Dolly Parton and the Fox

[raleighchicks]

We've taken every precaution to make sure that our coop is predator proof since a raccoon got into our coop and killed Cher (my favorite lady), but it seems that the foxes have outwitted us. The chickens were making a ruckus this morning and Michael went to check on them. There was a dang fox running around in our coop. It's sealed from the top, there is cement deep into the bottom, bricks stacked, whole nine yards. Michael was going to shoot him, but I'm not sure the neighbors would be ok with it since we live in city limits - slightly illegal. Anywho, as Michael was chasing the fox around the coop the fox went into the hen house and lifted the eave with his nose and slid right on out. Crazy, right? I'm assuming that's how he was getting in as well.

Anyway, after the chaos, we noticed Dolly Parton (my super big breasted silver grey dorking) was limping. Her feathers are ruffled and she's sort of hopping, but looks like she can still put weight on her foot. I didn't see any blood, so maybe she broke or sprained it in the chaos? Can chickens sprain their legs? If the fox did get her is she prone to infection? Should I just keep checking on her? She won't really let me get too close right now, but I'll try again later today. Any help would be great... not really sure what to do with a limping lady!

We will secure the eaves to the hen house before bed tonight, but is there anything else that we can do to keep the pesky city dwelling predators away? The dog pees on the coop all of the time, should I start making Michael do the same (I saw it somewhere that keeps foxes away)? Read something about hair, too.

I love my chickens to death, but I'm starting dread waking up in the morning because I'm not sure what new creature is trying to eat them!

 

[HEChicken]

I'm sorry for the stress - I do know what you mean. I've had my own issues with foxes and in my signature there is a link to a survival story of a hen attacked by a fox, if that gives you some comfort that they CAN survive an actual attack (my hen had bite wounds in her back and I worried terribly they would get infected).

You might check your city ordinances. I now live in the country but when I lived in the city I did have the right to use deadly force to protect my pets and/or livestock (chickens were legal there). Discharging a weapon was illegal but its hard to use deadly force otherwise on a predator like a fox so I think we would have got away with it. If I were you, I wouldn't go out of my way to tell the neighbors. Its strange to me how people think of foxes as "beautiful" and "cute". Although I live in the country, after we dispatched a fox who had wiped out one third of my flock in a single attack, my neighbors - country people to the core - said "Oh, you didn't shoot our fox, did you?" Waaaaah!

 

[raleighchicks]

Thanks so much for your advice! I'm working on the whole "inside city limits" thing. I'm nervous now because I'm not sure how much of Dolly Parton the fox got... I didn't check under her feathers at all for bite marks. She did drink water and eat some food this morning. I guess I'll have to wait and see how she is doing when I get home. Poor Dolly Parton.