[bloomer]

absolutely gutted my breeding stock of cream legbars were attacked last night, they were in a temporary pen which admittedly was less secure than my permanent pens but am still gutted they were stock i had sourced from multiple places to get good genetics for this years hatching programme and now i have none. I still have my pen of marans but i don't have much luck hatching them...


also the legbars were my best layers for my egg sales :-(


more expense in the spring to replace them all...


going to cry in the corner for a while then work out how to protect what's left even better!!!

[Rosemary]

Oh, David, so sorry to hear this. It's so upsetting 

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Am so sorry to hear that, foxes are evil, I had a few problems with foxes last year, they kept on eating half my flock of lambs, I wondered why I had so few, I moved them to be on the farm, as I had them grazing rented land, and the numbers increased dramatically and I had a ton of lambs this year, fantastic!

[bloomer]

not helping my head that the kids were very attached to the cockerel in that group...


have upset small people as well now... they didnt see the carnage thankfully...

[Fleecewife]

Oh no David, that's so horrible.  I'm still livid from losing my beautiful hens last spring.  Being on the warpath against the foxes is the way to go.  Get the kiddies to help.

[bloomer]

i can see me trapping the hill as soon as i get christmas out of the way but i do have to find a way to terminate the buggers if i catch them...

[Rosemary]

Foxes are evil

Foxes aren't evil. Being evil is a human condition. Foxes are foxes. It's up to us to protect our livestock.

[bloomer]

Foxes are evil

Foxes aren't evil. Being evil is a human condition. Foxes are foxes. It's up to us to protect our livestock.

i actually agree with rosemary here, i fully accept i screwed up most of my pens are like fort knox the temporary pen wasn't anywhere near as good and i hadn't got round to finishing the new pen for this group so i was asking for trouble... still upsetting and i will do what i can to remove the problem in the future but the fox was just doing what foxes do...

[HappyHippy]

Bags of human hair round the pens, you and the boys need to 'scent mark' the boundaries 
Failing that, get a couple of pigs  the smell keeps them away. You've seen how secure our chooks aren't.......we have foxes all around, they don't come near 
So sorry about your hens 
  From all of us xxx

[nutterly_uts]

Wonder if someone locally has despatched the normal local fox and you've had a new one move in? Thats usually the reason for a new fox attack. Very sad Hope you get sorted in the new year

[SallyintNorth]

So sorry, David.  {{{hugs}}} to you all 

It's worth letting your local hunt know what's happened.  Sometimes they'll be asked to clear a fox or foxes for a local farmer, and all intelligence about foxes in the area helps.  They may also decide to exercise the hounds near your pens, which would provide some additional deterrence.

[bloomer]

i wish, our garden ends in an enclosed valley thats heavily wooded, the only building behind us is a huge paper factory none of the gardens on the hill are fenced so wildlife abounds (we get roe deer on the hill as well) we never saw evidence of the fox till today although i always assumed they could be there as access is so easy... our permanent pens have concrete skirts around the outside of the wire so not digable not so for the temp pen...


i have reviewed the other pens and only found a couple of very minor weak points which have been reinforced, so hopefully any more visits will be pointless for mr fox, i will also take our dog down to that part of the garden more often (not his bit normally) to allow him to make doggy smells etc.


i will call the local hunt for advice though as they may know if its a bigger problem etc locally.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

Foxes are evil

Foxes aren't evil. Being evil is a human condition. Foxes are foxes. It's up to us to protect our livestock.

What can I say, I know its humanizing!

[Porterlauren]

A couple of points -

Rosmary is quite right, foxes are not 'evil' as such. They are merely opportunistic. However, you do get 'problem' foxes which cause far greater levels of carnage than others, and need removing if you want a peaceful life for your livestock.

Depending on your local hunt, they are often about as much use as a chocolate teapot in removing a fox problem. Your local terrier man, rifle man or such may be a far better option.

Pigs DO NOT deter foxes in any meaningful way, i've had poultry taken from amongst the pigs and have also found plenty of fox scat in the pig pens.

The scent idea works sometimes, but a determined fox isn't stupid, they know that human habitation smells of humans, its the actual humans they are scared of (and even then, not all of the time!).

The only way to deal with a fox problem is to shoot it / snare it / dig it / dog it / trap it.

I'd advise everyone to leave a permanently set fox trap near your poultry.

My condolences Bloomer, one killed my geese recently and it really made me very sad and angry!

[ladyK]

Oh no, how horrible, so sorry about you hens... 
Hope you can deter any further visits.