Fox attack?? (Warning- content could be considered graphic)

[Howard E]

BTW, back the OP's speculation that the loss was due to a fox.......almost certainly it was not. Most likely a mink, weasel or one of the cousins. And as for the difficulty of trapping a fox.....or any of the other predators........most are relatively easy to trap. Those who think otherwise are simply uninformed.

But if you are saying it is difficult to trap a fox in a too small live trap, placed in the vicinity of the chicken house, using bait fox isn't interested in........you are probably correct. Just as difficult as trying to install a nail into a 2 x 4 using a screwdriver. It's not the right tool for the job.

But the real question is if trapping is the solution to begin with. In most cases, it is not.

 

[DogAndCat36]

Posting tonight with a heavy heart—just lost my entire flock (all seven sweet hens) to what I can only imagine was a fox??

My husband went out to put our girls in the coop for the night. They free-range and roost on top the coop at dusk. He discovered something had killed all of them by eating the heads but leaving their bodies completely intact. Could this predator be a fox? No skunk odor in the air.

Thanks.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

The predator that killed you chickens is most likely not a fox, bird of prey, or raccoon. Foxes can kill over 20 chickens if the chickens are cornered and only take a few, not only the heads. Birds of prey also don't just take the heads and they would not eat that much in one day and kill excessively. Raccoons only pull at the heads when that is all they can reach. I think it was a gang of weasels, those shifty rodents eat only the heads of chickens and when they attack, they can kill whole coops full of chickens.

 

[Simple Life 15]

How sad. I can imagine how disturbing it was to find your flock gone. A weasel will slash a chicken's head/neck and drink the blood. They do not normally eat the meat or take the chicken with them.

We rotate our pasture a 1/4 of an acre at a time with an electric poultry fence (from Premier 1) and use a light sensitive automatic self opening/closing door for our flock of 26 hens (started with 30, however, hawks took 4 of them) and 10 guineas. We started our flock last August. We have not had any ground predators (i.e., fox, weasels, raccoons) penetrate the fence. We keep it live 24/7. All of our girls return to the coop shortly after sunset and the chicken door closes/locks securely each evening.

 

[50-45-1]

A weasel does not travel in gangs, and are solitary hunters with a territory they claim for themselves keeping others out.
A mother weasel may be training her young how to hunt, but we may never know for sure.
If you have a trail camera, point it at the coop tonight and your question may be answered as it will likely be back to claim more of its kill.
A better designed and secure coop are the real fix.
All of have preditors to deal with.
A chicken is one of the most vunerable creatures with no defences except run, fly, and hide.
At night none of those options work.

 

[Simple Life 15]

I would agree with 50-45-1 ... the best defense is a secure coop.

For weasels, their killing instinct is triggered by movement — In a chicken coop, the weasel is unable to stop itself from killing.

First, the wild, squawking and flapping movement of the chickens triggers the instinct, causing the weasel killing chickens to go on killing until it perceives there is nothing left to kill. Second, it will want to kill as many prey as possible, with plans to save the extras for future meals. Many times it will appear that they are trying to "hide" the chickens for a future meal.

The method that weasels use to kill their prey is to bite the back of the neck of the animal. The long teeth penetrate the neck with only two bites. This is the signature method of killing by a weasel.

 

[kjorgey]

I'm sorry about the incident, That is really heart dropping. you can assume that it's because of a fox, but I would rather secure my coop than look for a suspect

 

[kjorgey]

Oh my, I am so sorry. I can't even imagine the heart ache you feel. I wouldn't think about finding the suspect, but look at every nook and cranny of your coop and run....rethink letting them have so much freedom in the future. Get 1/2 inch hardware cloth and put it EVERYWEAR, under...over....on the sides. Heartbreaking. I am on the 2nd week of my 7 chicks and before they are even allowed outside I am making sure the coop and run is Fort Knox tight. I have a ton of foxes, hawks, raccoons and possums here in our woods. The coop we are building and run will have many areas to prevent an attack. I would do the same before you purchase a new flock. There is time and never under-estimate your level of protection. Predators are smarter than we give them credit for. Have peace in knowing you gave your girls a wonderful life, but next time....don't give them too much freedom. Build a chicken tractor for the yard and rotate it rather than letting the girls free range. It is the only way to prevent a repeat of this nightmare.

 

[neo71665]

<Snip> if you are saying it is difficult to trap a fox <Snip>

I'm saying exactly that. Foxes are trickey and a pain to trap. There is a reason they, coyotes, and crows are known as tricksters by native americans (my ancestors). Been a cattle farmer for every 40 years I been alive. My live traps range big enough to catch coyotes to small enough to catch squirrels. They are not too small for a fox nor baited wrong for my intended purpose. I go out and bait a leg hold I tend to catch my intended target. My fathers family been trappers since before the US started.

I'm always willing to learn something new but I've been trapping since I was about 8 selling hides. From 8 to 21 trapping was my living. Paid cash money for my first truck when I was 12 from trapping.

 

[izzyduck]

Posting tonight with a heavy heart—just lost my entire flock (all seven sweet hens) to what I can only imagine was a fox??

My husband went out to put our girls in the coop for the night. They free-range and roost on top the coop at dusk. He discovered something had killed all of them by eating the heads but leaving their bodies completely intact. Could this predator be a fox? No skunk odor in the air.

Thanks.

So Sorry about your girls.that is so sad.

 

[WildlifeLove]

My father in law had the same issue about a year ago and just a couple months ago, he found out it was a Weasel, only the heads were off. He had outside cameras and caught the weasel in the act after the fact

Posting tonight with a heavy heart—just lost my entire flock (all seven sweet hens) to what I can only imagine was a fox??

My husband went out to put our girls in the coop for the night. They free-range and roost on top the coop at dusk. He discovered something had killed all of them by eating the heads but leaving their bodies completely intact. Could this predator be a fox? No skunk odor in the air.

Thanks.