Fox ate three of my chooks yesterday in broad daylight

[gingerninja]

The scene was so grisly I can't get it out of my head. I knew something was wrong when I walked down to the end of the garden and it was quiet, no chooks running to great me. Instead saw three of my chooks, headless and feathers scattered everywhere. Mr Fox struck at about 3 in the afternoon and now I'm left with one scared littled hen. Can't bring myself to eat the eggs they laid yesterday either. It was the brutality of it all that has upset me.I know it's only nature but I can't shake the picture from my head and feel responsible. We let then have free range at the end of our garden with 6 foot fences, now we will have to think of locking them (if we replace them) in a coop all day which seems against the principles of free range. Feeling very this morning.

Poor you

Poor chickens

Could you make a larger 'safe' area for them to be in?

Yes, think we'll have to. Poor DD feels very sorry for the 'sad chicken' as she calls it. Thankfully she didn't see it

I am so sorry to hear what's happened to you, and really know how you feel as the same happened to me a few weeks ago, same time of day, 3.00 I heard squawking rushed out to find one headless on the lawn and two others gone. Remaining three huddled together.
Got on to DH, walking down the drive sobbing on the phone, and who should be walking up the drive but the fox with one of the hens in its mouth, which it dropped when I chased it.
Know too what you mean about the brutality, two of the ones it took were ex-batteries, and we were just trying to give them a nice home. To end their lives like that is just terrible, and we are trying to tell ourselves that at least they had six months of being happy with us. They were all in a run with 6ft high fencing too, so we thought they were safe.
Are you going to get some more? We are just waiting until we can roof our run in, and are only letting the hens out when we are in the garden, but the fox turned up the other day when we were out there anyway.