Time for me and the fox to have a serious discussion....

[hedgehog]

I found a pile of feathers and figured out one of my chickens was no longer among the living. Then, the fox got into the coop one evening just before I closed it and took out a broody hen. (can a broody hen be a sitting duck?)

So, I took to walking the dogs through the field to mark my territory and made sure to close up the chickens early.

Last night, the dogs started barking and I went out in time to scare the fox away from the closed coop.

This morning, I heard a ruckus and got outside just in time to see the fox abscond with one of my bantams.

[Kali]

1. skunk in our coop last night

just lost a couple eggs (not many hens left - again!:mad: )
late closing things up, oops

[hedgehog]

2. It's the longer days that are the problem - the chickens want to

stay outside longer to play!

I wouldn't mind the predators so much if they'd take the extra roosters and leave the hens!

[Kali]

3. yeah, what's up with that?

I'm at 5 and 3 right now. that's 5 ROOSTERS! Just about the time I was going to butcher the extras in the flock we had a coyote raid that picked off another 7 hens (skunk got most of them right when they feathered out last summer) sigh

[hedgehog]

4. One year, the drama teacher at the junior high wanted a tray of

live chicks for their production of Wizard of Oz. So, my husband went down to the farm store, looked in the bin and carefully selected a dozen female chicks.












That summer we had a dozen young roosters running around the yard.

[MicaelS]

5. Sounds like a recipe for one dead fox n/t

[hippywife]

7. When you live in their territory

you go the extra mile to protect your flock, not kill the fox. The fox is just doing what foxes do.

[hedgehog]

9. Oh, I'd never kill the fox. As a matter of fact, we've been living with the foxes for years.

We first became aware of them when we were brought bolt upright in our bed one morning at 2AM asking "What the hell is that noise!!! We found out later when we heard the noise again outside our window. It was winter and we had a 10 mountain of snow next to the driveway. Our cat Smokey (He who took down partridges) was circling the mountain. Up on top of the mountain was a barking fox. Eventually, Smokey let the fox go. For years there was a detente. If Smokey crossed the road, the fox chased him back. If the fox came over here, Smokey chased him back.

Smokey's been gone a while, and I've seen the foxes from time to time over here. There are 60 acres of woods behind the house, so there's generally plenty of room. I've lost a chicken here or there over the years. This is the first year a fox has made a steady campaign. Come to think of it, there may be coyotes out back putting pressure on the critter as well. I've been walking the dogs around the chicken house hoping that that will deter the fox. I suspect there may be a litter of kits involved and that the fox will move on shortly.

[hippywife]

6. Sorry to hear that hedgehog.

We can't let ours free range the property anymore, and haven't for some time due to all the critters.

How'd the fox get one this morning if the coop was closed?

[hedgehog]

8. He came by after the cjhickens were out - about 10AM.

Maybe she came by. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if there isn't a den of kits back there in the thicket.