mystery ???

Date sort Score sort
esther5

esther5

Songster
8 Years
Aug 23, 2011
290
23
131
UK
i am sick of foxes and spend hundreds of pounds trying to protect my chickens. yesterday i found one looking very sorry for itself and not able to balance. i have discovered to my horror she has lost a leg. i can't see how. the coop is attached to a run and is stillfirmly attached. there is a small gap between the two but hard to inagine a fox fitting it's nose through.

have fed bathed and watered the chicken but i expect she will not recover. the fox comes daily to the coop to have a look. i have never noticed any other preditor and cant see how the fox achieved this.
 
I used to have a lot of problems with
Foxes when I used to free range my laying hens.
I then orderd an eletric fence off maceoin in Ireland and
My hens have been safe for the past 7 years.
I haven't lost a hen to a fox,mink,pinemartin since and my house
Is surrounded by forestry,
They come in 50 meters or 25 meters
Here is a link to maceoins website where they have the fences. (you can change the currency to pounds)
https://www.maceoinltd.com/electric-fencing/chicken-fencing-netting/
Right now I have the 50 meter which is huge.
When they say 50 meter they mean 50 meter long rolled out
But you need to make a square/rectangle with the fence.
There so good I even orderd another one!
 
Last edited:
esther5 said:
i am sick of foxes and spend hundreds of pounds trying to protect my chickens. yesterday i found one looking very sorry for itself and not able to balance. i have discovered to my horror she has lost a leg. i can't see how. the coop is attached to a run and is stillfirmly attached. there is a small gap between the two but hard to inagine a fox fitting it's nose through.

have fed bathed and watered the chicken but i expect she will not recover. the fox comes daily to the coop to have a look. i have never noticed any other preditor and cant see how the fox achieved this.
Click to expand...


Do you have raccoons over there? Something like that would be able to grab at a leg and try to pull the hen through the fence.

I'm so sorry for your hen! Is everyone else safe and accounted for?
 
thank you. no, no racoons wild here. everyone else seems fine. what worries me is i've no idea how it happened. there are no holes on the coop or run. poor chicken.
 
hi
i used to live 15 miles away and free ranged my chickens for sereral years. then we began to have fox problems and i invested in a fox busting electric fence which kept them safe. i then moved house and was delighted because we are enclosed by 6 ft fencing. i hadn't known foxes could climb fences. the electric fence no longer worked. the fox managed to jump it and the wire fence nect to it. i them paid a lot of money for a walk in enclosure. great in the summer but waterlogged in winter and utterly disgusting so i spent a few more hundred on a coop for winter.

i am so discouraged. i can't imagine how anyone even breaks even. i dont do it for economical reasons, just pleasure, but a chicken with it's leg ripped off is no pleasure...
 
guess i should be thankful it is just one. usually a successful fox attack decimates the flock.
 
No, I can imagine not :(

I don't know that you can do much for her besides a warm quiet place and fresh water. If you have some blood stop powder it could help, but she's likely going to go into shock. They're string though, so don't count her out. I had one lose a wing and recover just fine, minus the wing...

I'm having a hard time imagining a fox getting through a small hole like that, or even being able to grab and pull a chicken hard enough to rip her poor leg off, unless she had her leg out if the fence to begin with. That's why I asked about the coons. Maybe another small predator like a weasel or a cat if some sort, that would be able to grab and have enough strength to hold on...

I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with all the possible predators your direction. :(

Oh! But I can suggest electrifying your run. It might help.. I missed where you stated it didn't work anymore...shorting out?
 
Last edited:
the electric fence worked just fine. the foxes where i live now are far more determined and just jump it. i had a top make electric fence. now they are fully enclosed. thanks for replying.
 
she is inside. did eat and drink earlier. has been bathed and put to bed in a box. we will see how she does. i thought she was dead this morning but is a bit perkier now. she was dirty so i guess infection could set in.
 

Similar threads

NorthwoodsChick
Graphic pic warning: A hard to catch ermine- GOT IT.
Replies
7
Views
456
McChooky
McChooky
K2goatsandducks
    • Wow
Need help with mite identification (images below!)
Replies
6
Views
1K
Tyrannosaurus_Pecks89
Tyrannosaurus_Pecks89
rehsanipoor
Run construction/predators/cost
2 3
Replies
24
Views
3K
Sally PB
S
Preston Family Farm
    • Sad
    • Wow
    • Like
Weasel Attack Caught on Video (Mildly Graphic) - And How I'm Trying to Prevent Another Attack
2 3 4
Replies
35
Views
5K
Birdsonghill
B
jnicholes
    • Like
Mystery Solved/Apology
Replies
9
Views
1K
BuckBuckCluck
B

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom