Massacre: Who Likes Foxes!!!

RideOnTime

So this morning I look out of the window and see a couple of dead chickens lying in the pen.

Wondering why there's no activity I go down the garden with some intrepidation to discover all my birds have been killed, every single one. None eaten just all killed. The fox must have been attracted by some new birds who had been roosting on the fence and not going in their coops. Last might I hadn't put them to bed.

The fox has gone in both coops, that had special corridor entrances to keep foxes out and killed the lot, every single one. Never seen anything so barbaric.

team47b

All the meat you eat has been killed by someone else, you're all scavengers I tell ya, you should all be hunted down by rats in pink jackets riding pigs!

Think I may have overdone the quantity of espresso this morning

(Sorry about the chickens though)

debeli

I'm sorry to hear that. I've seen the destruction wrought by a fox in a hen house, but never owned any myself.

It is horrid to behold and not at all the way one expects carniverous fauna to behave. Almost human in its apparent psychopathy.

One of my tasks this Easter is to build (with youngest child) a hen house - promised to my wife for many years.

I should treat this as a cautionary tale....

seanoconn

Hard lesson learned I'm afraid. This happened to me before when I was house sitting for my parents. "Sean, the only thing we want you to do is lock the chickens away at night." "Yes of course, no problem." I felt a bit sick when I remembered I'd forgotten and saw the first dead chicken, the phone call to my parents informing them that I'd killed all their chickens wasn't easy

A foxes natural instinct when stumbling onto such a bountiful food source is to kill all and return later as they can only carry one chicken at a time.

RideOnTime

so the bastar d will be back tonight then I guess. :shock:

we've only had 3 birds killed before and in 3 years have been fox free or at least not 'got' by foxes.

The scale of this is horrific - 28 birds killed... I would say about half have just had their heads ripped off.

Giraffoto

David Attenborough has revealed what happens next . . .

After the slaughter, the fox will pick up one victim and trot off to bury it. It will then come back and collect the others, one at a time, until it's got the lot, unless it or the crime scene is disturbed. If the fox realizes that humans have been on the premises since it attacked, it won't go back.

bianchimoon

It's wildlife , it's what wildlife does, be it a hedgehog eating slugs, Owls killing mice, Hawks killing Rabbits. It's nothing personal, it's only a massacre to your human sensibilities, to the fox it's just fair game, food collecting. As others have said stocking the larder. Personally I like seeing wildlife whilst out riding.. I don't keep chickens tho!

mamba80

i live in the sticks and almost everyone around here has tried keeping chickens and given enough time, the fox gets in and kills the lot, they are very patient and rely on lazy townies with a romantic view of the country side to provide their sport and food, hence the saying "as sly as a fox"
My childhood friend can call the fox to him and then he shoots the thing.

Giraffoto

It’s not the foxes’ fault. Unfortunately the fox has this instinct to kill what it can, when it can, and then store it for later. The trouble is that this instinct developed for natural conditions – if a fox were to stumble across a couple of ground nesting birds, it would all end after about two birds when the others flew or ran away, and that would be it. But if the fox gets into a confined space with a couple of dozen birds in it, the same instinct will carry on applying until it’s killed everything.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying it's all the chicken keepers' fault either - you need a more secure chicken house.

secretsam

Isn't that what foxes "do"? In the same way as I had to clear up a dead mouse this morning, a present from our cat. She'd made no attempt to eat it, just killed it. Put the kids right off their breakfast.

chris_bass

If it is any consolation it looks like they will get relegated this season.

mamba80

Chris Bass wrote:

If it is any consolation it looks like they will get relegated this season.

a bit like their king then, dead an buried.

chris_bass

mamba80 wrote:

Chris Bass wrote:

If it is any consolation it looks like they will get relegated this season.

a bit like their king then, dead an buried.

yeah, just to be sure they dug him up, then buried him again!

davis

If you're so inclined... http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Chicken-Coop-Controller/?ALLSTEPS

thegreatdivide

mamba80 wrote:

My childhood friend can call the fox to him and then he shoots the thing.

He sounds like a lovely chap.

RideOnTime

mamba80 wrote:

i live in the sticks and almost everyone around here has tried keeping chickens and given enough time, the fox gets in and kills the lot, they are very patient and rely on lazy townies with a romantic view of the country side to provide their sport and food, hence the saying "as sly as a fox"
My childhood friend can call the fox to him and then he shoots the thing.

yes I wouldn't say I was a lazy townie or had a particularly romantic view of the countryside. I question though that this a particularly 'natural' response of an animal to kill vastly more than it could possibly eat in months never mind weeks. May be there has been a genetic aggressive-fication (doubt that's a word) of the fox.

Its a bit like the way the cat has evolved to become more feral because all the domestic ones have been neutered.

Anyway I'm still aggrieved and if I gad a gun I shoot the F@@ker.

mamba80

RideOnTime wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

i live in the sticks and almost everyone around here has tried keeping chickens and given enough time, the fox gets in and kills the lot, they are very patient and rely on lazy townies with a romantic view of the country side to provide their sport and food, hence the saying "as sly as a fox"
My childhood friend can call the fox to him and then he shoots the thing.

yes I wouldn't say I was a lazy townie or had a particularly romantic view of the countryside. I question though that this a particularly 'natural' response of an animal to kill vastly more than it could possibly eat in months never mind weeks. May be there has been a genetic aggressive-fication (doubt that's a word) of the fox.

Anyway I'm still aggrieved and if I gad a gun I shoot the F@@ker.

Foxes have always behaved thus, its nothing new and they ll do it to any prey, which is why farmers shoot them and support huntin which helps to keep them on the move.
the fox will be be back for more if you re-stock, if you lived in the s/w Steve will shoot it for you and yes he is a great bloke and i owe him a lot.

DeVlaeminck

thegreatdivide wrote:

mamba80 wrote:

My childhood friend can call the fox to him and then he shoots the thing.

He sounds like a lovely chap.

I can call a fox too, it's not difficult, I don't shoot them though.

tangled_metal

It's not just foxes. Stoats and weasels would do similar if in a confined space with prey species.

Not to far from Lancaster there was a fur farm with mink. Those nice animal libbers went in and set them free.cue a complete wrecking of the local ecology. Anyway there's still some around. The parents of a guy I knew had a canal barge that the neighbours say had a couple of mink get into their barge.they were in there for only 30minutes but because they couldn't find the way back out They went berserk. Resulted in £20,000 of damage! Saw one myself crawling along the river Lune edge above Halton weir. Not being native species they're not good to have around. It wasn't those libbers best ideas, but they're not exactly the brightest sparks sometimes.

Pituophis

Sorry about the chickens. Unfortunately it wasn't a mutant, crazed fox, just a normal one behaving naturally.

On the subject of mink, the "libbers" proved to be a bunch of clueless idealists who did far more damage than they prevented. They are great swimmers and will eat anything they can catch; fish, birds or mammals!
As a fisherman I regularly come into contact with mink. They are beautiful, fearless, accomplished predators with virtually nothing preying on them, though otters will kill them given the chance and they are well and truly on the way back. (I am not one of those fishermen that hates otters by the way, they have more right to be there than me as far as I am concerned!) The numbers of mink are actually leveling out now, but they are still a big drain on natural fauna, and our native wildlife is suffering as a result. :roll:

gethinceri

I think the only solution is to immediately commence a programme of population management by hunting them down with dogs while following on horseback. Jolly good fun and a great way of husbanding our environment.

verylonglegs

Great idea. Two major flaws for me however, I don't own a horse and quite frankly I have enough things to try and fit into my weekends as it is. If only there were a social set of such types we could call upon at this time.....

bikes`n`guns

Easy enough to trap them if and when they return.

I`ve shot hundreds of the things for people who won`t or can`t learn to do it themselves.
The fox population is booming though, so either take care of it or accept the losses.

debeli

Gethinceri wrote:

I think the only solution is to immediately commence a programme of population management by hunting them down with dogs while following on horseback. Jolly good fun and a great way of husbanding our environment.

I gave this idea some thought and then rejected it. You may not be aware that legislation has recently been brought in which forbids this sort of behaviour.

I prefer the idea of running strips of asphalted macadam through rural areas and allowing motor traffic to pass along it at high speed. Foxes would be splatted like flies, I am in no doubt. Although this may also kill some perfectly edible game birds, it would have the added bonus of reducing badger numbers. Two pests with one stone.

It would also allow citizens to discard supermarket carrier bags, McDonald's cartons, magnetic L Plates and industrial gloves alongside these tarmac strips, adding to the colour and vibrancy of our landscape.

gethinceri

Hmmm, I'm probably with you........and I also think the internet should be banned so that discarded porn mags make reappearance in country lanes and public conveniences.

secretsam

Pituophis wrote:

Sorry about the chickens. Unfortunately it wasn't a mutant, crazed fox, just a normal one behaving naturally.

On the subject of mink, the "libbers" proved to be a bunch of clueless idealists who did far more damage than they prevented. They are great swimmers and will eat anything they can catch; fish, birds or mammals!
As a fisherman I regularly come into contact with mink. They are beautiful, fearless, accomplished predators with virtually nothing preying on them, though otters will kill them given the chance and they are well and truly on the way back. (I am not one of those fishermen that hates otters by the way, they have more right to be there than me as far as I am concerned!) The numbers of mink are actually leveling out now, but they are still a big drain on natural fauna, and our native wildlife is suffering as a result. :roll:

Perhaps we could get the foxes to eat them?

Pituophis

SecretSam wrote:

Pituophis wrote:

Sorry about the chickens. Unfortunately it wasn't a mutant, crazed fox, just a normal one behaving naturally.

On the subject of mink, the "libbers" proved to be a bunch of clueless idealists who did far more damage than they prevented. They are great swimmers and will eat anything they can catch; fish, birds or mammals!
As a fisherman I regularly come into contact with mink. They are beautiful, fearless, accomplished predators with virtually nothing preying on them, though otters will kill them given the chance and they are well and truly on the way back. (I am not one of those fishermen that hates otters by the way, they have more right to be there than me as far as I am concerned!) The numbers of mink are actually leveling out now, but they are still a big drain on natural fauna, and our native wildlife is suffering as a result. :roll:

Perhaps we could get the foxes to eat them?

Its funny you should say that (they would given the opportunity) but all the foxes I see are urban ones whilst on the drive to of from the river.
I do see various species of deer, mink, occasionally a badger, the odd rat, and twice, an otter. Never seen a fox on the river or farms though! (I know they are there as I've seen the prints, just not an actual fox! :oops: )

First.Aspect

The fault here is the dolt who left the chickens out, not the fox's fault for eating them.

Spare me the victorian attitudes (lets sterilize the land!) to anything which is alive but causes inconvenience. Instead feel slightly ashamed that you have been outwitted by a canid about the size of a domestic cat.

We don't have bears. They'd outwit you as well. But your neighbours would be annoyed at YOU for attracting them. I prefer it that way around.

ai_1

bianchimoon wrote:

It's wildlife , it's what wildlife does, be it a hedgehog eating slugs, Owls killing mice, Hawks killing Rabbits. It's nothing personal, it's only a massacre to your human sensibilities, to the fox it's just fair game, food collecting. As others have said stocking the larder. Personally I like seeing wildlife whilst out riding.. I don't keep chickens tho!

This

First Aspect wrote:

The fault here is the dolt who left the chickens out, not the fox's fault for eating them.

Spare me the victorian attitudes (lets sterilize the land!) to anything which is alive but causes inconvenience. Instead feel slightly ashamed that you have been outwitted by a canid about the size of a domestic cat.

We don't have bears. They'd outwit you as well. But your neighbours would be annoyed at YOU for attracting them. I prefer it that way around.

And this.

Seriously, accusing a fox of being a barbaric bastard really is just selfish anthropomorphism.
You're the one keeping 28 birds in captivity so you can eat either them or their eggs. It's hardly a benevolent enterprise. The fox beat you. You lost this round. Tough!

Pross

Had a mink in our garden a couple of years ago. Thought I'd take my daughter out to see the 'cute' animal and promptly had to take her screaming back into the house and we'd caught it in the act of eating the eyes of a wild rabbit that had for some reason entered the garden!

bernithebiker

Although we have lost some chickens to hunting dogs getting into our garden in the day when the chickens were out, we've been OK with foxes so far as they don't come in the day and the dog's outside.

Our anti-fox defense is;

1. Waist high electric fence with 4 lines around the whole 80m2 chicken run.
2. Head height chicken fence.
3. Galvanized anti - dig plates around whole of fence (these were hanging around the garage).
4. Chicken shed built on solid brick foundation - can't be dug into.
5. Chicken door is plate metal and opens and shuts with the light.
6. High perches (2m) in shed which I don't think a fox could reach.

Chickens are therefore 100% secure at night, but dawn and dusk there is a chance a fox could jump over the fence.