My first Fox attack that ended in a kill

[Mygirls20]

Oh and something I noticed I did have the geese, ducks and turkeys together in the same brooder the turkeys were fine with everyone but the black footed ducks :/ they would chase them and grab their feet and yank them off the ground no matter what I did they wouldnt stop I had to separate them so dont house baby turkeys and anything with black feet together I guess. Just my exp.

 

[Shellz]

Oh wow! The craziness over there! That sucks big time!
I sure appreciate the pics & your observations. Sooo darn cute!!!

Things are well here. Moved my chicks to the grow-out coop a few days ago. Yay! No more mess in the basement! I'm looking forward to my bridges getting installed soon. Just went thru a cold snap & looks like weather is going to get warmer now. Gotta get those sugar maples flowing with sap again. Going to fire up my incubator tomorrow & get it stabilized. I joined the Easter Hatchalong for the first time this year. Been gathering eggs for hatching all this week. So exciting!

Best of luck with your little ones! Do you know what kinds they are?

 

[Mygirls20]

I dont know what kind they are :/ But they were cheaper then getting them from a hatchery and once I saw them I couldnt walk away lol.

I think I have some mallard ducks and I think some of the chicks are rhode island reds. They feed store told me that they only get dual purpose breeds so they work for meat and egg layers. I guess the place they get them from just gives them whatever Kinda odd but o well you cant beat a buck a chick lol the ducks, geese and turkeys were more expensive but not as much as a hatchery would sell them for. they all seem to be healthy and I swear those geese get bigger every time I see them. I am going to be busy this week building a huge brooder in the garage I know they will outgrow my walk in closet soon lol

 

[Shellz]

Awesome deal! Good for you! Those geese could be great protectors for the whole flock from aerial predators. Once grown of course!

I saw a great set up on my local forum. Its a warm weather yard system. Would be expensive though. 4 strands of electric fence. Never had a single loss to anything! I like how she had 3 separate types of buildings in there. One for keeping feed dry, another for just nesting & one just for roosting at night. She says she doesn't always lock them in at night , but was never a problem. Wow!

 

[Mygirls20]

Ya I have heard geese are good at protecting stuff But I am a little concerned. I have read some forms on here that geese have drowned chickens or pulled all their feathers out. I am hoping that since they have all grown up together that this will not be a problem for me. The geese are more of an experiment then anything. I did get ducks just cause my husband likes to eat duck and I have heard that they lay yummy eggs. I think I might build a temp enclosure for the geese when they start mating just to avoid any attacks I know geese can get pretty crazy then lol.


The turkeys worry me cause the lady at the store said people last year had to kill them early cause they grew so fast that their legs broke (I am thinking they fed them to much) All of this will be a learning experience for me I want to butcher a few turkeys this year but have at least one male and two females to breed next year. I dont want to have to keep buying birds I want to be able to breed

Well time to go out and build my new brooder lol Any tips? I am plaining on covering the floor with a layer of plywood then cover that with cardboard and put wood shavings on top I am hoping this will make it so the cold concrete doesnt suck the heat out of the birds I will be making separate pens for everyone (turkeys in one, chickens in another, then all the water fowl)

 

[Shellz]

Sounds like you've got things under control! Yeah, breeding is what I want to do & get out of ordering from hatcheries. I can always have hatching eggs shipped to me if I really need some new blood lines.

Was thinking of hunting our own turkeys this year. I hope they come back to our back pasture this year. I would always hear them calling in spring. They are starting to show themselves too, lately. Just not near here yet.

Royal Palm turkeys are mighty pretty. They kind of stand out though. Easy pickings for preds! Until I can set up for them, we're going to hunt the wild ones. I hear from my dad all the time how finicky turkeys are to raise. I'll research at some point, if I know I can make the space for them.

Your brooder floor sounds good. With new chicks, I put them on top of paper towels (which are on top of shavings) for first 3 days. That way you don't get splayed legs. After a few days, remove paper towels & they should figure out not to eat them. Even after a few days, my chicks would still eat the darn shavings, as they were a particularly dusty batch. No harm done though. I wonder if solid shelf liner would be of use on top of the plywood floor? Easier for clean up. Just a thought. Similar to idea of putting down linoleum on coop floor.

Well, have fun building! If I only knew how to operate a table saw & follow plans, perhaps I could build one myself! Hubby wants to do it though. He's got time until Easter!

 

[JessH]

Hello,

My name is Jessica and I work for a documentary film company in the UK. We are making a film about urban foxes so I thought I would throw out a message to anyone who has issues with foxes attacking their chickens. I know this is an American site but if anyone has any archive footage of foxes, or happens to be in contact with anyone who keeps chickens in the UK and has similar issues please feel free to email me on [email protected].

Many thanks,

Jessica

 

[TennesseeChicken]

We are on day three of 'Fox Watch'. Saw one run off with one of my hens two days ago. He came back yesterday, was able to run him off and today he almost got another one, but we chased him off again. Saw a few feathers, so hopefully she is ok. Will know tonight when I shut them up. He comes between 12pm and 3. Gun is ready. Getting some bait for the trap tomorrow. This is the first time in three years we've had a problem with a fox. Anyone know of anyone in southern middle TN that will skin him for me? This thread is great, sorry it had to start on a bad note!!!

 

[Shellz]

Any thread with the word fox in it around this forum is bad news! Unless you shot one, that is. Sorry for your loss. Yeah, I usually have fox troubles this time of year too. Always around the same time frame you mentioned too. That's why I finally got my license & got all legal last fall. I have a pair of coyotes that moved in last fall & I'm guessing the foxes got taken care of. The coyotes haven't come close to the house yet, but I have 2 dogs. One chases yotes, the other foxes.
Anyway, best of luck getting that fox! If you do, I'd love to hear all about it!

 

[Mygirls20]

Tennessechicken sorry for your loss. Hope you know now that he has gotten one he/she will come back till it kills everything. :/ I dont know anyone that can skin in your area I would watch a youtube video and try it yourself

Always fun to learn new things What are you going to do with the skin once you have it?