"Kel, There's a fox in the garden." :'(

[willowbranchfarm]

Oh no I'm so sorry this happened.

 

[kellysmall87]

Thanks everyone for your posts. I'm nearly crying sitting here reading them all. So supportive.

All my friends are thinking, 'why the hell is she so bothered about a few chickens?!' but chickens are so underestimated. I got a lot of affection from my flock. Absolutely broken hearted.

BUT on the bright side... I have just phoned a lady about a male chick she advertised on the net. I phoned, and she said she had culled him.

She said she has two more male chicks at 7 weeks old that she's going to kill soon, so I yelled NOOOOO! I'll have them!! So I get my two new boys on Sunday. Feels good to know I have rescued two little boy chicks. XX

 

[ValleyPoultryFarms]

I've lost many birds to eagle. Here in the Midwest/Canada they are quite common. I know how you feel. Think of it as a fresh start?

 

[kellysmall87]

Aww no. ground predators are bad enough, not to mention predators from above. We only get foxes here in England and the odd sparrow hawk that would take a chick. Glad I haven't got to worry about Eagles! Yes, I will treat as a fresh start and invest in a run with a good roof for daytime... not letting them roam free again now that fox knows where the chickens are!

 

[sumi]

Thanks everyone for your posts. I'm nearly crying sitting here reading them all. So supportive.

All my friends are thinking, 'why the hell is she so bothered about a few chickens?!' but chickens are so underestimated. I got a lot of affection from my flock. Absolutely broken hearted.

BUT on the bright side... I have just phoned a lady about a male chick she advertised on the net. I phoned, and she said she had culled him.

She said she has two more male chicks at 7 weeks old that she's going to kill soon, so I yelled NOOOOO! I'll have them!! So I get my two new boys on Sunday. Feels good to know I have rescued two little boy chicks. XX

That's wonderful! It'll do you good to have a positive chicken experience now, after the disaster.
My friends mostly don't get my chicken obsession either, which is why I joined this site. I've had the "it's a chicken, why bother?" experience a few times. I gave them the "it's a dog, why bother" reply and it worked.

 

[kellysmall87]

I'm going to try that reply! I'm now looking forward to seeing my two boys tomorrow. I've bought a galvanised run 7ft by 3 ft to put them in when I'm not in the house, just in case.

 

[sumi]

Better safe than sorry! We spent a fortune on building a safe chick pen for our youngsters and then in January a beastie got in there. Stupid, we knew where the weak spot was (someone tried to steal a chicken one evening and loosened the wire mesh.
Lost 5 chicks

I asked DH to take down the pen, as I couldn't stand the sight of it any more. We put the chicks somewhere now.

We're planning on moving to the UK in a few months time and I'm already looking at coops and runs! Where did you buy the galvanised one? I don't mind spending extra if it means my chickens will be safe!

 

[rachlore]

It would be horrible to lose a favorite chick. Be glad you don't have bobcats. They are terrible. Where i live, some even eat baby alligators that live in our bayou.

 

[kellysmall87]

Better safe than sorry! We spent a fortune on building a safe chick pen for our youngsters and then in January a beastie got in there. Stupid, we knew where the weak spot was (someone tried to steal a chicken one evening and loosened the wire mesh.
Lost 5 chicks

I asked DH to take down the pen, as I couldn't stand the sight of it any more. We put the chicks somewhere now.

We're planning on moving to the UK in a few months time and I'm already looking at coops and runs! Where did you buy the galvanised one? I don't mind spending extra if it means my chickens will be safe!

Aww No. Thing is, when you love your animals so much you kick yourself when it appears to be 'your fault' that they died.. i.e not locking them in or knowing where a weak spot was but not fixing it immediately. Ugh, horrible feeling. Truth is, it's not anyone's fault... predators will be predators.

What part of the Uk are you moving to? I'm in the West Midlands, England. We are currently experiencing torrential rain and gale force winds. Some summer!

I saw it on Ebay (uk version) for £51.99 and then a fiver p+p. It has no bottom but i'll peg it down with something...

 

[sumi]

We've decided on the West coast of Scotland as a "landing strip", but we'll probably move somewhere else while we're there. It's hard to pick a spot to live when you're about 13 000kms away! My DH is worried, as I'm constantly on Zoopla looking at houses to rent and I reject everything that says "No pets" or hasn't got a back yard. Got to have chickens!

I've actually already earmarked a coop I like (the biggest one I saw) and we haven't decided which town we're moving to yet.There's no hope for me.

If your coop hasn't got a bottom you could/should tie some mesh to it and bury it, to prevent predators digging their way in.

How's Henny? And how are you feeling? Looking forward to meeting your new boys tomorrow? You must post pics!