Nothing whatsoever to do with period property

[vicky whitworth]

But I'm in need of some solace. The fox killed my three chickens last night - got into the hen house. That's Little Hen gone and the two brand new Frenchies we'd only had two weeks (and cost us £15 each). I know it happens but it's the first time for us and I feel inordinately sad
And such a mess to be cleared up now. What do others do with the corpses? When Big Bird died a few weeks ago my husband took up up the farm track about a mile and laid her in a hedge. Perhaps that gave Mr Fox a taste for chicken? Although goodness knows there's enough chickens and enough foxes round here. I mustn't be such a wus. Onwards and upwards.
We'd like to get some more ex-bats (Little Hen was an ex-bat) but the process on the rescue website seems terribly complicated with waiting times and collection points miles away. Any bright ideas for east Devon?
Vicky

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Oh Vicky, how very sad for you . I'm sure others who've had similar experiences will be along shortly to offer some hugs and sympathy.

 

[88v8]

It's probably just one fox that's taking the trouble to break in. Others might not bother. If you get rid of it, that will likely remove the problem for a while.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fox-trap-feral-cat-trap-/151064151693?pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item232c20068d

More variations on eBay. A 5' trap is the shortest I'd buy.

Bait it with a chicken leg, cooked or raw. Wear gloves while handling trap and bait to avoid your smell getting on it.

Then you just need someone to shoot the fox.

Oddly enough, although we were plagued with foxes in the 'burbs, we see hardly any here. At present however we have a visitation of rabbits. Hopefully I will be arranging for them to visit our freezer. So far however, they have not been co-operating... standing still... in the right place... while I find my specs.... and the airgun pellets.... no, not those specs... and where are my shoes...

Ivor

 

[philpjuk100]

So sad,mr fox has given us a miss so far but have had a chicken killed by a dog,ours are buried with a cross made from sticks,I suppose that make us sad folks as well!

 

[LadyArowana]

Very sorry to hear that. Sadly Mr Fox is quite smart at getting in, maybe Joce will have some tips for making the place safe, she's lost a few that way

 

[philpjuk100]

My wife has just pointed out that you are not allowed to bury them! oh dear! guilty your honour!

 

[vicky whitworth]

What are you supposed to do if you can't bury them? My colleague has suggested a bonfire but it's tipping down with rain in Devon today so that's not really an option.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I've buried a few, but now I'm afraid they get double bagged and out with the landfill. It breaks my heart to dispose of them that way but I must have lost 25 since living here and mass graves are impractical.

Beloved pets should be buried though, I know I won't be able to put Clara or the Earl of Harrowby out with the rubbish.

Poor poor Vicky, warmest hugs and my greatest sympathies. I had a terrible fox attack this year and lost some of my favourite hens, we all still miss them every day; Harriet and Millicent were hatched by me and Schoolmarm on the day of the PPUKe party and I could still cry just thinking about their loss. I know how you feel, and it's a horrible shock.

The fox is such a cruel presence, he doesn't even take them but stockpiles for the future, it seems such a waste! You have to try and create Fort Knox in your set up Vicky, and although my electric netting was violated this year (I suspect because I'd stupidly arranged a jump point too close by means of an enormous tree stump I was dragging to be logged) I still heartily recommend electric poultry netting if you want to keep chickens in the long term. We just had a whole week away, and no attacks despite the fox prowling. You do have to keep it clear of weeds and make sure it's charged and mend breaks, but the fox really really doesn't like it and I think he goes elsewhere after one little shock.

I hope you get some new ones. My heartache didn't end with restocking though, my new buff Orpingtons came with mycoplasma and I just had to have one put to sleep this week. They intoduced that into the entire flock and it swept through causing great stress and lasting egg deformity. If you go to view stock, don't buy from someone who's got 600 birds, as I did. Go for the small hobby breeder and buy bright eyed alert birds with clean vents and good appetites, and if you can find someone who talks about Flubenvet and Frontline then that's a good breeder.

I usually trawl through the adverts and ring the numbers. Good luck, don't give up, they're worth the heartache.

http://chickens.allotment-garden.org/poultry-suppliers/poultry-for-sale-Devon.php

 

[tobydog]

Sorry to hear that Vicky. It was bad enough when our Rhode Island 'Mel' just fell off her perch but I wouldn't want to face a fox attack. Our neighbours lost 3 recently and I know the fox is still prowling because our other two often make a right racket (warning calls) early in the morning. Our run is very secure (I accept never totally) but at this time of year we do keep the hen house door open so they can come out into the run when it get's light early. There are no signs of any attempt by the fox to get in but, since we lost our dog last month, I think the fox knows this and is getting bolder. I may start closing the house door again. They've also stopped laying.

I didn't realise you shouldn't bury chickens. Mel is buried in the field behind us. Apart from foxes digging them up, is it just a local authority health and safety thing? Our dog is buried in the garden.

One of our remaining girls has now developed a nasty limp. I don't think it's an injury because it's been getting worse. Googling suggests it could be an infection. Joce?

 

[JoceAndChris]

Limps can be for all sorts of reasons from falling off something badly to Mareks disease. Have you had a good look at the bottom of the foot? Is it a bumble in which case it will need to be soaked out or cut out.
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2011/07/bumblefoot-causes-treatment-warning.html

I operated three times on Harriet last summer with eventual success, her bumble was very deep and very bad but in the end we cut it all out with a sharp scalpel.

Are there any other symptoms? Wonder why they've stopped laying. How's the parasite control going?

I neglected to treat scaly leg mite (to be fair it's pretty hard to treat it in a large flock as you have to rub Sudocrem or Vaseline into feet and legs every night for a month) and these mites can cause permanent damage, meaning some of my birds always limp. You can't be perfect with chickens, they limp, they die, they're fragile. Your birds are lucky to have you tobydog, and that beautiful garden.

 

[tobydog]

Thanks Joce. The garden is even better now!

Unfortunately the fluff in question (Jim!) is not one we could catch without risking further injury. We clipped their wings once and that was very traumatic. Jim is an Italian leghorn and very quick. Her legs are very clean, as is the bottom of her feet. From the way she started to limp, it looked to originate from the top of her thigh. She now holds her leg up when she stands, and she sits down more often. We think the eggs stopped because they were seriously spooked by something like the fox.

I'm getting some more worming / parasite stuff on Saturday so I'll treat them both. I have read that limps can be caused by infection and treated with antibiotics. I'll do some more research.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thank you all so much. Joce, so much your your understanding. My neighbour is going over in a minute - ex-marine - to bag up the bits. He's seen worse. And I'm going to take your advice and landfill them. Then I can have a good clean up and we can start again. Life goes on. How's it possible to miss a chicken? It's odd. I never expected to feel like this.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Very sad to lose anything you've cared for, and chickens have a way of getting under your skin. Glad you've decided to landfill them though, and are getting some help from the neighbour. I've had to do this job alone so many times and it's very traumatic. Big glass of wine needed later on.

Toby - your leghorn sounds a bit flighty, I can't do mine in the daytime either and always work on them at night in the henhouse with a head lamp - one of the reasons I'm grateful I keep them in a big shed as I can walk in easily and do the Frontline and Vaseline without upsetting them too much - they're pretty placid at night and they get used to these procedures, to an extent.

The bumble is an infection, an abscess, but unfortunately because their blood supply to their feet is poor putting antibiotics in the water has little effect. However it's worth a try, as from what you say the infection may be elsewhere. Tylan antibiotic can be purchased from your vet and it's worth having a tub of this in your armoury. You measure out the quantity for the appropriate number of litres of water in the drinker, and they all have it for one week. There's no need to withdraw eggs.

The vet may seem like a luxury for chickens but if you think about how much the set up and feed costs, and how many hours you put in, it's really worth getting the medications and the second opinion of the vet. Sometimes just to hear someone qualified say it's time to let her go is a blessed relief as you can go on and on for weeks trying to save them and watching them die.

However my good friend who keeps chickens down the road disagrees with me and culls at the first sign of a serious problem. He is completely unsentimental, but then he has not spent £30 per bird and given them names.

 

[angrybird]

Dear Vicky i'm so sorry to hear about the loss of your hens Mr Fox had the shock of his life last week when my very placid dog bit him on the behind!!! he sat in the field yelping for an hour :lol: now I send Mr angrybird to pee on the hedge where Mr Fox gets in. that'll teach him :lol:
ps. I have also been told male pubic hair is a deterrent if placed around the hen house.

 

[vicky whitworth]

Thank you angrybird. I'll get the shaver on Mr Vicky tonight
My ex-marine has been and cleared the corpses. One the Frenchies had been carried off completely. The other two were scattered about. I feel better now that they aren't lying out there. ironically we had ordered a new hen house and they rang today to say it's ready to collect. Now have new hen house and no hens. Perhaps Mr Fox could just move in and I could borrow My Rottweiller :twisted:

 

[philpjuk100]

We lost Blanche our oldest ex bat at the end of the winter,she stopped laying about a year before,she did not scratch about as much and when the other chucks left the garden she stayed on the lawn,as it got colder she would come into the kitchen and sit in front of the log burner,in the end we put a cardboard box with some straw in it by the hearth and she became a "house chicken",she would take grapes from us and walk over to the cats dish and eat a bit of fish cat food.She did not appear to be in pain but lost weight,in the evenings when the other chucks returned they would stand by the back door until we let them in,they would go up to her,cluck a bit and then rub necks with her before helping them self to some cat food and then return to the run,One morning we found she had died so dug a hole where she used to shelter from the rain and marked it with a cross made from sticks.I see DEFRA would rather we put her in the bin but she was our chicken and it is our garden.RIP Blanche.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Ah, bless. She sounds like a wonderful pet - DEFRA can go **** themselves on this one.

Hope you feel a little brighter today Vicky. It's nature's way, you just have to keep telling yourself that. I know my heart would melt if I saw the little fox cubs (and it's cubs that often prompt vixens to be bolder and do things like scale electric fences), it's better to be a fox attack then to lose them to worms or red mite or a dog wandering in.

Having said that there are far too many foxes and something must be done! We bought a fox trap like the one in Owain's link but had no success with it. The fox cleverly put in his paw and hooked the bait up to the bars. Then he put in his tongue and licked and nibbled through the bars as much as he could and over three days the bait shrunk. Then he was able to hook it out altogether. It seemed clear to me that he'd never ever go in that fox trap, so I gave up, and told the fluffs they can't free range about the garden anymore as they were just being picked off in the day.

You'll get your hen house filled and some new ones with their own lovely personalities.