Lost 21 chickens out of 33.

[PoppiesChicks]

Today something killed 21 of my 33 chickens today. They were free range but not anymore I guess. I have a rooster and a few hens and 2 chicks left. I only found 4 bodies in the yard. We have a fox that lives in a neighbors barn. I'm sure that's what it was. My husband found one buried in our barn. I've read that a fox has a great memory and now they will come back to kill the rest. They will also teach their kits to raid chicken coops. I would hate to keep them in. They are free range and I just love them in the yard. My kids are most upset about our blue maran. She had just hatched chicks a couple of weeks ago. Only one survived. Anyway...how can I get rid of the fox? Would a trap work? I would shoot it but we have small kids and I don't want a loaded gun in the house. Did I mention this was all during the day?

 

[Nikkipar]

Omg so sorry. My husband says that a trap would work, and you can call animal control to come get it if you don't want to shoot it. Let me know how it goes!

 

[Nikkipar]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/649137/protecting-your-chickens-from-predators-in-your-backyard


Check this out. It mentions foxes!

 

[Cuckoomama]

Wow! Sorry. A similar thing happened to us. We had some Cuckoo Marans and 7 little Khaki Campbell ducks and assorted chickens. They free range and we didn't have any problems or so we thought. I went to pick up my husband...we weren't gone more than 30 minutes and when we got home, there were 3 ducks (the male was gone) and the Cuckoo rooster was just a pile of feathers. Later in the afternoon a huge black bear came saunering around the corner of the house and almost ran into my husband. I'm not sure who was more surprized. This was the answer to our mystery. The following week we were visited daily by the bear hoping for another duck/chicken dinner....no way! Because my husband works from home, he is able to keep a good eye on the Poultry People, but too bad bears didn't wear bells or something equally noisy. We love our girls and haven't lost one since.