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Original poster

bloody fox got 11 hens.....

23 replies

Jellyrollgumdrop · 30/10/2013 20:47

In broad day light too! We're gutted, feathers everywhere. They were free ranging in an area fenced with electric fencer. Think the other 6 left are in shock :-( how do we keep the Fox away?

OP posts:
Chopstheduck · 31/10/2013 07:50

aww, I'm so sorry to hear this :( We lost two rabbits to a fox, and ended up rehoming the third as we knew the fox would be back. I don;t really have any advice, but sympathies to you.

Original poster
Jellyrollgumdrop · 31/10/2013 23:46

Thanks chops!

OP posts:
DeckSwabber · 01/11/2013 17:56

Just got home to find I've lost two of mine to a fox. Third one got a nasty wound and in shock. Three left are terrified. I think the fox went into the Cube after they had gone to bed. Kids were at home but didn't hear the commotion. Sad. Upset. Dammit.

DeckSwabber · 02/11/2013 08:17

Another one died in the night. The one with the wound survived the night. The other two are really quiet and I can't help wondering if they are wounded as well.

comewinewithmoi · 02/11/2013 08:20

Ahh sorry that's horrible. 11? I didn't realise they would get so nanyxSad

PatoBanton · 02/11/2013 08:23

Oh I am so sorry. It's awful.

The only thing I found gave me peace of mind was putting up a huge walk in run.

They are bored in there and it is dusty and dry all year with no greenery, but at least it is safe.

comewinewithmoi · 02/11/2013 08:37

Many

mummymeister · 02/11/2013 13:57

we lost over 40 one night - killed the lot. its a constant battle against he who cannot be named. we let ours roam free up until mid October then we have a large 7ft high fenced run and coops for them but we do have plenty of space so we are lucky I guess. still they can fly out and he got 2 this week but the very young ones and the older ones know not to fly out and just stay in. this and the early spring are the worst times of year for fox attack. have you tried the "wee" thing we find it works but cloths soaked in male wee hanging around the coop make us look a bit weird to neighbours grin

DeckSwabber · 02/11/2013 17:51

40? wow. That is a lot of hens in one go. So sorry.

Just had my wounded hen put to sleep. She had multiple gashes.

Feel so cross and guilty. Sad.

SimLondon · 08/11/2013 21:15

I lost my first two hens to the fox in broad daylight whilst free-ranging, after that they were behind the electric netting, Jellyrollsgumdrop was your electric fence up to full-charge? if the grass is touching it then it starts reducing the charge, a lot of people do a strip of weedkiller under the fence to stop it. You can get a little gadget to tell you how powerful it is.

We also dug some steel mesh under the run and made sure hens were locked away at night. We had a pretty determined fox at our old place but we managed not to lose any more - he even tried to bite through the netting whilst it was on.

It's sad though because I loved letting the hens free range properly, they have a large area fenced off now but they used to come and tap on the door in the morning and wonder round the neighbours gardens.

duchesse · 08/11/2013 21:31

Bloody foxes are a sodding scourge. They're actually worse in cities because they're not afraid of people either. I just wish people wouldn't feed them, whether deliberately (some people do) or inadvertently (by dropping uneaten food or putting bins out too soon). Then their numbers would equalise and there wouldn't be so many of them. In the country they are supposed to be at a density of roughly 1 per square mile. It's way more than that in towns now.

duchesse · 08/11/2013 21:33

Try not to feel too bad Deckswabber- people usually don't know they have a fox until something like this happens. Most people take massive steps to prevent a fox attack after their first losses. Unfortunately foxes will kill far more than they need because they will store some. They can only carry one at a time though so they have to leave dead ones where they are so they can come back later.

MacaYoniandCheese · 08/11/2013 21:35

So, so sad for you Flowers.

iwanttobelola · 25/11/2013 11:20

we lost 3 of our best girls and two ducks (raised from eggs) to a fox yesterday evening just before dusk Sad didn't hear a thing but went to check they had all gone to bed to find one dead and the four missing so he must have had plenty of time to fetch and carry them (the remaining four were all roosting so must have gone to bed early) , feel so guilty and the kids are upset.

They are free rangers and have access to the garden and a green area .. now going to have to built an enclosed run for the winter and early spring to keep them as safe as possible, but can't help feeling after 6 years of free ranging chooks and no problems (apart from a neighbours dog once) that we have been discovered and he will be back for the rest.

Original poster
Jellyrollgumdrop · 07/12/2013 23:13

Got one of those Fox watch things, supposed to emit a sound the foxes don't like...fingers xed it works as we've just begun to restock! The girls that were left are scared witless, we haven't had an egg since!! Also read that male pre keeps the foxes away but can't persuade DH to do the deed!!

OP posts:
Original poster
Jellyrollgumdrop · 07/12/2013 23:17

I want that's what happened to us,Fox free for years then twice in 6 mths! Think this time it was more than one as there were no carcasses left behind just feathers!

OP posts:
stealthsquiggle · 04/01/2014 11:44

Hello. Chicken keeper advice needed. DS went out last night to check on the chickens (normally completely free range but shut in on this occasion) because we had seen a fox around (very unusual as we live next to a commercial pheasant shoot and the gamekeepers generally deal with foxes pretty swiftly). Poor boy came face to face with fox, in the house, with chicken in mouth. DS yelled blue murder and the fox ran off. We thought we had lost all 5, but it turns out this morning that 1 survived (she must have run off and hidden in a tree, I think). So, we have a traumatised 11yo and 1 chicken. She (the chicken) is clearly not happy on her own, but I don't want to get more only to have it happen again. WWYD?

stealthsquiggle · 04/01/2014 11:48

Interestingly, incidentally, the 3 bodies were still there this morning (we were in the middle of dinner and DH and I couldn't face clearing up the carnage right then) , so I am wondering whether we scared him good and proper or (hopefully) he has since encountered one of our shotgun-carrying neighbours

SimLondon · 05/01/2014 21:01

If he hasn't encountered your neighbours then he will be back.

But I honestly think that one chicken would get lonely on its own. If you don't want to get more maybe you could think about rehoming yours?

stealthsquiggle · 05/01/2014 22:11

Thanks, Sim.

Miraculously, shortly after I posted, and 15 hours after fox attack, another survivor appeared - so the two of them are now together in their run for the foreseeable future. We have concluded that we will let them range free, as they have done without issues for 6 years, through the summer, but keep them in the run December - Feb inclusive.

No signs so far (although it is early days) that fox has been back. DS bravely went out to lock the house last night, with his heart in his mouth and a large Maglight torch clutched firmly in his hand.

Had survivor #2 not appeared, I think I would have been asking our farmer neighbour if he could have the lone chicken as she was clearly unhappy alone, or possibly whether we could take one from him that had stopped laying. Having 2 has made it a whole lot easier on the DC.

stealthsquiggle · 05/01/2014 22:12

(we do want to get more, BTW - just not until fox has forgotten where we live and/or been "dealt with")

mangatemum · 11/01/2014 21:26

Sorry to add more gloom and doom but our chickens have always been taken in broad daylight at the end of May/beginning of June. Foxes have cubs then and can be very bold. Electric fences seem to be the way to go. Hope you manage to find a solution.

5OBalesofHay · 11/01/2014 21:34

Consider supporting the countrydide alliance. We have bold foxes since the ban. They would have been much more cautious before.

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