Kitchen Garden Forum

Hi everyone

I have just had what I can only described as a most horrible experience. I have kept hens on my allotment for four years now and in that time have never suffered anything like the last couple of days, I have had two fox attacks resulting in losing 9 hens, 5 on the first night and 4 on the second night, I know what you are going to say how did I let it get in a second time, the first time was bad enough it left 4 dead hens in the run and made off with one, when I checked the run I found a hole had been dug at the very back of the run, unbeknown to me I had left 10 inch gap in the weldmesh that I had dug down into the ground to stop this from happening, it had dug at an angle to come in under some paving flags to gain entrance and then reeked havoc,
I was gutted to say the least, then I made good everywhere or so I thought because the next day it happened again, this time It took 2 more hens leaving 2 behind, I checked the run 2 or 3 three times but could not find were it had gained entrance in fact I thought I was going nut's.
The next couple of days I kept them locked in the coup overnight and would let them out in the morning which stopped the attacks thankfully.
I have been going early to my allotment to open up the coup, being early it is very quite & peaceful and nobody is around, As I was walking up the pathway to my allotment I spotted the Fox well not one but Two of them, resulting in very mixed emotions as they looked fit and healthy as they would because they have been dinning out on my chickens.
After this I thought I am going to have to find the second entrance point, I know this going to sound terrible but as much as I like my allotment I could do without making twice daily trips to check my birds.
So after what seemed as forever we found it, The was a hole in the roof, the only reason that I can come up with is that we have had some really bad winds of late and I think the roof lining was damaged, this damage could not have been a better place for them, right above the coop so they just dropped on to the roof and down into the hens and then back out after they killed the hens, this second exit was easier for it / them to remove the birds.
I found all of this very hard to take but I do not hate the fox, so clever and so bloody sneaky, a costly and painful experience that I do not want to go through again


Regards

Kevin

Kevin - that's such a distressing experience, especially as I'm sure you were very fond of your hens. Lucky that you've now found the point of entry. It just goes to show how persistent foxes can be.

Dear Kevin, sorry to read this bad news, it must be so hard getting hit twice, especially after checking round and thinking the rest of them were safe.

Let's hope that's the last you see of them.

That's awful Kevin. I always fasten mine up at night after a fox killed all my neighbour's hens, but as you say, they are so sneaky if there is the slightest weak area they will be in.

Terrible news Kevin, twice is awful. Ours are in a coop in a pen and the pen is roofed, have seen the fox on the roof early morning a couple of times, they really are wily creatures and seem to kill for sheer pleasure, not just hunger

That's awful news Kevin, I can empathise having just lost my two to foxes (or that's what we think took them).

A friend of mine has an automatic door on her chicken shed, which I think runs on a photocell. It may help a bit once the roof is fixed?

I've wondered about those automatic doors, but as one of my hens likes to mess about just outside the hut until it is nearly dark it would probably get shut out.