What nicked my chickens?

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What nicked my chickens?
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Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 05 7:46 pm Post subject:

I wouldn't be put off getting more hens because of this experience.

You don't have to keep 'em in a shed all the time. Just let 'em roam around the garden during the day and give 'em a nice cosy shed that they can perch in on a night and I am sure they will get there selves to bed .... all you have to do is go out at dusk an close the door.

We have never had any problems with ours using this technique.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 05 8:11 pm Post subject:
It does depend on where you are. Round here, suburban/semi-rural we get foxes all day. I've chased them off several times and our smallest hen has also chassed one off. We let ours our in the garden when we are out with them. From what I've read from people's posts foxes are more nocturnal in the country but you'll still get them during the day especially when the cubs are bing raised.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 05 8:42 pm Post subject:
Interesting .... we are very rural indeed (i.e. miles from anywhere) so they don't bother us in daylight hours

Blacksmith

Joined: 25 Jan 2005
Posts: 5025
Location: Berkshire

Posted: Tue Apr 05, 05 11:47 pm Post subject:
We used to have an old dog fox , call by our canteen waste bins at 1.30 am. Set your watch by him ! then the developers moved in and we havn't seen him since. The only animal i can see no use for on this planet, is the carrion crow. It will peck the eyes and tongues out of lambs and weak ewes. When i'm out shooting, i always shoot these birds. Dave.

joker

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 188
Location: hiding

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 7:12 am Post subject:

judyofthewoods wrote:

(how many people actually see a lamb being killed by a fox - .

I have seen this happen more times than I care to remeber they will sneak up behind the ewe and take the lamb as it is born

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 9:14 am Post subject:

joker wrote:

judyofthewoods wrote:

(how many people actually see a lamb being killed by a fox - .

I have seen this happen more times than I care to remeber they will sneak up behind the ewe and take the lamb as it is born

Sure it can happen (probably for reasons I gave in my post), but the fox gets the blame many times when it was not seen in flagrante delicto. Time and again I ask people 'did you actually see it happen?', and they admit they had not, yet I know of several cases where dogs were responsible, caught in the act.

By the way, if you were close enough to see the fox sneaking up to the ewe (and I take it close enough to see it was a fox), how come it got as far as killing the lamb? Were you not close enough to shush it away? Foxes are nervous wild animals, they don't hang around when they are disturbed by humans. Even at a distance a "shoo, you naughty little animal!" would have sent it packing.

dougal

Joined: 15 Jan 2005
Posts: 7184
Location: South Kent

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 1:45 pm Post subject:

judyofthewoods wrote:

...Foxes are nervous wild animals, they don't hang around when they are disturbed by humans. ...

Can we make that "don't usually hang around"...
Once, when Someone-I-used-to-know was putting the geese away, just after dark, a fox "brushed past" her leg and tackled one of the geese! It was chased off, and no damage was done, but it was a surprising incident for all concerned. This was actually in town, although only 200 yards from open fields... I heard the commotion, but no, *I* didn't actually *see* what happened...

ButteryHOLsomeness

Joined: 03 Apr 2005
Posts: 770

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 3:02 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

.
Even if it was not a fox this time they are about.

oh yes, they are definately out right now, and it's mating season

even though we live just 2 miles away from edinburgh city centre we get plenty of foxes here. we live in family flats run by edinburgh uni so there are always kids out playing. last night i got a right scare when i heard the most pitiful wailing around 11pm whilst watching a movie. i thought some poor child had been badly hurt so i turned the sound off and realised it was the foxes going at it again

they used to wake us up at all hours when we lived in glasgow, i'm hoping it won't be so bad here

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 4:03 pm Post subject:
They do get tame enough to handle, but even handraised foxes are still nervous creatures, and any fox will bolt or flinch with sudden movements or noise. It would be a rare fox indeed that would stick arround if deliberatly startled by shouting and flaying arms.

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22789
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 4:36 pm Post subject:

judyofthewoods wrote:

It would be a rare fox indeed that would stick arround if deliberatly startled by shouting and flaying arms.

Then we have some pretty rare foxes up here - like the one my neighbour couldn't get out of his chicken run even when he chucked something at it. Or perhaps the one that was running round and round my broody coop, trying to get in, completely ignoring the hysterical noises coming from within and the shouting coming from my bedroom window about 20 feet away. Or the one that nabbed a friend's cochin bantam when she was in the garden with it.

SparklyWellies

Joined: 24 Mar 2005
Posts: 88
Location: Oxfordshire

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 5:41 pm Post subject:

simon wrote:

You don't have to keep 'em in a shed all the time. Just let 'em roam around the garden during the day and give 'em a nice cosy shed that they can perch in on a night and I am sure they will get there selves to bed .... all you have to do is go out at dusk an close the door.

Simon that's exactly what we did perfectly happily for 2 years. And if anyone's interested, yes, one of them was called Korma.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 6:03 pm Post subject:
From what I've seen of them different foxes can be very different. Urban foxes, in my experience, are very different to the country ones. Shooshing, turning on lights and running at them will not make some of them budge.

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 6:18 pm Post subject:

SparklyWellies wrote:

simon wrote:

Simon that's exactly what we did perfectly happily for 2 years. And if anyone's interested, yes, one of them was called Korma.

Yes, in that case I am sorry. You obviousely had some bad luck with some persistent foxes. We are lucky not to have a "daytime" problem here but I am sorry to hear that you do.

I will have a re-think and hopefully make some more constructive suggestions in my next post.

I will treat this as a matter of importance because it is a serious topic and one which needs to be solved.

More soon

S

judyofthewoods

Joined: 29 Jan 2005
Posts: 804
Location: Pembrokeshire

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 6:18 pm Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

From what I've seen of them different foxes can be very different. Urban foxes, in my experience, are very different to the country ones. Shooshing, turning on lights and running at them will not make some of them budge.

Good thing there are no lambs in town then

I think bantams are less vulnerable to predetors, as long as their night time accommodation is secure, as they can often fly out of harms way, as long as there is something high for them to escape to. If they are not confined they can also scatter, and any predator is unlikely to get more than one in that situation. I had no trouble with the fox (seing him walk past the chicken on several occasions) during the several years I had the chicken. To be honest, even if I had lost the odd one, I would not have begrudged it the fox, its his territory as much as mine, and he keeps other so-called vermin like rodents down. Would you expect the Rentokill man to do his job without payment?

Blue Sky

Joined: 30 Jan 2005
Posts: 7658
Location: France

Posted: Wed Apr 06, 05 7:22 pm Post subject:
Well said Judy! The fox is no more a criminal than most of US! ... and how many eggs do we really need on a morning? ... I don't begradge him his breakfast either ... But it is rather sad that "sparklywellies" lost all her four hens, I would hate to lose all mine

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