I noticed that one of the hens was not around - but sometimes they do disappear off somewhere else to make a nest (usually at their peril) - then a duck, and then it was obvious....there was a fox about, but what time of day was it coming?
Our chicken sheds have proved to be fox proof, but our outside enclosures are not - and as I can't keep the birds confined in a shed all day, I decided they would be safer free ranging. On this particular Sunday, we went out around 11.30 am and were back home before 3pm. We were away too long to save our very favourite little black silkie hen. She was called Raven the brave, and I reared her from a chick. When her other 'chick siblings' all died, I used to carry her round with me in my pocket, including car journeys, the lot - hence the brave, but bravery is no defence against a fox.
The guilt, the sadness and the anger felt in these situations, is hard to appreciate unless you have kept chickens. I have certainly made errors and bad decisions in the past, like forgetting to shut one of the shed doors, or arriving back home later than planned - and if I've lost a couple of birds, yes I feel bad, but that's fair game to the fox. This was not fair at all. How can I compete against a daytime fox? - undoubtedly a vixen, who would become bolder and more reckless as her cubs grow and demand ever more from her.
Henry saw the fox, early afternoon on the next two days, once with a chicken in its mouth, which it let go, amazingly, and ran off through the undergrowth.
We staked out the dog, to guard the high risk 'home' area - but this could only be a short term measure. We have had quite a few losses to foxes recently, and that is the trouble too. It is foxes in the plural, so shooting one, doesn't mean it is the culprit, and even if it were, there are plenty of others to take over.
Henry suggests moving the chickens and ducks.
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