The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: helskitchen on June 26, 2011, 10:31:00 pm
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We have had a weekend away and returned to find a fox has been in and killed all of the hens plus a cockerel (and left them) from one enclosure, then taken quite a few hens and a duck with just a bunch of feathers and no bodies left over from another. We are absolutely gutted, but this is the first time in over 6 years of chicken keeping that it has happened so I guess we are kinda lucky. It has left 8 hens, 4 ducks 2 cockerels and the 10-14 week old chicks, so we accept that it will probably be back for the rest so they are being locked up tight from now on. Going to check all the fences, houses etc and try to limit the possibility of it happening again, although we know that we can never be sure.
We have big enclosures, so were wondering if there were any animals/birds etc that can be kept in with the chooks to protect them a bit - geese come across as a bit scary, are they are possibility? I know Alpacas do the job, but although we adore them our budget will not stretch that far!
Could anyone offer any help please, I know whatever we do there is no guarantee cos old foxy is a wily old beast, but anything to minimise the damage would be great.
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All poultry keepers dread a visit from the fox. I had 4 geese at one time and still lost the odd duck or hen. They do say that Alpaca's do a brilliant job at protecting them, I am sorry to gear of your loss.
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Such an awful experience - poor birds :(
Male dog pee is supposed to keep the Renyards away - do you have one (or borrow a neighbours) that will exercise himself around the exteriors of the runs (without harassing your birds ::) )
Alternatively, I remember seeing HFW putting up strands of human hair (from the barbar ;) ) & peeing round the boundaries himself ;D
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Darren has been dispatched to do his duty round the enclosures, after a couple of ciders he was ready anyway ;D
Our dogs are both girlies, but I have been nagging for a boy dog for a while!
Will try everything, thank you very much.
The worse loss was a silkie/sussex with a cockerel who was devoted to her, they all were lovely but we had had her the longest and had always been a bit of a loner til we got the cockerel, and they seemed to really dote on each other. My lad bless him said at least they were together when they died :'(
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It is every bird keepers nightmare, they tell us to shut them up at night but the Fox can come anytime if its quiet enough. So sad but how sweet that you little boy had empathy for the chickens!!! Men just love to do something that comes natural!!
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So sorry you have been raided. It sounds like the enclosure is too big for electric fencing?
I do hope your presence is enough to keep the remaining birds safe. :fingers Xed:
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Thanks all, the enclosure is quite big and I have read that the electric fencing needs to be kept completely clear or it will short out - we can't see the enclosure being suitable for it as along one side is a hedgerow and on another is a paddock which is being grown for hay.
Last night it came again, but Darren shot downstairs when he heard the dogs barking and scared it off, it went straight to the henhouse where it had taken some off the hens as if to collect the rest, but we had moved them all to a more secure house for the night (before the fox came they wouldnt all fit in it).
Theres another egg farm doing a changeover in August so we will get some more hens from them, going to put signs on the gate to let our loyal egg customors know :(
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Our two male (neutered) dogs pee all over the smallholding but this had no effect on the fox..... in fact the dogs are more interested in covering themselves in the fox poo - which STINKS >:(
Tish
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Have arranged to go pick up some tiger and cheetah poo from the zoo nearby, hopefully I won't be expected to go in their cage wielding a poop scoop! :o
Not costing anything so it's worth a shot!!
Also Darren asks if he wees round the fences how long does it last before he has to do it again?
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:( sorry to hear this, I just got my hens on Saturday and would be heartbroken if this happend, just build the best defence you can to try to prevent it happening again.
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Our two male (neutered) dogs pee all over the smallholding but this had no effect on the fox..... in fact the dogs are more interested in covering themselves in the fox poo - which STINKS >:(
Tish
I think the dog pee has to be from entire males - something to do with the hormones. Wonder if it's the same for men who've had vasectomies ???
Edit - just hope they don't go for the rolling in the sh@te ;) ;D
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Might be worth finding a local gamekeeper or a person with a FAC(firearms certificate) who is willing to put a few hours on a night lamping or just sitting waiting patiently! We have a couple local people comming and it has helped, i think in total 16 on 50 acres or thereabouts.
A shotgun will kill if at the correct range and cartridge used.
Hope this helps
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We've a healthy population of foxes round here, and one or two of them use our driveway as a shortcut, but they never seem to come into the garden where the hens are kept. Someone suggested this is because we also keep a fe Kune Kunes and the smell from their poo puts the fox off.
Dunno if it's true.
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Our two male (neutered) dogs pee all over the smallholding but this had no effect on the fox..... in fact the dogs are more interested in covering themselves in the fox poo - which STINKS >:(
Tish
Au contraire. Fox poo is PERFUME. :dog:
Sorry everyone, didn't realise Dot knew my password. Or spoke French. ;)
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dog pee has to be from entire males - something to do with the hormones. Wonder if it's the same for men who've had vasectomies ???
Vasectomy is not castration.
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We've a healthy population of foxes round here, and one or two of them use our driveway as a shortcut, but they never seem to come into the garden where the hens are kept. Someone suggested this is because we also keep a fe Kune Kunes and the smell from their poo puts the fox off.
Dunno if it's true.
my hubby is writing a list of 'pros' for getting a couple of kune kunes, he'll be delighted at that :P
The fox got through the little wire mesh panel in an old chicken house we found on the farmyard when we moved in - with hind sight it would have been common sense to cover that up initially but we didn't think about it as the family who lived here before used it for years with no problems.
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my hubby is writing a list of 'pros' for getting a couple of kune kunes, he'll be delighted at that :P
Oh you should! Our Kunes are lovely.
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if anyone needs lads to come out and shoot their fox problems put a topic up on this site; http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/ (http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/)
and you should have no bother finding lads to help you out, an offer of fresh produce would help ;)
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Oh what a bummer - so sorry. Its absolutely horrible to find something like that.
Our problem isn't a fox - its a b****y Mink :o :o :o
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mink trap covered with dead grass baited with raw chicken carcass, rabbit carcass or fish heads
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mink trap covered with dead grass baited with raw chicken carcass, rabbit carcass or fish heads
We tried that and the bloomin thing just kept skirting around it :-\
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mink trap covered with dead grass baited with raw chicken carcass, rabbit carcass or fish heads
We tried that and the bloomin thing just kept skirting around it :-\
Yup, us too. We were told to use a really cheap fish-based cat food, but still no joy.
There is a pack of minkhounds we know of, but sadly as we are right on the tourist trail, we dare not...
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you might be able to find omeone on that link i posted who hunts mink with their terriers, you'd have to lock the chooks away while the terriers were about though
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We have had a visit from the fox over the last week, he has been taking a bird every other day, well sunday was his last meal!!!!!!
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We collected some tiger and cheetah poo from the nearby zoo yesterday, was quite disappointed when we got there as we were told that we would have a weeks worth of poo to collect, not knowing how much tigers poo we were expecting quite a bit, but we were presented with a tesco bag. Apparently they don't poo much!
Anyway when we got home, we thought we would let the dogs have a sniff, just to test it. Our Newfy spent an hour barking and growling at the bag whilst keeping a distance from it, and the collie hid. We reckon thats a pretty good sign that it will help keep the fox away!! :o ;D
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That sounds promising ;)
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thats really interesting, fingers crossed it works for you,
We have a regular badger that visits our gardens, up to now he is just eating any left over wild bird food or layers pellets, but last night the cheeky wee monkey nicked my fatball holder and the contents, the holder is nowhere to be seen so im now looking ofr a badger with a fatball holder attached to its head ??? :wave:
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thats really interesting, fingers crossed it works for you,
We have a regular badger that visits our gardens, up to now he is just eating any left over wild bird food or layers pellets, but last night the cheeky wee monkey nicked my fatball holder and the contents, the holder is nowhere to be seen so im now looking ofr a badger with a fatball holder attached to its head ??? :wave:
If you find said badger that would be worth a photo!! ;D
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I have looked all over the back field and the holder is nowhere to be seen, ITS A COMPLETE MYSTERY, blinking thing :wave:
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I like the predator poo idea, surely they should market that !!!
keep us informed i may have to get some x
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I like the predator poo idea, surely they should market that !!!
keep us informed i may have to get some x
Apparently they do, in pellet form! Last I saw was £10 for a box of lion poo pellets, but surely it wouldnt be as potent as freshly gathered poo in its natural state??!! Well thats what I thought anyway! ???
The zoo want to get rid so they don't charge, and they are already gathering next weeks consignment for us to collect ;D
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Had a close call with a fox today, thought they were mostly out hunting during dusk & dawn, but at about 5pm there I was digging carrots, when I head a funny calling/scream and birds making a racket, and thought 'hello, that doesnt sound right!' So made my way up to the chicken pen, to find them all calmly sitting in the shade. Heard a rustling in the field boundry (tree lined) and thought hmmm could be a blackbird in the undergrowth, but waited, and sure enough a bloody fox came padding along! I shrieked like a banshee and ran at it and it soon ran off, poor husband wondered what was going on! Anyway that's the first that I know of a fox being actually in/damn near the field, so will be extra vigilant, just hope it doesnt come back when we're not there! Think this has made us even keener to get a dog now, so at least it could have a go at scaring it, I've got a sore throat now!
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Since the left wing softies have ' saved the world ' by banning fox hunting we will have to deal with them differently. Last year I was in with our horses when I saw a blue transit coming down our farm track, I was two fields away. The driver stopped and opened the back doors releasing about twenty foxes . The bloody things took 3 geese and twenty six chickens in two days, one of them was following me round while I fed the animals.
Town foxes can't cope in the country, catch them in town , put them down in town. don't just dump them.
Baiting with herrings loaded with fish-hooks is very effective, so I'm told, but a bit too indiscriminate . Bloody animal rights bastards broke into a mink farm in the New forrest a few years ago and released thousands of mink that devastated the wildlife all over the south. Stupid sods think they are doing the world a favour...
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tizala your post i have heard of this method but i would not post it on an open forum just my view and take on this method :farmer:
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As I think I mentioned earlier, we have a strong population of foxes round here but have never had any bother with them because I think they're unsure of our Kunes.
I wonder whether there's a untapped market there, in pig-poo by post... :)
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I remember the mink they were down near Ringwood, we kept finding them dead on the main A35 road, we don't see much of them now and i haven't heard of many people saying they've lost chickens etc to them but then i think most damage would be blamed on the foxes unless you actually saw the mink come in and take a bird.
Now foxes we have plenty of those!! :P
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Hi Everyone,
If anyone is having fox, rabbit or vermin problem within 20 miles of Gretna I would happily oblige by trying to eradicate the problem, can shoot foxes if your land is suitable, same for rabbits but can also ferret and net your bunnies, but that would have to be later in the year. Due to the ferrets scoffing the babies and going to sleep underground
The plus side of this offer is it will not cost you anything other than a cup of tea!
I will be available from next Friday as I will then be on holiday from work for a month.
I have full liability insurance as well.
Any takers of the offer PM me ;D
Thought I would also add this. Im not a macho internet warrior with no clue, I have been helping numerous gamekeepers in my area with their vermin control for the last 30 years
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foxes are not that hard to deal with, but its not for the faint hearted, also I wouldnt go on hunting life as advised its full of macho internet warriors most of whom dont have a clue
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Since we put the tiger poo down , we havent had any signs of a fox at all. The dogs havent been disturbed at night and there has been no attempt to get into the runs despite there being birds in there. Looking good so far, off to get another bag tomorrow! 8)
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thats brilliant news, :wave:
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Okay, so who will start selling tiger poo? Please?
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Okay, so who will start selling tiger poo? Please?
Ssshhhhhh!! Don't say anything about selling it, the zookeepers at the zoo I go to might see your post and start charging me danger-money for collecting the poo! ;D
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I have heard that wee - strong male versions are also a good deterent. perhaps a way of making the dried into soggy?