Well, I am miserable but there's no way around it. I was complacent and I was wrong, and yesterday morning, when I was out taking ds to school, or maybe even when we were back - the fox came and took two of my darling birds
I noticed the third one sat in our alley, and thought she was lost and had got over the fence by mistake, so shooed her back up the garden, and it was then I realised the others weren't around.
She wandered over to behind the Christmas tree we planted, and I went and found the first, having been mauled but not taken.
The second took me a while to find, under an apple tree with her head missing.
I shut the last one up in the run and went back in - I couldn't face burying them. later I did, of course in the searing heat and dry earth. Poor lonely girl on her own - the farmer advised keeping her in the shed we'd been finishing for them, so she wasn't too scared by the fox coming back (which he will) and in a few days getting some company for her.
I am absolutely gutted. Our covered run was in progress but I kept gambling with thier little lives, thinking 'Oh we haven't seen the fox for weeks, they have been safe' etc etc
and they seemed SO happy in the shaded bit where I'm not building the run. At least they were happy.
They put up a hell of a fight. One was injured badly straight away I think, the other had been round the whole garden as evidenced by the feathers everywhere - she fought to get away. I am so proud of her and angry that I didn't hear, and didn't save them, also that the b*stard fox didn't even use them to feed its kids. What a waste.
I cried for ages and can't get over it.
I have to go and ventilate the shed a bit s she will be too hot in there...God, I nearly jacked the whole thing in, it seems so sad to fence them in but I know now there's nothing else we can do.