Fox has eaten my chickens

[steppemum]

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.

I think the problem is, that we thought we had a fox secure run, and I guess I wouldn't have been surprised if he had broken down the fence, but he has never done that, and I think that it is pretty tough. It is the fact that he could rip the nest box off a solid wooden chicken coop.

I think the way forward is to put the coop inside the run, instead of the run attached to the coop.

Massive job to rebuild it all though, with buried dig=proof mesh skirts etc etc

severnsilverrings - you don't sound as if you have a lid on your run? This panels look more affordable and doable than all the walk-in runs I have been googling all morning.

I am thinking we could use those panels as a lid too. As you can see from my previous post, this fox could jump over them if we just had a fence.
And when we are on holiday they are confimed to the run, they don't free range.

someone else has just said to me that the foxes are hungry because all the cafes and food outlets are shut (well, lots are) no no food litter.

Certainly there is a pub near a fish and chip shop near us, and loads of people stand roudn eating their chips and drop the half finished chips and papers in the bin. Then the foxes have a feast. Obvioulsy not at the moment due to lockdown. Plus as pp said, all the poultry is locked in.

I've been thinking all day - shall we give up? But I love having chickens and I don't want to.

As a fellow chicken owner I am so sorry this has happened to you. It's my worst fear for my girls.
What I would be getting is a shot gun liscence.

Ok obviously I realise not everyone can do that in their circumstances. I don't know what to suggest. I agree the eglu is expensive for what the space is.

I'm really sorry to hear this OP, I don't have chickens but my friend does and when I've stayed there I've looked after hers. I can understand hungry foxes but I've never really got why a fox kills them all, takes only a few. Why don't they take what they need? I expect it's a daft question.

I'm sad for you, you've cared for them and made them safe - and a fox has just broken in anyway.

To add @steppemum every time I lose a hen (through whatever causes) I always think it's too heartbreaking and I won't get any more.

Chickens are like horses, once you've had them, you won't find life the same without them.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

I'm really sorry to hear this OP, I don't have chickens but my friend does and when I've stayed there I've looked after hers. I can understand hungry foxes but I've never really got why a fox kills them all, takes only a few. Why don't they take what they need? I expect it's a daft question.

I'm sad for you, you've cared for them and made them safe - and a fox has just broken in anyway.

My husbands farm had 200 killed in one night by one fox. They aren't doing it just for food, they're doing it because they are living on instinct horrible bastards.

hashbrownsandwich, blimey. I had absolutely no idea. Looking at it from a food source point of view, surely a fox would realise that 200 chickens is too many and that other than what they could eat/carry away/bury would be lost?

I imagine it was absolutely devastating to witness that carnage. :(

How heart breaking for you.

I think the fox kills them all to silence them with the hope of returning to get the others?
Although I get 200 is a push!

We had chickens a long time ago and think it must be hard with the rules about them being covered.
So sad to lose them that way.

You know, it's a learning curve. Trial and error, just like any other part of self sufficiency. I know when the slugs decimate the salad beds, it's not the same kick in the gut, but failing in the garden, or with the animals, is the only way you'll truly get your set up dialed in for success. Harsh lesson though, we've been there, a few times.

@LyingWitchInTheWardrobe

hashbrownsandwich, blimey. I had absolutely no idea. Looking at it from a food source point of view, surely a fox would realise that 200 chickens is too many and that other than what they could eat/carry away/bury would be lost?

I imagine it was absolutely devastating to witness that carnage. :(

I don't know what the logic is but he remembers it vividly. There must be some logic to it in the fox world.

I'm an animal lover and nutty vegetarian but I despise foxes.

I can understand hungry foxes but I've never really got why a fox kills them all, takes only a few. Why don't they take what they need?

They do it because their instinct tells them to grab as many as they can, kill them and remove them to hide/bury elsewhere. It isn't their fault that they evolved this instinct before people started to keep huge quantities of poultry in one place.

It must be heart breaking and I've a lot of sympathy for the distress it causes, but foxes aren't doing it to annoy people.

It's not dissimilar to cats' continuing to hunt even if they get a few square meals a day. Your species doesn't survive and evolve over millennia to just change your survival instincts because it upsets some people and their concepts. Foxes and cats don't comprehend that people want different things from them, and it's wrong to apply a human moral code to creatures that have evolved through different (successful) behaviours.

So sorry it happened though, some dogs killed a pet of ours when we were children and I've never forgotten it

The funny thing is, I don't really blame the fox.

he is just being a fox.

And as I said over the years we have been keeping them we have lost a few to foxes.

ButI always felt it was sort of fair game. I am late shutting them up, and the fox nabs one. Fair game. (and I wasn't very upset when he took the accidental cockerel who insisted on roosting in a bush and had to be brought in every night, and then woke us at dawn)

And we see a lot of foxes in our garden. really, I sit by the french windows drinking tea at 6 am and I often see a fox passing through

But this smashing of their nice secure house, that doesn't seem fair.

We've had chickens for about 6-7 years, and this is the first time our fox proof run has failed us.

@Sevensilverrings

did you use a frame for the metal fence panels? Or are they just attached to each other?

I think we will need to fix them down at the bottom, the fox would dig through grass, but wondering if we need to fix them to a frame.

I think we will put the whole chicken house inside.

@steppemum we have an enclosure which we put on too of breeze blocks set into the ground. Fox proof gauge panels.
I know it's hard but I would suggest a night vigil once the girls are back outside. Scare the shit out of the fox enough that he doesn't come back.

Nothing useful to add but just wanted to offer sympathy. Have seen many hamsters come and go but I'd be devastated if something happened to my chooks. As you say hashbrownsandwich, once you've had chickens, life isn't the same without them.

Foxes are evil bastards.

A friend of mine used to shut hers up in a stable and a bastard fox forced its way through a loose plank and killed them all.

I second the shotgun licence.

You’re also still legally allowed to set snares. They must have a catch on so the animal isn’t strangled and they must be checked every 24 hours in case anything else gets caught and also so the animal doesn’t suffer for too long and can be dispatched.

If you know a lovely farmer or gamekeeper they might go out lamping at night near you.

I'm so sorry op what a horrible thing to happen.

Op, we put the mesh on the ground too, so the grass just grows through it, but the coop is in a completely sealed mesh container. We haven’t built a frame yet, it’s just metal zip tied together, but we plan to put a frame up this year with a proper door and a bigger area.

@Sevensilverrings

Op, we put the mesh on the ground too, so the grass just grows through it, but the coop is in a completely sealed mesh container. We haven’t built a frame yet, it’s just metal zip tied together, but we plan to put a frame up this year with a proper door and a bigger area.

that's helpful thank you. Good idea about the flooring. I might drop it a couple of cms and then add a load of wood chippings in as the floor.

I've been measuring up this morning. Mind you, we don;t have any grass any more. They free range (when allowed) around a huge space, but they have destroyed all the grass in there. I am wondering if I might try and reseed some of it while we are under flockdown!

The eglu cube is definitely big enough for six chickens unless it’s changed since I got mine. I have six in my cube snd I think the info said it was suitable for ten. Remember they’re happy to squish up when roosting. Mine squish up together even though they don’t need to.

If I were you and had so many foxes I’d invest in a cube. They’re really solid. Or put the hen house in the run (and reinforce the run) or some sort of metal mesh cage round the hen house? Problem is now the Fox has learnt this hen house smashing behaviour he will keep trying.

Just looked on their website and it does look like the cube is smaller than it used to be. Still says will fit 8 medium size hens or 6 large breeds though. Maybe see if you can find a second hand one, especially an old style?

@BadFoot1

The eglu cube is definitely big enough for six chickens unless it’s changed since I got mine. I have six in my cube snd I think the info said it was suitable for ten. Remember they’re happy to squish up when roosting. Mine squish up together even though they don’t need to.

If I were you and had so many foxes I’d invest in a cube. They’re really solid. Or put the hen house in the run (and reinforce the run) or some sort of metal mesh cage round the hen house? Problem is now the Fox has learnt this hen house smashing behaviour he will keep trying.

I think we are going to make a new run, with the wire mesh recommended up thread. Then put the coop inside the run.

If we make the run a steel cube, I defy any fox to get in.

(although that sounds like famous last words)

the second and eglu still go for hundreds. I think we will need to redo our run soon anyway, it is a few years old and some of the wood is starting to look rough. We can make the whole steel cube for less than the cost of an eglu.

Just wanted to add, a shameless plug.
My DP has a hardscaping business and has just built an amazing chicken run, if anyone would be interested for a quote. In and around the Midlands area, but can travel.

Absolutely shameless of me, but I am genuinely amazed by what he built for a customer and think its wonderful!

Mates of mine deal with foxes variously:
Secure run and electric wire round the outside
Secure run, fox trap and air rifle
Lamping

I think our local ones are quite hungry at the moment: out and about and very bold.