The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: langfauld easycare on April 19, 2014, 08:42:39 am
-
never had any real bother with foxes till this year . i had a couple of sets of twins which one disappeared . got a shooter guy in on wed night he said its 2 foxes working together . they must be worrying the ewe till they get a lamb split from her . he got a shot at one but missed . had no trouble thurs night this morning there a lamb with 2 puncture wounds on top if its head(2 day old single) still alive but i had to shoot it :'( . mine are pretty hardy ewes and are hard on my dog . i am out at all times of day/night depending on whats happening and have never even seen them once this year . fly as a fox eh >:( . shooter will be back tonight :fc:
-
Good luck with that. Foxes get very bold this time of year, when they'll have hungry cubs.
-
i am not one to wish bad on any animal but i hope the cubs are hungrier after tonight ;)
-
Not touched any of mine yet hope you get them, I saw one on the bing last week bold as brass in broad daylight. Lost a couple of Turkey's about a month ago been trying to get it ever since but no luck. Peg the dead lamb to the ground so they can't carry it of and have to eat it there, the shooter my get a better chance.
-
guy got a dog fox last night :thumbsup: :trophy: but couldnt get a clear shot at the other . hopefully they will leave of a bit now .totaled it up in my diary last night including the one i had to shoot its been 5 lambs theyve had :rant: . worth watchin big chicken incase they change there hunting ground . mind a think ma lambs be tastyer ,sweeter grass this side of the road :roflanim:
-
Big Chicken, if you are having trouble in and around the pens, and can't catch up with it, maybe try a wire? Works even when you sleep, and if you can find its run. . . . jobs a good un.
However, when shooting or trapping foxes at this time of year, if its a milky vixen, we always track down and deal with the cubs, not very fair otherwise. But funnily enough a job most shooters just conveniently ignore. . . .
-
We've been thinking we have a fox about then this morning found some poo that didn't belong to any of mine, mind you we have badgers here too.
Time we ensured complacency doesn't creep in.
Sorry for your loses and thanks for triggering the thoughts
-
Have a wire out at a midden but no luck yet. Yes I hope the Fox knows your grass is sweeter. Have you anyone who could go round the dens the vixen will be tucked up with her cubs or very near by.
-
na dont no anyone not sure if guy up rynd road does much now never seem to see them out. talkin to sandy today he been hit to lost a goose the other day and some hens a few week back . been shippin mine over to rspb bit as soon as lambs have found there feet . heart is in ma mouth doin ma late night/early morning check :-[ shooter comin back in a couple days [size=78%] [/size]
-
We've been thinking we have a fox about then this morning found some poo that didn't belong to any of mine, mind you we have badgers here too.
Time we ensured complacency doesn't creep in.
Sorry for your loses and thanks for triggering the thoughts
we have no badgers about here , its first real bother i have had in near 10 years they are makin up for lost time . hopefully be no more :fc:
-
I have never been bothered with foxes till the opencast bing appeared. Has the fella across the road or Donald lost any I haven't heard. I saw a Fox over the Bing last weekend. I am not working Wednesday will have a wee look with the dogs up the banking and a few other places I know.
-
no sure but think neils lambing inside and dont think donald started yet he always a bit later
-
Aye, get out in this rain hole checking with the wee dogs :thumbsup:
-
There's no doubt about it, fox numbers are on the increase! Also on the increase is the release of urban foxes 'back into the wild'!
Tales like the following make my blood boil;
Unfortunately, not everyone bothers with good animal husbandry. Penny was an old fox: scarred and battle-worn, but very very gentle. She was admitted following a road traffic accident which smashed one of her rear legs. The leg had to be amputated, but the loss of a rear leg is not fatal to a fox's chances of survival in the wild. Penny recovered well from her operation, and returned to full health. She was taken back and released where she was found. After that, there were several reported sightings of a three-legged fox sunbathing on the grass. However, some months later, we heard that a fox with only three legs had been shot by a local man after it had taken several of his chickens. What can we say (apart from 'YOU IDIOT!')? Hundreds of pounds in food, vets bill and after-care - and one very lovely foxy life - down the drain just because one man didn't know how to look after chickens properly.
A certain animal welfare organisation will think nothing of spending hundreds of thousands in an attempt to prosecute hunts, yet blatantly ignore the legality of releasing foxes into the wild.
:rant:
-
What TOTAL muppets . . . . an injured animal can't hunt, and so is way more likely to prey upon stock. A lot of the lamb and chicken killers we have caught are either old or infirm. . . or nursing a litter.
-
All this releasing foxes into the countryside makes me mad. We are over run with foxes, many are mange ridden and quite unwell (and they pass that mange onto my goats!!) There was 8 trapped and despatched not all that long ago, most were very ill.
We found out recently that the people who used to live in this house released foxes from a wildlife centre into the fields here and fed them... no wonder we still have issues.
-
Sometimes I sort of wish they would release them near me :fc:
-
I lost some lambs last year, the ewes lambed in a shed by the house as it was very cold. Two ewes had twins, I checked them and all were fine, next morning there were only two lambs! ??? No sign of the other two lambs. Then the following morning another ewe was lambing, I looked out the window and there was a huge fox sitting in the shed opening right by the house! I rushed outside and it just sauntered slowly away and sat about 50yds just looking at me. Could have done with a gun then!
-
I never understood why animal welfare folks waste time and money fixing busted vermin. They get no money for it from me.
Being sentimental about vermin is madness.
Hope you shoot your problem foxes before they take any more stock.
-
i had never even seen fox this year just going out to singles where there was twins before. the first night the shooter guys came in i told them i didnt care if it was a panda from edinburgh zoo if it was at my lambs then rattle it . :)