Fox attack

[goldendog]

Hello

I am devastated. A fox killed two of my pekin bantams whilst they were free ranging in the garden yesterday. It was early evening and still light, not even near to dusk. They were my two favourites and not even yet a year old. My remaining 3 girls are traumatised. Not sure why I'm posting really but non-chicken keepers don't seem to realise how upsetting it is to lose a hen.

I am so angry with myself for letting them free range. For the first 6 months I kept them in a large walk in run, but for the last few months I've increasingly let them explore the garden. To start with I always stayed with them but as their confidence grew I left the hens out alone. They loved roaming in the garden, but I am now beating myself up for not keeping them safe.

I don't know what to do now with the remaining three hens. I expect they will be desperate to go out again once they're over the shock. Do you allow your hens to free range unsupervised? I feel I have made a bad error and allowed them to be easy prey.

Thanks

If you have a fox-proof run, I would certainly shut them up for the next few weeks, as Mr Fox is likely to return. After that it depends on how many foxes/predators there are in your area. It's the age old chicken keeping problem - coop them up and they might be miserable or let them out and they might get eaten. The compromise would be to let them free-range for a few hours in the afternoon/evening when you are about.

We have to watch ours really closely if we let them free range in the garden. There are so many foxes out even during the day. One of them took a hen while a family member was out in the garden with them. We live in the suburbs where there are loads of foxes. I know people who live in the country who seem to happily let their chickens free range all day with no fox problems.

My hens are out most of the day. If I go out they are put back in their run. I have dogs who are in the garden with them off and on during the day. Have got sonic sensors up as well. Really sorry, hope your hens make a good recovery from their shock.