Chicken all alone. Please help

[Hannahek10]

Just today I unfortunately came home from school to one of my four chickens dead in the run. We decided to let the other three free roam even though I didn’t feel like it was safe enough. I went outside when it was getting dark to make sure the chickens went into the coop and I came out to one of them by themselves. I shut her in the coop and went looking for the other two. After searching with my family, we found remanence of one of the chickens. An hour of looking later, we couldn’t find the third one. There has always been a fox around, but it never seemed to be a problem until today. I now only have one left and I’m extremely devastated as these are my first ever chickens and my love for my pets is so strong. The coop and run are both very predator proof so I have no idea how my first chicken died in the run. I shouldn’t have left the others out that same day. It’s currently night and I’m not sure if I should keep my last chicken outside in the coop by herself or make a makeshift one inside the house as I stay next to her? Would she be more comfortable outside where shes familiar with her surroundings? I’m currently looking for 1-2 chickens that need adopted/rehomed, but not finding any luck. Also, in the future, is there anything I can do about this fox? I still would like to free roam them, but now with this incident I’m going to find it extremely difficult. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[azygous]

I'm so sorry. Losing your pet chickens is an awful blow. Yes, I understand. It's happened to me. You never get used to it.

Predators can be very smart, but they develop habits. One habit is once they nab a chicken, they come right back the next day for more. You need to be prepared for that by mixing up the routine of your chickens to disrupt the predator's plans.

The first chicken may have been killed through the mesh of your run fence if it's made of poultry wire. The large mesh permits a predator to stick a paw through to snag a chicken and pull her toward the fence where parts can be torn off. Raccoons are especially good at this.

Running quarter inch hardware cloth around the lower portion of your run will help. Burying an "apron" into the soil around the run will discourage diggers. But the best deterrent is electric hot wire run around the coop and run and baited with peanut butter to invite the predator to engage the wire to get a shock.

Your feed store probably carries the supplies and they are surprisingly inexpensive, the fence charger being the biggest cost. They will also give you simple pointers on how to set it up.

 

[Hannahek10]

I'm so sorry. Losing your pet chickens is an awful blow. Yes, I understand. It's happened to me. You never get used to it.

Predators can be very smart, but they develop habits. One habit is once they nab a chicken, they come right back the next day for more. You need to be prepared for that by mixing up the routine of your chickens to disrupt the predator's plans.

The first chicken may have been killed through the mesh of your run fence if it's made of poultry wire. The large mesh permits a predator to stick a paw through to snag a chicken and pull her toward the fence where parts can be torn off. Raccoons are especially good at this.

Running quarter inch hardware cloth around the lower portion of your run will help. Burying an "apron" into the soil around the run will discourage diggers. But the best deterrent is electric hot wire run around the coop and run and baited with peanut butter to invite the predator to engage the wire to get a shock.

Your feed store probably carries the supplies and they are surprisingly inexpensive, the fence charger being the biggest cost. They will also give you simple pointers on how to set it up.

Thank you so much for this information. I definitely will be adding that quarter inch hardware cloth near the bottom of the run as well as the electric wire. I do have about two feet of chicken wire that comes out from the run which blocks predators from digging. That seems to be working pretty well. Thanks again for the response!

 

[TOR]

maybe look into craigslist, but not sure if you even in USA no location.

 

[cmom]

So sorry for you loss. I don't free range anymore due to losses from predators. It is a risk you take and sooner or later those who do will loose a bird/birds at some time. Lessons learned the hard way. I have large covered pens with electric wires around my coops and pens. Nothing has gotten past the hot wires. There are several good threads on electric fencing. I personally use wires. You can run any number you want. I have three. I also have several game cameras and see predators on them quite regularly. Not knowing where you live you may be able to find a farm swap in or around your area. Good luck...

 

[Blue Raptor]

Just today I unfortunately came home from school to one of my four chickens dead in the run. We decided to let the other three free roam even though I didn’t feel like it was safe enough. I went outside when it was getting dark to make sure the chickens went into the coop and I came out to one of them by themselves. I shut her in the coop and went looking for the other two. After searching with my family, we found remanence of one of the chickens. An hour of looking later, we couldn’t find the third one. There has always been a fox around, but it never seemed to be a problem until today. I now only have one left and I’m extremely devastated as these are my first ever chickens and my love for my pets is so strong. The coop and run are both very predator proof so I have no idea how my first chicken died in the run. I shouldn’t have left the others out that same day. It’s currently night and I’m not sure if I should keep my last chicken outside in the coop by herself or make a makeshift one inside the house as I stay next to her? Would she be more comfortable outside where shes familiar with her surroundings? I’m currently looking for 1-2 chickens that need adopted/rehomed, but not finding any luck. Also, in the future, is there anything I can do about this fox? I still would like to free roam them, but now with this incident I’m going to find it extremely difficult. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

We have a fox that hunts out in the field for mice. It seems to be doing nothing then BOOM dead chicken. I have seen fox prints in the snow appear overnight, stalking the fence. Those are crafty animals.

 

[cmom]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/electric-fence-basics.1398976/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/a-treatise-on-electric-fencing.1117877
http://www.poultrydvm.com/featured-infographic/tips-for-protecting-poultry-from-predators.

 

[azygous]

The great thing about hot wire and using a bait on the wire to engage the predator is that the lesson learned from being shocked is permanent. That individual predator will not ever return. They will associate your premises with acute pain and will stay completely away.

 

[The WinterWolf]

id just break out the 12 gauge.... however if you dont want to, then you can set up traps and take the fox far from your home

 

[neo71665]

The only thing chicken wire is good for is keeping chickens in. Predators as small as a rat can tear it apart. It won't stop anything as an apron when it puts it's mind to it.