What else?

[Folly's place]

Iodine is very 'old school', and no longer recommended for wounds. It actually causes tissue damage, not a good thing. Neosporin is nice though.
Make sure she isn't pecked or picked on when she's back in the coop. If that's still an open wound, coop litter will not be good, keep her in a bit longer. or have her out there in a big dog crate or something, with towels or hospital pads, easier to keep clean.
Mary

 

[hennanny]

Iodine is very 'old school', and no longer recommended for wounds. It actually causes tissue damage, not a good thing. Neosporin is nice though.
Make sure she isn't pecked or picked on when she's back in the coop. If that's still an open wound, coop litter will not be good, keep her in a bit longer. or have her out there in a big dog crate or something, with towels or hospital pads, easier to keep clean.
Mary

Yes this is a big thing about being pecked on ..wife had me kill 2 bully hens because they pecked on our wounded one but they hadn't layed in a while so that made it easier but the wounded one is the the one the grand children like to hold ..soooo.

 

[TJAnonymous]

Every day since this attack occurred, I've been sitting outside at the break of dawn to catch this predator on the attack because I KNEW it would be back. I armed myself with my 22 rifle and some firecrackers... I figured I would use firecrackers if the little beastie ran in a direction that I couldn't shoot because of houses. I've also been setting off random firecrackers (just a few) before I go inside to act as a final deterrent.

I had a batch of Silkies hatch yesterday and realized the incubator was getting really crowded so I decided to move them into the brooder before going outside so I was about 15 minutes later than normal. Sure enough I walked outside and realized something was wrong. The rooster was outside the chicken yard with several hens and usually he doesn't go outside of the chicken yard until MUCH later in the morning. Also, all of the chickens were acting strangely.... Tense and quiet. I walked up to the gate and.... Sure enough.... There was a red fox stalking my girls in between the barn and the chicken yard. It saw me and took off into the field behind my house. I set off at least half a dozen firecrackers at the back of the fence.... I'm wondering if this is what attacked my pullet.

The good news is that I bought supplies to install an electric fence around the chicken yard. I'm HOPING this also keeps my chickens from jumping the fence because that is a big part of the problem.

 

[hennanny]

you should be able to trap that fox as he will be back.....good luck

 

[HeatherKellyB]

I have a mama fox and her 2 grown offspring that I've been seeing for over a year now. I know they come here because one of them has walked up right into the area where the chickens are twice while I was locking up and I'd have to run it off (this always worries me because if they don't take off fast I start considering the possibility that it's rabid). The fox didn't seem to be up to anything because it nearly walked right up on me, so it wasn't paying attention to its surroundings at all. Well, after mentioning this to my Dad, he decided that I needed a gun as I've only worked with and owned handguns. He decided to surprise me with a 20 gauge single action shotgun, which I was so excited to get but also a little worried because of the kick. He explained his reasoning behind his choice as being that I have a housing development on the other side of the road and that a bullet fired from a rifle will travel up to a mile. Of course I still wouldn't fire blindly in the direction of a home. I just wanted to mention that about the bullet range. Of course I do end up with a blue and purple shoulder anytime I fire it (the times I have used it I did fire it multiple times) but it's a compact model of this shotgun which I suspect is why it's kicking hard for a 20 gauge.
I'm only sharing in hopes of helping and because your situation with neighbors seems somewhat similar to mine. I don't know much about guns at all, only what I've learned from my Dad. I've had this shotgun for a couple of months and haven't killed the foxes. The only two times that I've seen them, they were too far away one time (rifle would have been handy) and a couple of days ago I was totally unprepared and didn't have my gun when the fox just strolled up checking out some food I had tossed in the woodline, not for them.

I hope you get your fox soon. My daughter (9 years old) gives me grief every time my Dad calls and we talk about the fox. I hope to get mine soon too

 

[HiEverybirdy]

That's great your bird's on the mend! We have a 6' fence with bear-strength electric. Cameras confirm we have all the predators – bear, bobcats, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, neighbor dogs, etc. We and our dogs deter those animals from testing the fence during the day, and by night, electric does the trick.

Once in a blue moon, a chicken will stick her head through the fence and get a shock, and she's just fine even with the bear-strength zap, so you don't have to worry about that. It's a huge bummer to see, but it's still better than us having to start trapping or shooting everything that comes by. We didn't move here to kill everything that lives in the woods, and predators do balance each other out as long as they don't have chickens invading their food chain.

Keeping the flock in the safety of your fence is another question. I've not had to trim wings, but your thinking there sounds sound: it doesn't have to be a permanent thing. You're just tipping the scales long enough for the situation to balance out so the predator looks elsewhere for easy meals. Or can you look at building them a day tractor or day run so they can have their range time but still be protected?

It also sounds like a good idea to cover that area for a bit. Can you put poles in there to prop the covering up like a circus tent so DH doesn't have to duck?

 

[TJAnonymous]

There are a couple of houses that are very close to mine around the southwest corner of my property. The back of one house is probably 60-80 ft from my property fence. Unfortunately this is the corner of the property that gets a lot of critters coming through... It's where I saw the grey fox kits last year, and numerous stray cats. I clearly can't shoot in that direction. There is a nice thick tree line along that fence which is why the critters and my birds go there.... Lots of bugs and seeds which attracts the birds, squirrels, etc. The birds & rodents attract the critters.

On the south & east side of my property, the neighbors are farther away. At least 600 - 800 feet. This is the brush field I was referring to earlier. There is a thick pine tree line on the far side of the field between me and the neighbors in those directions. This field (owned by my neighbor) is where I think the den is located. This field also attracts a lot of hawks which I am running off with more and more frequency.

So far the morning guard duty (when I'm on time) and the firecrackers have been working but I naturally can't do that forever. I'm sure my neighbors don't like firecrackers going off at 6:30 am, even though it's only a few and they haven't complained. I'm not that kind of jerk.... I'm hoping the electric fence will take care of the problem.... Then I just have to find a good deterrent for the hawks which is a separate thread I started before this issue came up.

 

[TJAnonymous]

This weekend I had my husband and son put some half inch polytape up around the top of the fence around the chicken yard. My hope was that it would prevent my chickens from hopping the fence which exposes them to predators. It is powered by a solar fence charger which I let charge 2 full days. I turned it on this morning to see if my plan would work....

It did not. All the usual suspects have still managed to jump the fence. I saw a couple of them jump onto the polytape itself. Five hundred dollars later, it doesn't seem to bother them too much.

Back to the drawing board.....Grrr.....

 

[Folly's place]

Sitting on electric wires is safe, as long as the bird isn't grounded at the time. It's why those rows of wild birds are safe on powerlines!
Your tape will hit climbing predators though...
Mary

 

[TJAnonymous]

Sitting on electric wires is safe, as long as the bird isn't grounded at the time. It's why those rows of wild birds are safe on powerlines!
Your tape will hit climbing predators though...
Mary

DH left quite a gap between the polywire and the top of our welded wire fence. I am putting up some chicken wire underneath to lesson the gap. I figure that if the birds jump on the polywire, their weight will cause it to touch the chicken wire and they will get zapped. I know at least one bird was shocked this morning because I heard a very strange squawk. When I came around the corner, two of the T-post caps had been knocked off. I'm guessing that the bird jumped on the fence from underneath the polywire and thus completed the contact.