The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Bionic on January 04, 2014, 08:57:14 am
-
Lost 5 out of my 6 hens :( . I only have myself to blame as we didn't go out to shut the door until late. One lonely hen left.
It's very sad and frustrating as OH is currently making a new door with a timer that would have been ready in a couple of days time.
-
:bouquet: bugger.........
-
Sorry to hear that. It's why I got the gun, do you have any means of controlling them?
-
Oh Sally that is sad and such bad timing. :hug: to the lonely hen
-
sorry to hear that..... we religiously go down to our birds before dark to collect eggs and shut them in albeit they are protected by a 6 foot fence on all sides in a large enclosure, it is our fear that if our hens were free ranging across the few acres we have they would be taken at some point
-
Sorry to hear that. It's why I got the gun, do you have any means of controlling them?
The hunt dogs came through just a few days ago and they were all over the land like a rash. I am surprised this fox survived but he obviously did :(
-
Oh Sally that is sad and such bad timing. :hug: to the lonely hen
Looks like I will be visiting Ffairfach market when I get back from my hols.
-
Really sorry to hear that Sally. :hug: :'(
How frustrating.
I am quite sure that Charlie knows exactly what our routine is and sits poised and ready to exploit any failings in our system/routine. So far he hasn't struck but I know he is watching
-
Yep not good foxy bingo soon catches on if that coop door is open,
Sometimes think he's waiting for you to slip up once and he's in..
Once lost a load of copper black marans which took me years of breeding to get the eggs's right
For him come and mince half of them(lesson learned)..
Beef up security because winter hasn't bitten yet so the worst is yet to come....
I'd get it trapped if I was you and give it some lead might not be easy but it will become a pain now he's found them..catch live trap in front of a open coop with a big rock on it he'll soon run in to it :fc:
-
:bouquet:Oh no!! I know exactly how you feel. I left the shed open last year and lost 4 hens... I still feel guilty. :hug: :hug:
-
Sad news. It can happen to any of us, nature is always ready to take an easy meal but foxes are just so destructive.
-
Poor chooks :( hope you get some mates for the last one soon. :hug:
Have you got a run you could put in front of the hen house? We use them for all our poultry because it means they can come out as soon as it is light and be put in before dark. They get to free range when we are out and about of course but it keeps them secure. I know we have a monster of a fox round here, he is often seen ranging but apart from one stupid duck that went to sleep in the long grass one night we have had no losses to him.
Unfortunately, I think you need to assume he will try and come back for the other hen as he knows where he can get a free meal now so if you can keep her safer it might be a good idea.
-
:(
:bouquet:
-
Know how you feel :'( :'( Lost all my ducks, and a few weeks later all but one of my hens. My own fault and still feel guilty!
Saw a wildlife video a few months ago where they tagged a fox to see it's movements in a week I think. It did the same tour round its neighbourhood every night without fail, checking all possible food sources, sometimes lucky sometimes not, but never wavered off it's prescribed route.
-
oh dear, i think many people have been guilty of this. i remember going to put the hens away, walked straight past and went back to the house without shutting the door and they were all dead in the morning. i was soo mad at myself.
-
So sorry to hear that Bionic. Incredibly bad luck and very easily done. I've forgotten the occasional pop-hole but fortunately they are now all in an enclosure. As said, it will be back for the last one. We had one that struck 3 times. Every time I blocked off the access and it found another point of entry. First attack was 10.00am, then 2.00pm then 7.00pm, so no pattern really. We previously used to have a very large fox every night which walked all around the coops and runs to see if any had been left open. It never changed stride and followed the same route. Last time I saw it was jumping a 5 foot wall without touching it with about a foot clearance spare and it always came during the night at about the same time (I used to walk the area in the middle of the night to check for thieves). The attacks were a different fox -an urban one. We tried a trap but it wouldn't take the chicken inside. I raked the soil all around and could see it had circled the trap several times every visit.
-
So sorry Sally :bouquet:
Just one of those things that comes with keeping hens I guess, just heartbreaking when it happens :hug:
-
Such a shame, we all slip up now and then, but that's not much consolation I know, I've lost a few in daylight and it is so upsetting. :hug:
-
we lost one when we forgot to shut the second coop up one night, felt awful for days...until the little s*d came back middle of the day and decimated my entire flock bar 3 lucky hens.
We did as greg said, trap and lead. Not easy but reduced the numbers by 8 in 2 weeks.
Yesterday we found 2 foxes within inches of the chicken run, dog saw them off but I know they are watching..and waiting. :bouquet:
-
Oh they'll be watching of that you can be sure watching everyone else's too,you could as I did and use it to
Your advantage I put the trap inside the coop up against the pop hole they can't resist the sound and site of a flapping bird..
They would be no sniffing about,I'm sure you'd be surprised how hard they will hit the back of the trap especially if they've had dinner in there before,some times the quickest way with a sly old bugger!!!
It's a lot more affective than the rubbish I hear about pee'ing or hair balls around the coop that is for sure..
-
So sorry >:( So easily done too.
-
Personally I'm not so sure they are so sly. Having lived in the countryside all my life I've had some close encounters with foxes with chickens and pheasants. I think they are pretty dumb and are on a programme loop. Yes, they may do the same round every night (pretty stupid when you think about it). But give them a good spark on their nose and they will rarely come back for a second try if the fence is on or not. A good bit of electric will beat 99% of fox problems. I've heard people saying they jump over netting etc but I would bet that netting was not putting out a good shock. A fox investigates with its nose like any other dog / cat type creature. If it gets a good belt on the shnozzer the first time it sniffs it's not going near that thing again.
-
We have a 50m electric chicken fence going round the chicken coop which we disconnect and open each day to let the chickens free range and then shut them up at night and switch on. Their coop door is also on a timer switch.
We have never had any problems with that combination.
We lost chickens one time when we decided to do without the netting last summer and four of our newer hens didn't make it into the coop before the timer door closed and OH didn't check numbers on the roost at last light so issued the fact that the newbies hadn't come in. Then we lost four