Selfsufficientish.com

Everyone in my surrounding area are having serious problems at the moment with foxes taking hens. Touch wood, I have been the lucky one in this - so far. But I am very vigilant - some may call me paranoid, but after losing some hens to the fox before, I think I have every right to be paranoid!!

I am looking after a friends assortment of animals this week - quite a task as I have a small holding of my own as well. Anyway, a couple of weeks before she went away, one of her hens disappeared .....then a cockerel .......Then last week they were wakened at 3am by a commotion by the patio and found a fox with another cockerel in its mouth. The problem being three of the cockerels have never gone in the hen houses, but roosted on a high branch in a tree. Obviously fox somehow got one out of its roost.

Two days before they went away, friends hubby was making breakfast and saw a fast go across the garden carrying one of his free range hens. He rushed out and that was dead, and another dead in the field. The day he went on holiday, the fox again returned, but the two remaining cockerels managed to jump on the family car and survived.

I have been letting the hens out later in the morning to try and save them from the fox. On Tuesday morning, the two cockerels who live in the tree were making a dreadful racket and standing on the field fence. This was 7am and I think my car arriving disturbed the fox. Yesterday morning, the big Rhode Island Cock had gone ......fox had left the bantam cock, obviously preferring a larger meal. We think its a dog fox carrying them off to feed a vixen and cubs further up the lane.

mY next door neighbour has also lost 4 hens on two separate occasions this week. Again, they have seen the fox during the day, help himself. A house further up the lane had his in what he thought was a secure run, and the fox bit through the netting and killed them all.

So this is just to let you know to be extra vigilant - its not just at dawn and dusk the foxes are around.

I have just bought a second hand ark and run, so that at least I can contain mine while I am at work - cost me a fortune, but never mind!

Hi Teasal. You've probaly got foxes with cubs to feed close by.

Previously, so long as our chix were safely locked away by dusk, we had no problems with foxes although we knew they were around alot at night but we had a problem last year when a fox and vixen had cubs on next doors land. Then they were out hunting all day and we could only let the chix out when we were actually out there working. I know its not funny when you loose your livestock to foxes but it was lovely to sit out at dusk and watch the cubs running in and out of our hedges playing. I suppose there are two sides to every coin

Me and my neighbours are still struggling to keep the foxes away from our chickens. One has lost 8 hens and 2 cockerels in a couple of weeks. The fox is coming in daylight, while there are people around. He kills a couple, and carries one away. My next door neighbour lost two hens, on two days running. A man in the village has his in a hen shed with a run, and thought they were safe from foxes. The fox gnawed a hole in the side of the shed and killed 5 of his hens. I have been fortunate up to now, but I am letting my hens out at lunchtime. Vigilant as I am, I cannot be there all the time guarding the hens. Its such a worry.

I totally understand your worry as I lost all of mine last year to a fox. He broke through my fort knox garden and killed them all.

My neighbour had been encouraging him into his garden (unbeknown to me). He too thought it was lovely to have a fox around. However, he did not feel that way when he saw me cleaning up all my headless chickens, nor did he enjoy telling his grandson where his pet rabbits had gone when the fox came back the following week and ripped into the cage in broad daylight and killed both rabbits and took 1 away.

Foxes and cubs are lovely to watch as long as you have nothing to lose. They are wild creatures and are only following their instinct. They are very determined and I sympathise with your efforts for detering them from your chooks.

An electric fence may be the only realistic way. Realitively cheap and easy to install.

Good luck