never ending rat proofing!
I'm so sorry again, you must be so sad.

EnglishRain · 16/03/2021 11:10

This is so sad, I'm sorry you've lost your hens. Foxes can be very determined, I think we are simply lucky not to have lost any to foxes (yet).

Have you tried any fox deterrents before? We've got ultrasonic cat scarers which seem to work on local cats and I know they can be set to different frequencies for different animals.

UltimateBlends · 16/03/2021 11:11

Would you consider an eglu or similar? I am told these are pretty fox safe.

CMOTDibbler · 16/03/2021 11:16

I'm so sorry, it is heartbreaking when the fox gets them. We lost one earlier this year when it ripped the side of the run open at dusk when the last two hadn't gone to bed. The pet shop lady was telling me that the foxes are really hungry due to all the poultry being kept in and are much more bold than usual

We have a plastic loft house and it is incredibly strong

Sarahlou63 · 16/03/2021 11:21

I'm so sorry - it's horrible. We lost 8 chickens in the same way, 4 gone and 4 headless bodies The only thing that is (almost) guaranteed to work is electric fencing, we have bare wire at ground, waist and head height on the outside of two layers of fixed fencing.

PigletJohn · 16/03/2021 11:33

most sheds and hen-houses are quite flimsy.

if you have need for a strong one, you can do well with a frame of fenceposts, and clad with horizontal decking boards, screwed on. They are reasonably cheap, and you can probably get them in a length to suit your building, to reduce the amount of cutting needed.

BTW do you think yours might have been a vixen? We are around the start of cubbing time.

Princessbanana · 16/03/2021 11:36

So sorry Op, you clearly weren’t to know. I would be keeping them in the garage for a while until you can get something else built. A concrete house maybe?

abcyz · 16/03/2021 11:37

We lost our goose earlier this year to a fox and I'm still heartbroken about it. She'd been with us for 18 years and she was the sweetest bird.

I appreciate that it's just nature at work but it's horrible. Especially when they just go on a killing rampage and don't even eat half of what they kill.

GoneCrazy · 16/03/2021 11:39

I’m wondering if it was a pregnant and hungry vixen? Sorry for your loss. No advice.

altforvarmt · 16/03/2021 11:42

You are right to move them to the garage, as the fox will keep coming back now. I am a fan of plastic coops (I have an eglu) as they're very secure.

You may not be aware, but in December, Defra imposed a nationwide lockdown due to avian flu. No chickens anywhere in the country should be free ranging All should be kept under cover with no exposure to wild birds. There is currently no end date for the lockdown but it will be reviewed next month.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 16/03/2021 11:47

I was about to say the same. There is a chicken lockdown, they shouldn't have been out from under cover!

All I can suggest is that that was one hungry fox. Maybe have a look at additional proetection around the egg box, a different chicken shed or a stcok fence around them all!

We had to go to some extraordinary lengths to keep ours safe, and still Foxy Loxy got hungry enough to beat it all!

backinthebox · 16/03/2021 11:54

A hungry and determined fox is a murderous thing, and only someone who has seen the carnage they can leave really understands why they raise such strong emotions in some people. I had my birds a few years back in a solid wooden shed inside a run with 6 foot high wire which was also dug about 18 inches under ground round it. The fox managed to dig down below the thicker wire and chew a hole through the less thick wire underground, then it chewed through the solid wooden main door of the shed, and killed everything in there. We had an automatic pophole opener, and the first I knew there was anything wrong was when I wondered why none of the birds had come out, even though the pop hole was open, and when I went round the back of the shed to open it up, all I could see was dead bodies piled up on each other. The fox had not managed to get any of the birds out of the small hole it had made, so it had left them in there, all 25 of them and just one survivor. Birds I’d bred myself from prizewinning stock, all reduced to a pile of bodies. I’d have happily killed it with my own bare hands given a chance that day. Over the years, the only sure fire way of keeping birds safe that I have found is to keep the, so they can roost at height, beyond the reach of a fox, and to dig something solid 2ft into the ground around all sides of the pen, and to never let them out. I do let mine out though still, as I figure that at least they have a chance during the day if they are all over the place. It’s when they are all contained at night that I worry about a fox getting in. Bastard foxes.

derxa · 16/03/2021 12:02

LizBennet · 16/03/2021 12:04

Aww sorry to read this OP.

austenwildfell · 16/03/2021 12:13

What a nuisance for you after your hard work. I am sure you are right about it being a fox.
There was a case near me of a badger battering through the wooden wall of a hen house. It was a commercial place with about 40 hens in each house. Carnage!

summersolstice43 · 16/03/2021 12:17

You can still have free range hens that are secured in a run and kept away from wild birds according to DEFRA.

altforvarmt · 16/03/2021 12:29

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

summersolstice43 · 16/03/2021 12:53

Depends how big the run is. Our are secured in a run a full size of our allotment.

combatbarbie · 16/03/2021 13:08

This is my worst fear, we get ours this week. Their house and run is in the allotment, we've dug down 1 foot to place the galvanised wire folding both in and out of the run..... My daughter let's the rabbits out of their hutch first thing so if we have a fox attack it's her that's going to see the aftermath first.

wandawombat · 16/03/2021 13:12

@CuriousaboutSamphire

I was about to say the same. There is a chicken lockdown, they shouldn't have been out from under cover!

All I can suggest is that that was one hungry fox. Maybe have a look at additional proetection around the egg box, a different chicken shed or a stcok fence around them all!

We had to go to some extraordinary lengths to keep ours safe, and still Foxy Loxy got hungry enough to beat it all!

Yes, this, we have flockdown!

Original poster

steppemum · 16/03/2021 13:25

@altforvarmt

You are right to move them to the garage, as the fox will keep coming back now. I am a fan of plastic coops (I have an eglu) as they're very secure.

not sure where any of you got the idea that they were not under cover?

Their run is roofed. They used to free range before the lockdown, hence we occasionally lost a chicken when they weren't shut up for the night early enough. But they are in their run, which as it is roofed complies with DEFRA

They have a hen house with an attached run, which we made, out of sturdy wire (not chicken wire) It is roofed and the sides have a 2foot skirt out under the earth, so they can't dig in, so it is totally solid. Hen house made of sturdy (we thought) planks, all screwed not nailed.

Honestly I am shocked that he could rip it apart.

I have looked at eglus, but they cost £££££. We usually have about 6 hens, and not bantams and even the biggest eglu doesn't look nearly big enough to me.

He was so huge, I am sure it was a male.
We have a vixen that lives in the field behind our house we often see her with cubs in the spring. But she is very distinctive with a broken tail.

OP posts:

altforvarmt · 16/03/2021 13:31

Sorry, it was because you stated "During the day we let them out of the run to free range" in your first post.

I was just letting you know that it's a currently a breach of Defra rules to let them out. Not all chicken keepers are aware, but large fines can be imposed for breaking the rules.

Original poster

steppemum · 16/03/2021 13:37

It was definitely the fox, as I opened the back door at 6 am, he ran out of the run and over the wall.
He was back about 20 minuites later to try again, but I was watching and let the dog out. As soon as he hears the door go he jumps the wall.

That's another thing, we do regularly get foxes. But they usually come in via the neighbour and out over our woodshed and wall. We see them quite often.

Our garden wall, which makes up 2 sides of the area they can free range in (when allowed) is 5feet high. But the ground on the outside is lower. It is a smooth brieze block wall. I saw him come in over the wall the second time. 6 foot jump straight up a smooth wall, landing on the top and then drop down into out garden.

As I said, we often see foxes, but I have never seen them do that before.

OP posts:

Original poster

steppemum · 16/03/2021 13:39

@altforvarmt

Sorry, it was because you stated "During the day we let them out of the run to free range" in your first post.

I was just letting you know that it's a currently a breach of Defra rules to let them out. Not all chicken keepers are aware, but large fines can be imposed for breaking the rules.

Oh yes. I didn't realise I had put that. Sorry I meant normally, hence why we occasionally lose one to the fox.

OP posts:

Sevensilverrings · 16/03/2021 13:42

We have our chicken hut inside a metal cage made of steel mesh panels we got from the local farm supplier. They are tied together with metal zip ties, and one of them is openable to allow access, but locks with a padlock. The food tray had a slide to fill, and the water is filled with a hose that we leave tucked through the grid. The whole thing is covered with insect netting and a tarp just now because of the chicken lockdown, but it’s fairly easy to go in to get things cleaned out when we need to. Their door to the coop is on an automatic timer, which was the most expensive part. This has kept our chickens safe for years now, while still giving them a good space, when we used to lose some or all every year. The metal caging is also on the grass, so can’t be tunnelled under.
Good luck finding a solution, once a fox finds a coop it’s difficult to distract them.
These are like the panels we use. www.amazon.co.uk/Welded-Panels-Galvanised-Steel-Sheets/dp/B00LW0RD0M/ref=asc_df_B00LW0RD0M/?hvlocphy=1006707&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvadid=309874391644&hvpone&hvlocint&hvpos&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-785585320717&hvrand=1521440659224374359

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