BIG Pile of Feathers in yard...missing 4 chickens!!

[cheeptrick]

Quote:
So do you think the hawk buried it?? The two hawks that we followed were small...our hen was almost 2 years old and a big girl.

I still think it was a fox...

We had one come couple weeks ago...caught him in the act and chased him off...close CALL!!

Thanks all for your responses...it helps to read these to DD!!

DH just ordered 14 pullets from Ideal...he said he's going to make his DD feel all better!!

 

[Silkie's Grandma]

Chasing a fox will not keep it from returning. It knows where the birds are & will watch for a chance at them.

I am sorry for your Loss. It is always hard to lose our beloved pets.

 

[SpottedCrow]

Nope...Mr Hawk would've plucked and eaten the bird leaving head and feet most likely.
Mr and/or Mrs. Fox would've cached some for later...

Red Foxes have proportionately small stomachs for their size and can only eat half as much food in relation to their body weight as wolves and dogs can (about 10% compared with 20%). In periods of abundance, foxes will cache excess food against starvation at other times. They typically store the food in shallow holes (5–10 cm deep). Foxes tend to make many small caches, scattering them across their territories rather than storing their food in a single central location. This is thought to prevent the loss of the fox's entire food supply in the event that another animal finds the store.[21]​

 

[cheeptrick]

Yep...a fox. He was around a couple weeks ago...BIGGER than I'd ever seen before which is why I think its a HE. Had white socks on his feet...very pretty.

Had the whole CIRCLE of life talk with the kiddos...

Thanks SpottedCrow...your post peaked my DD interest and she wants to search for our other hen and 2 juveniles. She even is looking up Foxes in our Audubon Book right now...I think she's learning a valuable lesson about LIFE...not necessarily about feeling guilty about leaving them unattended.

I've read EVERY post to my 8 year old distraught daughter...

Thank you all...for helping me make her feel better!!

 

[ilovechickens]

I am so sorry for your loss. I also just lost 2 hens on Saturday, just feathers, and yesterday I lost 4 chicks, 2 were left dead in the pen, and two more were just gone. So I know what you are going through.