Bastard, bastard fox.

[DaisySteiner]

Lost 4 chickens and 1 duck tonight (1 still alive, injured and not sure whether it will make it). Feel so guilty and upset. If only we'd gone out 5 minutes earlier to put them away.

oh, Daisy, I'm so sorry :(

It jsut goes to show, doesn't it - even on the long evenings, the foxes are still prowling around.
:(

Thanks nickelbabe. I am so, so sad about this poor injured duck who's lost her mate after 5 1/2 years together. They were inseparable and if she's till alive tonight we've agreed to decide whether to euthanase her

The garden is so quiet, nobody waiting at the back door for the toast crusts this morning, no mad clucking to signal a newly-laid egg. Not sure whether to replace as soon as poss or wait a bit in case fox comes back

there's no harm in replacing as soon as you feel ready.
just make sure that your run is secure (even overhead)

How horrible for you. He who must not be named is out and about at any time so don't beat yourself up for being a few minutes later than usual locking them up. we have lost chickens at all times of the day and evening. I am normally a very calm peace loving person except when it comes to hwmnbn - i want to ring his neck with my bare hands this week as he took one of my big boys ( a big boy buff orpington) Keep the duck and nurse her back to health.

Poor you, hope your duck will be okay. Do not beat yourself up about it, you did nothing wrong. X

Thanks for kind messages. She doesn't appear to be eating, doesn't look good really

Lovely dh is on his way home with 2 new chickens (will get a cockerel and breed from them I think) and 2 4-week old ducklings Doesn't replace my lovely girls but at least we will have feathered-ones around the garden again.

Oh, Daisy

The Fox just stole 1 of my ex-batts. I'm feeling very sad It was my fault for being late to lock them up. I don't know what to do tomorrow - they always free-range during the day but I worry that the fox will come back and take more. He came when it was dark tonight but might feel brave enough to come earlier tomorrow?

Was just about to reply to your other thread. We haven't seen any sight of Mr Fox. New chickens and ducks all fine so far....

Thanks daisy. Do they free range? All day? Mine hate being locked in the run but I'd feel awful if the fox got them while I'm at work.

No, they're not free-ranging at the moment because we're trying to reclaim the garden as a chicken-free zone! Their run probably isn't completely fox-proof to a determined fox though. I don't know whether it makes a difference, but 'our' fox didn't actually eat or take any of the chickens so maybe it didn't associate them with being food as much?

Hopefully not. Good idea to be hen-free for a while I just looked outside and the fox was there again. it's a beautiful creature and slinked off when input the light on. I remember my pre-chook days when I used to love seeing a fox

Erm, appalling punctuation & grammar

A bit pricy but we use electric poultry netting (with battery) from www.flytesofancy.co.uk which has been absolutely brilliant over the last few years. Foxes all around us but never come near. We run 50m off a 12V battery, which we replace every 9 months.

Hmm, I have considered getting electric fencing before, will have to think about that. I've got to admit though that the only time we've ever had an issue with foxes has been totally down to us not shutting them away early enough

We have a zoo nearby and apparently they will give you bags of lion poo which is supposed to scare foxes away! I guess it would be good for the garden if nothing else.

I will investigate our local zoo. The only reason I lost Lucky was because I didn't shut the away early enough but now the fox knows and has been back every night. I've set my alarm clock to remind me to check the chooks at 8.30 before it starts to get dark!

I am seriously considering electric fencing

Good point, I'd better do mine. Got to keep one step ahead of the bastard!

On a happier note I put 7 eggs from my lovely deceased ducks in the incubator - never expected anything to happen and now have 6 embryos clearly growing! Very excited about (hopefully) having some little ducklings in a couple of weeks.