Fox takes month old chicks!

[abraga]

Gosh....thats aweful...i have looked a lot at those coop/houses with the trays. I've been wary about them because they have some nice features that i think a coon, fox or coyote could figure out. I have been afraid to order one.i have however thought about getting several because i want to line breed my birds... but pit another enclosure around thst to. Sorry for your loss. I lost 20 chickens i bred and rsised in one month to a possum. Its devastating!

 

[relos]

Hind sight is 20/20. I would never have guessed a fox would do this. My husband was pretty surprised as well.

Regarding the fox, if you dispose of the fox...you may have one who will eventually replace it. However it may not be as brazen or knowledgeable.

Thank you very much for taking the time to educate the rest of us. It's above and beyond what you had to do and it is very much appreciated that you took this time to give us this information. It's hard enough losing your birds...but sharing this information and using it to benefit all of us here is simply outstanding.
Thank you.

Thanks for your kind words, if my experience helps anyone from getting their chicks killed then at least this thread will benefit them. I've been a lurker on this forum/site for sometime now and its given me invaluable information about raising chickens, so registered in May and thought I'd put my 2 cents/pence in..

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Thanks for your kind words, if my experience helps anyone from getting their chicks killed then at least this thread will benefit them. I've been a lurker on this forum/site for sometime now and its given me invaluable information about raising chickens, so registered in May and thought I'd put my 2 cents/pence in..

Welcome to BYC...it's very good to have you join the flock!

If you haven't already...do stop in in the new member section and introduce yourself. There are some fantastic members there who will "officially" welcome you.

 

[relos]

Gosh....thats aweful...i have looked a lot at those coop/houses with the trays. I've been wary about them because they have some nice features that i think a coon, fox or coyote could figure out. I have been afraid to order one.i have however thought about getting several because i want to line breed my birds... but pit another enclosure around thst to. Sorry for your loss. I lost 20 chickens i bred and rsised in one month to a possum. Its devastating!

I'm sorry for your loss too (and for anyone else that's lost to predators) I actually dreamt one of my chicks (a polish with a massive beak that I called Barry Manilow!) was cold and wet but managed to escape and survive the fox out there somewhere. The morning I discovered the horror I searched for 45 minutes around the forest area adjacent to my garden - but nothing except a few chick feathers near the coop :/ I'm still not over it...

All I can say is that the tray idea is good, very useful for cleaning the poop and re-bedding *but* if you decide to buy a coop like that please add barrel bolts to secure it from being pulled open. (its cheap and you don't need to be a DIY expert to install it)

 

[Wickedchicken6]

Here's the thread...
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/new-member-introductions.44/

 

[SunHwaKwon]

Yes, they always say a new one comes to take its place, but in my experience you get a 3-4 month reprieve before that happens. A new one doesn't take its place the very next day. Just don't let your guard down in the meantime, and realize its another lull in the storm. The battle with the foxes never ends where I live either, as they have no predators and we are on a peninsula of chicken farmers and rabbit buffets.

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I'm sorry for your loss too (and for anyone else that's lost to predators) I actually dreamt one of my chicks (a polish with a massive beak that I called Barry Manilow!) was cold and wet but managed to escape and survive the fox out there somewhere. The morning I discovered the horror I searched for 45 minutes around the forest area adjacent to my garden - but nothing except a few chick feathers near the coop :/ I'm still not over it...

All I can say is that the tray idea is good, very useful for cleaning the poop and re-bedding *but* if you decide to buy a coop like that please add barrel bolts to secure it from being pulled open. (its cheap and you don't need to be a DIY expert to install it)

We own two like this with the trays. We will be locking them up once we get them back out.
And again...so sorry for your loss. It's an awful thing to go through.

 

[GGBEAR]

Here here I second that ( regarding taking the time to tell us )