Fox caught in the henhouse

[chickenannie]

Unfortunately, it killed all my best Buff Orpington hens and my lovely Buff rooster George. It was awful. I called the farmer-neighbors and they came over and shot the fox, which I had locked into the henhouse. I was hoping the fox problem was taken care of but the neighbors reported seeing several more foxes around, even in my barn. I went in the barn and there were 2 more piles of feathers -- 2 more hens lost to foxes. I feel terrible. The rooster was near dead and suffering horribly so I had to kill him to put him out of his misery.

I just feel kind of numb. So much death and destruction in such a short period of time. My pet roo, Brownie, survived but has a broken leg and possibly puncture wounds. One banty hen survived by flying up to the rafters but then she had to witness it all.

It's the end of my naivete about foxes. I am going to get some electric netting fence from Premiere and surround my coop with it. Does anyone know if that stops foxes (when it's electrified netting). Otherwise the birds are going inside.

 

[WriterofWords]

I'm so sorry for you and your birds. Foxes are cute, but they are killers, even though it's to eat and comes naturally, we can't have them eating our stock. I'm not familiar with the netting, I hope someone else is and let's you know so this horrible thing doesn't happen to you again.

 

[chickenannie]

Quote:
In some way, it wouldnt' be as bad if I thought the fox was starving and needed to eat to survive. But this fox just killed all the chickens and let them lie. didn't eat them at all. Senseless. Why do foxes do that?

 

[al6517]

with foxes now known to be plentiful in your area, lock-em like fort knox and a really secure run, the more you can do the better, at least then you may be able to sleep at night.

AL

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Were you able to tell how the fox got into your coop?

 

[speckledhen]

That must have been awful for you. I'm so sorry.

 

[Rainman]

Quote:
In some way, it wouldnt' be as bad if I thought the fox was starving and needed to eat to survive. But this fox just killed all the chickens and let them lie. didn't eat them at all. Senseless. Why do foxes do that?

Because they are foxes.

 

[flakey chick]

Quote:
That is a bit unusual. Even when they are killing a lot to feed their young, they usually kill one animal and then bring it straight back to the den. I have heard of rabid foxes that attack senslessly, but if that were the case, it probably would have been much harder to trap and dispatch.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

I read the title and thought you speaking metaphorically... Sorry about your loss.

 

[nnbreeder]

The reason is not because they are cruel or insensitive, it's a rather smart strategy called a cashe. What the fox did was to make a storage of food that he could come back to later and had he not been interupted he would have carried off the birds to hide them someplace to feed at his leisure.

The netting is very good but remember that Fox are excellent jumpers, climbers and diggers. I have read about them jumping a 5 foot wall to get at prey and also climbing trees and digging under fences to get into runs. A good covered run with buried wire or tin will stop the assult.