Eggasperated Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Oh no I'm so sorry to hear that, it must have been awful for you. Wretched foxes - was your electric fence turned on at the time? Hope you manage to explain to all the family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 yes, the fence was on, and is on 24 hours a day. but it had previously been repaired and I think that's where Foxy got in. also, the top bit of the netting which 'clicks' into the notch on the top of the pole was out, so I'm assuming he'd managed to dislodge it while pulling at the lower bit... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted July 14, 2010 Share Posted July 14, 2010 Just had a close call the fox had our oldest chicken in it's mouth when our next door neighbour saw it and chased it off. We're especially lucky because that neighbour doesn't like the chickens ! I thought we'd lost one of the others but found her under a shrub so I have them all locked into the runs with the fox watch on. I need to wait until someone else comes home to help me catch Pepper and check her over and spray antiseptic on any wounds but she is still moving around as normal despite lots of black feathers in the garden. Unfortunately she is an old lady and we don't even know how old as she was a non-laying old lady when we got her a few years ago. She was content but noticeably slowing down which is probably why the fox caught her rather than one of the others. I hope she is ok as she is a bit of a favourite. I've always been aware we've been lucky up to now to only have foxes visit at night before today but they so enjoyed rummaging around the garden all day The fox watch is good but it can't cover all corners of the garden so no more free ranging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted July 22, 2010 Share Posted July 22, 2010 A week later and Pepper is still with us and absolutely fine except all the girls are fed up of being in the run so much as they are now only let out when we're in the garden I'm hoping I may finally get my walk in run this summer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickensuep Posted August 4, 2010 Share Posted August 4, 2010 My two were taken in February mid morning after happily free ranging in the garden for a year and a half with no problems. I had two fox watches, although I think the girls may have kicked one over a bit. I also had human hair tied up in pop socks hung around the back fence. OH would also urinate at the back fence at times. One daughter was in but the patio door wasn't open due to the time of year. The other daughter came home to see one hen being taken by the fox, the other one was already gone. My fences can easily be jumped by a fox, but have since found out that they made a hole a the bottom of the fence at the back. I now have a young fox who regularly sits on the lawn in the middle of the day. My OH leases a building for his business on our high street which had a unused courtyard garden which was a bit of a tip. The owner agreed that we could keep some hens there. We have cleared it up, extended a raised bed, dug up some slabs and laid some turf and now have 3 ex batts living there. As it is a courtyard it is mostly surrounded by high walls and the one fence has been extended by a 2m lattice fence with Prikka strip on top. Fingers crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alih Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Have had chooks for nearly 3 years and had my first attack last night. My walk in run has a door that opens outwards with a bolt on. I never bolt it as it sticks (partly my DIY skills , partly the damp weather) and needs a good tug to get it open. 3.15 this morning we were woken up by the chickens sounding terrified and opened the window to see a fox dashing across the garden and the run door wide open. Poor Custard was in the middle of the lawn but still alive so I had to dispatch her as she was clearly half dead already (thank god for Alison's brooming class!). The others were untouched. How on earth did it get in? This is an A4U run, sturdy and secure. I looked this morning and there are scratch marks so clearly the fox had scratched and scratched and got a purchase on the edge and managed to open it. I am gutted but will put the bolt on from now on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted August 9, 2010 Share Posted August 9, 2010 Well we resolved to only let the chickens out when we were working in the garden and yesterday my husband was digging and my FIL was sitting on the garden bench watching the chickens when a fox walked up and took one of our chickens the youngest this time in plain sight in the middle of the afternoon. Again he was chased and dropped the chicken with no signs of puncture wounds so they are all ok. The eldest who'd been grabbed last time hid under a bush and took ages to round up and put in the run Sadly though that means even free ranging when we're in the garden isn't safe with this fox Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiggyPudding Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 Not sure what happened exactly because Hubby was in charge..but apparently he went to lock the 2 girls up for the night (they are in an eglu, but freerange all day). He felt in the poop hole to check they were both there, but only Lola was in. He looked around for feathers etc, but couldn't see any. The next morning, he went searching & saw a mound of feathers in the neighbours garden. Then there were more in their neighbours garden. We have 2 x foxwatches which cover the 40 ft round the entrance to the big walkin run, but Ex Batt was probably out of range. I've had her a year, she was a rescue from June 2009 & has had a great life with us. She's loved wandering the garden with Lola & was fat & well feathered...she was also living on borrowed time as she seemed unwell (perhaps egg bound) but managed to bounce back. RIP Ex Batt xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms Marple Posted August 26, 2010 Share Posted August 26, 2010 I hope this doesnt sound too stupid,but, if you have many chooks, does a fox only take one or two? My mum, a farmer's daughter, says that Mr Fox would destroy all in his sight? I have lost two chickens yesterday out of a group of 12. We have just found one by following a trail of feathers to behind a tree, where she has clearly died. There is a graze on her neck and lots of her feathers in the run. The other chicken there is not a sign of nor even a feather. The rest are all intact. Would this be a fox? They free range, I have two large dogs who bark fiercely and an OH who regularly scents the area for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy chickens! Posted September 4, 2010 Share Posted September 4, 2010 Sorry to hear that Miss M, but similar happened to me yesterday so think it must depend. Went to clean chickens out after lunch to find feathers everywhere and 3 girls with their heads torn off, the other 5 seem fine, touch wood, but can't see how they could be unless the fox just got bored. I always used to shut them away in the wir overnight and let out in the morning, but it seemed a bit crowded with 10 of them when I got the new girls earlier this summer, and as I'd never seen sight nor sound of a fox round here and with the light days, I haven't been shutting away. Big mistake as it turns out. I think they must have been attacked early in the morning as there was one egg laid and no feathers in the cube. No unsupervised free ranging now. they are looking at me very unhappily. wir is about 3m x 4m plus the space under the cube, so that should be ok for 5 girls shouldn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 went out 7.30 this morning to find lots of white feathers outside the quail run - which is outside the electric fence now til new accommodation arrives - and a severely injured quail inside in the nest box. had to dispatch her which was quite horrible (probably not the most approved method, but it was very quick and I hadnt time to get her to the vet, even if OH would have let me take a quail to an emergency vet on a sunday...) think foxy got her through the bars of the eglu, but couldnt get her out... so he took a chunk out of her instead, poor little thing. we then went to the inlaws for lunch, where they cooed over the mangy foxes which appeared in their garden in broad daylight. my girls were not impressed and calling for shotguns or the hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scarlettohara Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 Sorry about your quail . You were very restrained at your in-laws - perhaps next you go take some poisoned food for them (the foxes not your in-laws ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 thanks scarlett, good idea about poisoned food for the inlaws!! I am now thinking it might have been our cat Stanley - there's a thread in the My Family & Other Animals section with pix of him... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygerna Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Just lost three of my girls in the 10 minutes it took for me to eat my soup. They were all wandering around in the garden. I heated some soup and then instead of eating in the kitchen as usual I decided to go to the dining room, at the front of the house because it gets the sun. Went back to the kitchen and looked out of the window and saw a fox stalking quickly along the side of the garden. I rushed outside and he ran off. I found one girl dead, Storm, Sunshine was almost gone so I had to despatch her. Then I found 5 of the others cowering down the side of the house in the storm shelter. No sign of the last girl apart from a few stray black feathers. I kind of expected to lose some girls to a fox at some point but am still shaking about it so I guess I was not as mentally prepared for it as I thought. RIP girls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beach chick Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 oh no ygerna! you poor thing, what an awful shock. RIP girls, hope you will feel better soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Oh that's awful.I'm so sorry. I lost my first three when mum didn't shut the door properly one night. It was heartbreaking. One was found half buried in my neighbour's asparagus bed. She is buried in my garden with a headstone. Daft or what!!! I am firmly in the "it's up to us to make sure our chooks are secure" camp, so I have been absolutely OCD with checking the Cube and run at night now. Luckily our rural foxes keep away in the day. I bought myself one of those wildlife cameras that have motion detectors and can record still or video onto a datacard and Mr fox does visit at night. He is a very handsome chap though, big and sleek..........not one of his scraggy urban relations. I am lost in admiration for you lot urban chicken keeping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ygerna Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Feeling a little less traumatised this morning, but thank you all for your thoughts and kind words. My daughter took the news quite well and we've agreed to get a few more in the spring. Her birthday is in march so I might see about getting her a couple of girls of her own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dylan Posted November 12, 2010 Share Posted November 12, 2010 Lost one chicken. During the day (towards dusk) Unsupervised free ranging outside WIR. Foxes are in our garden daily but I've never seen one so early. I saw in a book recently what I thought was a good idea for a run which isn't roofed - you have an 3' 'overhang' at the top of your fence (so 18" each side) so your fence is T shaped. Not pretty but I can see that it would probably work in that the fox would scale the fence but then be faced with another obstacle with the overhanging part. Nothing is foolproof but it may help. Gill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ailie Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 On Boxing Day at about 11:45 we lost all three of our girls who were free-ranging in the garden. They were only unsupervised briefly and we heard nothing from inside the house as the radio was on. The fox took their heads and left the rest. It was the most gruesome and heartbreaking thing I've ever had to deal with. The images are keeping me awake at night. I miss my girls so much and feel awful and guilty for not having been there to protect them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Ailie, I'm so sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ailie Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Thank you, Patricia. x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goodinparts Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 That's just miserable Ailie...Do hope that the New Year will bring happier chicken times for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heluerto Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 We have now had four attacks. Two were at dusk when they had been free ranging unsupervised. One attack happened around 9am when I had let them out to free range. Tonights attack I am confused by, as three hens and one rooster in an enclosure, no evidence of break in, but two chickens had gone missing. We were alerted as they were out of their house after dark. The only thing we can think of is that the hens flew out the top of their enclosure. One of them was found headless being mauled by a fox three doors down, the other has not been found. The other two have now moved in with our other three hens in an enclosure with a roof. This has meant we can leave the other enclosure open just incase the other chicken managed to fly away and needs to get home tomorrow, unlikely, but I remain hopeful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve the Gas Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 Check this fox beast out............ http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3327835/Huge-fox-weighing-nearly-27lbs-killed-after-seemingly-eating-family-cat.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted January 5, 2011 Share Posted January 5, 2011 yeah saw that - scarey thing is if they get any bigger they will be wolves Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
