[Lagmore]

I am so annoyed with myself - I had a lovely chocolate Orpington cross hen who I found sitting on eggs just under our kitchen window, I did think about moving her but as he seemed settled and had been there for a week before I found her, I didn't. I never thought for a minute a fox would come up to the house when we have got the dogs in the garden most of the day but he did , I was woken to a horrible squawk at 2am this morning, by the time I ran downstairs there was just a pile of feathers left. I'm so, so angry with myself!

[Rosemary]

We've got an increasingly bold fox here.

We were telling the farmer that we get our straw and hay from and said our neighbour offered to shoot it (he's an experienced gun) but we thought anothr fox would just move in. Ken told us a friend of his was losing ducks to the fox so he wired a dead duck to the electric fence and left it out for Foxy.

Foxy doesn't go there anymore as the ducks fight back

[Mammyshaz]

That's awful, Lagmore   

[jaykay]

Oh no 

Hey, you made the decision you made for sensible reasons, and with reasonable logic and evidence. Don't go second-guessing yourself, hindsight is wonderful thing!

[vfr400boy]

i dont like foxes but my dog dose ! i try get out ones a week with the lamp and rifel to try keep numbers down

[in the hills]

   So sorry


We did the same a couple of years ago. One of our Friesian hens went missing for over a week .... couldn't find her anywhere. Eventually found her but she was impossible to retrieve without cutting down a section of hedge. Hoped she would be okay where she was but something managed to get her 2 weeks into her sit.    Felt awful. Now they get moved whatever. You live and learn. Try not to feel too bad about it.

[chrismahon]

Sorry to hear that Lagmore. Foxes are only a night time problem here as they are hunted during the day.


Did you manage to save the eggs?

[Marches Farmer]

We had a wild pheasant make a nest in a great tangle of clematis and shrubs next to one of our compost bins, 3 metres from the house.  She came back at the same time almost every afternoon for a fortnight.  One afternoon she stayed put to begin brooding, next morning we found a couple of feathers and two smashed eggs.  Borrowed an incubator and hatched 9 of 10, which we released into the wild once they could fly.

Our neighbour, who has 5 free range Border Collies, has shot 5 foxes near his farmyard this Winter - one dog and 4 vixens.  He said he'd expect the vixens to be heavily pregnant, ready to cub next month, but none appeared pregnant.  Hard winters make them much bolder than usual.

[Brijjy]

I wonder in the aftermath of that month old baby being bitten by a fox, how many will be trapped in towns and "humanely" released into the countryside?

[digit]

I'd be more than happy to sort any fox problems out for anyone with in reasonable distance to me.

[twizzel]

OH's mum was kicking herself one morning- she forgot to shut her chickens in and the fox (or possibly a badger, could have been either) helped himself... she lost 10 light sussex
We have a young farmer friend who is a chicken farmer, he was about to send some of his hens off to the factory as they were past the age that they keep them for- just over a year old, so we've just given 15 a home this weekend
Fox also had our neighbours beautiful cockeral last week in a 2 hour period one afternoon- found the feathers as they brought the horses in... such a shame.