4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Kayte]

This morning I went out to find only 3 of my bantams left standing inside their locked eglu run and a large pile of feathers outside the back of the eglu. The eglu was not damaged and the run was still locked. The eglu door was open as we leave it open so the girls can get into their run as they please. I opened the egg port to find half of little roxie tucked down the side of the wooden bars. There were fox prints all over the top of the eglu.

 

My first guess was that a fox somehow manage to fit a paw through the run and 'hook' roxie out of the open eglu and take a bite through the bars - i figured roxie would have run wounded into the eglu and died at the back. BUT when i saw what was left of roxie i realised that there was no way she could have made it in on her own, there wasn't enough left of her. So how did this happen? I will now close my eglu door in the evening but i can't for the life of me figure out how half a chicken ended up inside the eglu, at the very back. If the fox somehow could reach that far into the eglu, through a locked run, why didn't it take the others?

 

I have just ordered a foxwatch and will keep the eglu door shut at night form now on but if anyone has got any theories about what could have happened i'd be really grateful as I'm desperate to keep my other girls safe. we have lost 3 chooks to foxes now, but the other two were free ranging at the time, which i can understand.

 

my poor girls.

 

Kayte

Edited June 25, 2008 by Guest

[..lay a little egg for me]

Can't offer any explanations, but just wanted to say, how awful for you...my sympathies.

[beach chick]

oh, how sad, and how horrible for you to have to deal with. no idea how it could have happened, just wanted to say 'sorry'

[The Dogmother]

I'm sorry to hear that.

 

I had something similar years back, when a fox or something had got it's paw in the back of the eglu in the gap between the top of the eglu and the base - at one stage mine lifted up quite a bit.

 

Layla liked to sleep right at the back of the bars against the back of the eglu. A quick shift of the eglu to put it back on kilter and a brick in the back behind the bars remedied that.

 

If your eglu is on uneven ground, somethimes the top of it can list up about 1.5" from the base at the back.

[Guest]

I'm very sorry to hear about this, how distressing! People always assume it's foxes but it could have been a mink, stoat, weasel, ferret. They can squeeze thru tiny gaps. You can actually fold a ferret in half as they are so bendy and agile.

 

Next door but one to me has ferrets so I thanks god we have weld mesh, just in case one got out!

 

We always lock our girls in the coop at night, just in case one of the former managed to dig under the run.

 

Foxes are not always to blame.

[Kayte]

thank you guys, it is awful when you loose them. the other girls just disappeared in a puff of feathers but this one was horrible.

 

i hadn't thought of it being anything other than a fox. I'll have a closer look at the paw prints and see if there are any sizable gaps in the eglu, there were a lot of feathers at the back (near the droppings tray)

[Guest]

while i don't agree with the author's sentiments regarding coats, see this

 

http://gumbootcountry.blogspot.com/2007/02/mink.html

 

if you don't mind, would you change the title of your thread as foxes get so much bad press and they're not always to blame?

 

I really feel for you as it's horrible enough to lose a chook to natural causes, let alone finding them in the state you describe.

[Kayte]

OMG that was how i found her - her head (and feet, and chest) had gone (i didn't want to go into two much detail!) wow i never even considered them. would a foxwatch deter them? we do have foxes too as we've seen them and the other girls (who were BIG ladies) were taken wholesale so much more likely to be taken by foxes

[Egluntyne]

How dreadful.

 

I wondered if it could have been a stoat or mink too.

 

They are vicious killers.

[Guest]

something like a mink or stoat got in and killed our aviary full of budgies, finches, cockatiels etc. Totally devastating and heartbreaking, so now I'm extra cautious with our chickens.

 

don't know if a foxwatch would deter a mink, I doubt it. Just keep your girls locked inside the eglu at night and all should be fine.

[Kayte]

will do, have ordered a foxwatch anyway as i'd like to keep them away too. better than a shotgun huh? especially with my aim.

[Guest]

what did the foot prints look like by the way?

 

here's a fox print

 

http://www.theurbanfox.com/images/foxprint.jpg

 

here's a mink print

 

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/9/wildlife/images/tracks/MinkPrint.gif

[Kayte]

i just had a look and i can't make it out clearly enough, although it looks foxy as there seem to be fewer pads . Its hard to make out because its mud on red so I'm going to try it this evening under torchlight to see if i can get a clearer picture. I'll let you know. thanks for the pictures of the pads - really helpful

 

thanks

 

kayte

[Guest]

if it's fox prints it's possible you had a visit from both.

 

sorry to be graphic but the fox might have smelled the blood.

[chelsea]

so sorry to hear about your hen, what an awful shock for you.

 

Someone did have a similar incident where a hen was attacked throught the mesh of the run.

 

Its best if people who are worried about foxes/predators to shut their eglu/cube door at night as that is totally fox proof.

[Kayte]

yeah i definately will be closing the door from now on. Claret did mention that if there are any gaps in the eglu that they can be attacked through the gaps, from where she was and her injuries theres a possibility that she was got through the gap at the back where the litter tray is. I can't see how anything could have got through but i will put a couple of bricks on the inside to encourage the chooks to sleep further in. I'll try anything. Its hard not to feel persecuted after a few attacks... but i guess its just natures way

 

day time attacks worry me, we are in an urban location and i think the predators are more opportunistic/desperate...

 

I'd love to put a camera p to see exactly what is going on!

[The Dogmother]

If I lift the top of my eglu up at the back, then there's a gap between that and the base. If the eglu isn't seated evenly on the ground, this gap would be large enough for something to get it's claws in - judging by the marks on the eglu at the time, I am assuming that is what happened in my case.

 

My daft bantams like to crush in at the back at night and the smallest ones get in the gap behind the bars, so brick in that gap stops them doing it.

[MedusA]

I have nothing else to add, except how sorry I am to hear about your poor chook.

[Guest]

maybe someone should feed these design issues back to omlet themselves?

[mrs chook]

So sorry to hear about your dreadful experience, afraid I cannot offer any advice, but just wanted to say thinking of you

[hennymom]

so very sorry about your loss, I can't offer any advice or explanations but I'm sorry all the same it must have been awful for you

[Kayte]

thank you guys

[Ms Tilytinkle]

Soo saddened & so sorry to read your news, how distressing for you all.

Many thoughts are with you.

 

Ms Tillyholdsyoucloseinprayer

[Karen & co.]

What a shock for you

 

Karen x

[Rhapsody]

What a horrible shock for you. I'm sure we will all be a bit nicer to our chooks this evening after reading this