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[Beth C]

We have had chickens now for 2 years and had our first encounter with a fox We usually let the girls out for a little free ranging in the late afternoon when we get home. A fox came into the yard and we caught him with our girl Betsy in his mouth. A gun fired, and the fox dropped her. We took Betsy inside for some R&R... but one of the girls, Weezie, was missing and feathers all over the yard. We looked everywhere and could not find her. Assuming the worst, we concentrated on making certain the coop was safe and doctored on Betsy.

5 days later out of nowhere... Our Weezie came home!!!! I can not tell you how excited I was!! She seemed to be ok, some feathers missing but no large wounds. My problem now is the other girls are not accepting her in the coop. After her first night back her comb is bloody and she's hiding in the corner of the coop.

Any suggestions...
1 - I thought we had such a happy ending when Weezie returned home but now I still seem to have a problem in the coop.
2 - Still concerned about the fox threat. Should I not allow them to free range for a while? WIll that encourage the fox to move on?

 

[chickens really]

I have a Fox problem myself......No, do not allow out to free range.........

Put her in a look no touch pen for a week till they accept her again.......Only free range if home and out with them......Electric poultry fence is a great thing to have......I use it now....



Cheers!

 

[JackE]

X2 the previous post. I got away with free-ranging for just about a year Then the fox discoverd my flock. I lost 9 out of 11, in the first attack. Bought more chickens. Tried supervising them when they were out. But you can't be there all the time, and a 4 months later I lost 7 more. Had enough of that, and bought 300' of Premier's electrified poultry net. Liked it so much, I bought 350' more. Going on 5yrs now without a loss to a ground predator. I consider getting this netting to be one of the best things I've done for my birds.

 

[chickens really]

X2 the previous post. I got away with free-ranging for just about a year Then the fox discoverd my flock. I lost 9 out of 11, in the first attack. Bought more chickens. Tried supervising them when they were out. But you can't be there all the time, and a 4 months later I lost 7 more. Had enough of that, and bought 300' of Premier's electrified poultry net. Liked it so much, I bought 350' more. Going on 5yrs now without a loss to a ground predator. I consider getting this netting to be one of the best things I've done for my birds.

Yep........Fox are Buggers.......If one....Always two...................Crafty devils......



Cheers!