[Roxy]

Am devastated, yet again had a visit. Got in the hay barn somehow, and managed to get in one of the bantam pens ....feathers all over the field.  Appears to have taken my lovely purebred banties - three of them, silver laced and a silver pencilled, and a grey layed.  But this morning, in the field were two remaining banties from the pen, they are last years hatched, two blue laced.  Miracle they escaped,  but somehow they did.  Pen next to, containing an ancient RIR and her 4 companions, plus the cockerel pen, remained intact .....for now.
 
These hens all run free range durijng the day, and go in there at night.  Until the recent attack they just perched in the barn, but for extra safety I manually lift them into the pens each night.  Not that its done a lot of good.
 
Ironically the big hens are laying poor since the cold and snow.  The banties kept laying.  They would have gone broody very soon, and I planned to sit some eggs under them.  I feel awful about whats happened, but not a lot you can do.
 
Just a couple of weeks back, the lady who lives at the farm along the lane, came to say the fox had taken her childrens duck and one hen, leaving one duck and one hen behind in the garden.  The kids are 9 and 7, and had asked their mum if she would see me, and enquire if their hen and duck had come to my hens - they thought maybe they had gone on an adventure .......their mum said she would prefer itif they thought that, to hearing the truth.  This was their first hens, and they were so excited.  Poor mum was down the field, frantically picking feathers up before they noticed.

[nic99]

You have my sympathies. RIP little chickens. I am having trouble with a fox at the moment too. Have lost 1 hen, 1 duck so far and am counting myself lucky that that is all! I am dreading nightfall each night and worry about it as I lay in bed, as I think it is only a matter of time before he breaks into one of the houses and kills the lot.
I am currently looking into buying a fox trap if anybody has any recommendations? They are expensive, but would cost a lot more to replace my whole flock.

[Anke]

Electric poultry netting, run from the mains and wing-clipping for flighty birds is the only answer! We have so far not lost any hens to the fox (I know there will be a first time for everythng...), but we also usually have the more valuable part of the flock next to the pig pens..., radio in the nearby goat shed is on all day while the hens are out.
 
But we did loose a lamb last year to a fox or badger... and I have seen the foxes at night when I am lambing and they are in the field...

[john and helen]

friend of mine who shoots, said he came across the 1st lot of fox cubs just the other day...
we lost 11 ducks and 4 chicken the last time we were visited ..and we live in the centre of Exmouth, they kill for the sake of killing... and now when the cubs are arriving , they will make a b-line to any easy food...

sorry to hear about your loss... i know to well the feeling

[Lesley Silvester]

We lost all six of our hens to a fox some years ago and my OH won't have any again.

[aess35]

Sorry to hear about your birds..i lost 2 aylesburys in day light last year, saw one being dragged across a field..both belonged to my 2kids raised lovingly from an egg. Only thing I could suggest is find someone responsible locally to you who is looking to sharpen their aim. I didn't feel like this until I lost them and others but these 2 never went more than 6ft from the kitchen window. 

[Nortonhillbilly]

I am so sorry to hear that and sympathise. We rehomed battery hens for a couple of years and had as many as 24, all living quite happily in the orchard and roaming far and wide without incident for 18 months. Then, over the course of 6 weeks we lost the lot, all during the day as they were securely homed at night. But I am not sure the culprit was a fox in our case. We live by a small river and I think it may have been wild mink. Either way the trauma is hard to bear. We have had 99 lambs so far this year, all born outside and (so far) not a life lost through a fox attack. We stumble across badgers when we are checking out, and while they move quite fast, they are no match for an alert and quick lamb three or four days old. All our friends who keep poulty have had the same experience. I think Anke is right, electric netting is the best answer and you have the satisfation of delivering a 7000 volt bop on the nose on the marauding predator which makes you feel a whole lot better. If they took one, you'd handle it, but they kill for the sake of it which to our minds seems so pointless.  We are smarter than foxes and, ultimately, its up to us to prove it and keep our livestock safe. Electrify!!

[Roxy]

Whoever it was returned last night.  I went round all the sheds, checking and double checking.  I think the ones near the billy goat sheds are safe .....either the smell of them, or the pygmy males ramming their heads against the fence is enough to scare even a fox.  The hens in the barn - most had moved themselves to the sheds down the field, scared of another attack!!  The two remaining hens and bantams I carried to another hut.  That left the bantam cockerel,who is waiting to be sold.  He was in a secure cage, but I covered the cage up, and put another cage on top.
 
This morning, the cage on top was down the barn, so was the cover, and the bantam cage was upside down.  Cockerel was ok, just a few feathers missing which had been pulled through the side of the cage.  Its obviously been round all the sheds, as they are all jumpy, and kicking off all the time.
 
I am now wondering if this could be a badger?  Reason being, the sheer weight of what has been moved to get to the hens .....foxes are not that strong, surely?  Also, found the body of one of the lost hens down the field last night.  Yes, its head was gone, but the body was intact, except for the insides seemed to have been taken, so it was just a carcass.  Don't badgers eat innards of things?
 
The only puzzling thing, is the gap under the barn door is small, too small for a badger I am sure.
 
Have to find somewhere secure for the cockerel now!
 
We have a man comes on shooting, and he is very good.  But if it is a badger, there is not a lot I can do about it.  Its against the law to dispose of badgers.  If I could catch it in a trap, would that be legal?  Could give it to the local badger people to put somewhere else - a long way from here!!!!
Of course we have to assume it is a fox.

[doganjo]

Would foxes take a big aggressive Gander?

[john and helen]

I was once told, that if you splash some urine form a man around the area , this puts the fox off..now i have never tried this,
and i can honestly say it was just hear say, they also mentioned it was better to use the urine collected from the 1st pee in the morning, as this is strongest....

[Roxy]

Human hair spread round is meant to deter too,but not sure if this is so.  I sprayed strong stable disinfectant  round the sheds last night, and no sign of trouble, this morning.  My elderley uncle used to get the creosote after a fox visit, and do all the wooden fence posts, and sheds.  Maybe he thought the fox would not smell the hens, over the creosote!!
 
As to thinking badgers are too big to get under a small space .....about 10pm driving home from the field, I saw a badger go into a field, under the gate.

[OhLaLa]

Fox will visit anytime of day or night.
Peeing / placing hair around the place - all old wives tales.
Foxes will take whatever they can get hold of, regardless of what it is.
------------------------------
Check overnight housing and fencing for access areas and weak points; deal with them straight away.

[Roxy]

Three more hens disappeared today - not sure if it was during the day or just before they go in at dusk.  But, the fox kindly left the two cockerels that go in the same hut ......
 
I have had my large free range flock roaming happily in those fields for the last 35 years, and the last few months have been the worst for losing hens to foxes.
 
 

[Plantoid]

A 30 pound plus fox is tremendously strong when it's after food.
So toppling your cage is going to be no problem
 The only way I know of protecting chooks and geese etc at night is to have  a fully secure  house with chain link fence wire on top on the sides and underneath it . Across the door and pop hole put a metal framed a padlocked on screen  at night .

 One thing to remember is that a fox will happily jump on a tractor off the wheels , jump up five feet onto the cab , walk on the cab and then jump five feet across & down into the chicken run kill the chickens  so it can come back for the dead ones the next day and the day after that .  It will usually take a dead chicken out with it .

Lots of foxes have picked up on being able to exit a chicken pen by running up in the corner walls to get over the top..  Sometimes they will also jump on to the top of the hen house and do a short runing spring jump to get out with the chicken . A fox can happily do a five foot high vertical jump with a chicken in it's mouth
A full grown goose as nasty as that  spitting snarling  woman  Glenda Jackson that we saw on TV the other day  is no problem for a fox .
 
 Remember if you trap a fox you have to check the trap at least twice a day and there should be shelter above and water in the cage . It's also best to get the person who will despatch it lined up before hand if you don't have a licenced shottie or firearm to kill it yourself.

 Tinned cat food is a good bait  use 1/2 a tin each day in the close vicinity of the trap and on the fourth day put in in the set trap or use a thawed chicken carcass that he got at that you froze in a poly bag  to use as trap bait .
 The fox scent will be on the carcass and will not make the fox so wary of an unscented  carcass or the cat food.
 
 Good hunting .

[Roxy]

Thank You for that,Plantoid - I have often wondered if the scent of a human on the bait in the trap, would deter the fox from entering  My neighbour said he has arrived some mornings to find one of the farm cats waiting to be let out of the trap!!
 
Someone I know had their hens penned up in the orchard.  Unfortunately, they did not realise, the fox could jump on to the dry stone wall, onto an overhanging branch, and into the pen.  Another one had her hens in the barn.  Her husband kept the window closed, she kept opening it(for air).  He repeateldly told her the fox could jump up to the window .....and one morning you can guess what she found.
 
On a happier note, the 3 missing hens were standing by the field gate this morning.  Whether they were chased, and managed to fly up a tree across the lane, I don't know.  They were very fortunate, as that field backs on to the old railway, and there are foxes galore.  Plus, I was early this morning, and they were already out and about, and probably so were the foxes.  Anyway, very pleased to see them all unharmed.  Will not try and make sure I am around well before they go in.  A  bit difficult when I have two lots of land with animals on, to see to.