Fox got a few of my girls - help needed

[tuna]

Need some advice... Last night we had an unwanted visitor in our hen house. The incident happened around 7:30 pm and totally unexpected since I never knew we had foxes in the area until yesterday. Our 8 hens came under attack from a red fox – 2 were killed while 4 others were wounded and 2 were un-scathed. Last night I medicated and stitched the hen that appeared to be severely hurt. Unfortunately, all my efforts to keep her alive failed. This morning I re-assessed the hens and it appears that at least 2 more have deep punctures, while the other two have skin tear. The wounds are located in the neck and back area. My concern is with infections and disease that may be transmitted, either to the chickens or eggs. Can any of you advice on my next steps?

This as been a very disapointing experience

 

[RedfogsFlock]

When my dog got my hens what I did was...

First I put them all in boxes and in my bathtub they went. Secondly stitched em up. I put Duramycin 10 (I believe its called) in their water. You can get it at your local feed store about 6 to 10 bucks. I just kept them warm, and quiet. That's about all you can do for them. You can call your vet and see if there is a shot you can give them, but the D10 worked for me. I had a hen that couldn't walk for over a month, her spine got messed up. Just keep hope!

I hope your girls pull through!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

Besides taking care of the hens as mentioned by Red, you need to figure out how the fox got into the henhouse and not only repair it, but take an overall look at your coop and figure out the weak points. If you used chicken wire, take it down and put up hardware cloth. Put boards over the edges of the wire to double secure it. Put hotwire around the bottom and top of the coop and turn it on after the birds are in it at night and turn it off before they come out in the morning.

Hotwire...along with new securely built pens...had avoided any predator deaths for over a year now at our place. I can't overstate the value of hotwire.

So sorry about your losses. Agree that a dimly lighted room with food and water and plenty of time to get over the shock. Maybe some quiet music playing....I'm serious...anything to help them calm down. I'm sure it was horribly traumatic for them.