All I can say is **** it

kowloon

I lost my ducklings earlier in the week (something got the rest after I turned their pen into fort Knox).
So I woke up today to the cockerels crowing to find my chickens have been massacred (about 3/4pm, I was out last night).
The chickens had scattered and there are feathers scattered over an acre. I've found 5 dead chickens that are untouched, they haven't been torn up and no attempt was made to drag them off. There was a dead chicken in the chicken shed down near the house which is very brave for a fox in broad daylight. Found 2 injured hens hiding in tall grass. One has a large puncture wound high up under the wing about a 1cm diameter.
I've had foxes take chickens before but they have never attacked the whole lot at once and they leave after they've caught what they wanted, not running around until they have them all. My guess is a vixen taking her cubs out for the day. This has been a truly $hit week.

kerryman12

dude

thats bad luck. Could it have been a mink?

kowloon

kerryman12 wrote: »

dude

thats bad luck. Could it have been a mink?

Would a mink be able to kill so many?

thehair

kowloon wrote: »

I lost my ducklings earlier in the week (something got the rest after I turned their pen into fort Knox).
So I woke up today to the cockerels crowing to find my chickens have been massacred (about 3/4pm, I was out last night).
The chickens had scattered and there are feathers scattered over an acre. I've found 5 dead chickens that are untouched, they haven't been torn up and no attempt was made to drag them off. There was a dead chicken in the chicken shed down near the house which is very brave for a fox in broad daylight. Found 2 injured hens hiding in tall grass. One has a large puncture wound high up under the wing about a 1cm diameter.
I've had foxes take chickens before but they have never attacked the whole lot at once and they leave after they've caught what they wanted, not running around until they have them all. My guess is a vixen taking her cubs out for the day. This has been a truly $hit week.

a very greed dog fox it happen to my friend in i hour 24 chickens:eek:
at 2am in the morning

kowloon

Pics attached. You can see how little damage was done to the dead chickens. A lot of feather piles around the house, in the field behind and along the roadside out front. Found a chick hiding up a tree.

thehair

kowloon wrote: »

Pics attached. You can see how little damage was done to the dead chickens. A lot of feather piles around the house, in the field behind and along the roadside out front. Found a chick hiding up a tree.

o yes i have seen that it is just like i said the 5 chickens are like they
are sleeping and the feather that was his lot then come back a free
dinner same time same placed make sure you are in the tree shooting
down at him hope you get the fecker.

mallards

I found three big pheasant poult buried in the side of a dry turf bank. About 100yards from the pen. When I pulled them out they were feather perfect. It looked like they had just flown into the bank at speed!

But it was a fox and he was got that evening returning to the pen.

Mallards.

thehair

mallards wrote: »

I found three big pheasant poult buried in the side of a dry turf bank. About 100yards from the pen. When I pulled them out they were feather perfect. It looked like they had just flown into the bank at speed!

But it was a fox and he was got that evening returning to the pen.

Mallards.

that great that you get the fox:cool:
i would love to see the three pheasant pictures in the turf bank:D:D:D

LegacyUser

Could you not secure the area better to prevent the fox from getting it? The fox is just doing what it knows best...

thehair

cheesedude wrote: »

Could you not secure the area better to prevent the fox from getting it? The fox is just doing what it knows best...

as they say sly as a fox you would want to put a man with a rifle on
24 hours a day 8days a week:D

LegacyUser

thehair wrote: »

as they say sly as a fox you would want to put a man with a rifle on
24 hours a day 8days a week:D

lol i forgot about that saying...makes sense now

thehair

cheesedude wrote: »

lol i forgot about that saying...makes sense now

aaaaa yes 8 long days and nights i just remember that:eek::p:D

kowloon

They were locked in at night and out during the day, like I said, I lost the occassional chicken but numbers were stable. It's the fact that almost all of them are gone that gets me. If it wasn't for some haggling over the price of fencing the chickens would be in an enclosure by now. Until I figure out what got my ducklings a fence might be a waste of time.

foxshooter243

kowloon wrote: »

They were locked in at night and out during the day, like I said, I lost the occassional chicken but numbers were stable. It's the fact that almost all of them are gone that gets me. If it wasn't for some haggling over the price of fencing the chickens would be in an enclosure by now. Until I figure out what got my ducklings a fence might be a waste of time.

that fox is sure to be back tonight, leave the chickens on the ground and nail him about half an hour after dark...a local guy here had the same problem-same as yourself so i had to introduce the fox to some v max technology the following night-got him feeding on one of his previous nights kill.;)

jwshooter

kowloon wrote: »

I lost my ducklings earlier in the week (something got the rest after I turned their pen into fort Knox).
So I woke up today to the cockerels crowing to find my chickens have been massacred (about 3/4pm, I was out last night).
The chickens had scattered and there are feathers scattered over an acre. I've found 5 dead chickens that are untouched, they haven't been torn up and no attempt was made to drag them off. There was a dead chicken in the chicken shed down near the house which is very brave for a fox in broad daylight. Found 2 injured hens hiding in tall grass. One has a large puncture wound high up under the wing about a 1cm diameter.
I've had foxes take chickens before but they have never attacked the whole lot at once and they leave after they've caught what they wanted, not running around until they have them all. My guess is a vixen taking her cubs out for the day. This has been a truly $hit week.

sounds more like a otter did ya find any hair on the way in or smell a fox

foxshooter243

jwshooter wrote: »

sounds more like a otter did ya find any hair on the way in or smell a fox

well its the first otter thats acquired the habit of surplus killing ,you should write a thesis on that ?, i would strongly suggest you read up on otters,
their habitat and feeding

jwshooter

foxshooter243 wrote: »

well its the first otter thats acquired the habit of surplus killing ,you should write a thesis on that ?, i would strongly suggest you read up on otters,
their habitat and feeding

there is a duck pond three hundred yds from my house this time last year a otter killed over thirthy ducklings on it over a few days .once the otter was removed to a new location ,the rest of the ducks were fine .maybe you should write a thesis on otters as you are a expert on them ,i would never claim to know the habits of any wild animal ,,its a bad day when you dont learn something !

foxshooter243

jwshooter wrote: »

there is a duck pond three hundred yds from my house this time last year a otter killed over thirthy ducklings on it over a few days .once the otter was removed to a new location ,the rest of the ducks were fine .maybe you should write a thesis on otters as you are a expert on them ,i would never claim to know the habits of any wild animal ,,its a bad day when you dont learn something !

we are talking about chickens being killed here , and as otters dont have the the habit of surplus killing like foxes and mink it rules them out.
whats wrong? dont like when someone makes derisiory comments about your posts yet its quite alright for yourself to do it- it
dont work that way!

jwshooter

foxshooter243 wrote: »

we are talking about chickens being killed here , and as otters dont have the the habit of surplus killing like foxes and mink it rules them out.
whats wrong? dont like when someone makes derisiory comments about your posts yet its quite alright for yourself to do it- it
dont work that way!

also ducklings read the first thread . i am only dealing with the facts that happen last year .your very sure about otters habits and a little touchy

foxshooter243

jwshooter wrote: »

also ducklings read the first thread . i am only dealing with the facts that happen last year .your very sure about otters habits and a little touchy

not touchy ,just waiting my chance for some payback-and yes im always sure about anything i post, an otter may predate upon aquatic birds in the water but does not posses the physical agility to catch a chicken on land,
it doesnt take david attenborough for that.-here endeth the matter.

jwshooter

foxshooter243 wrote: »

not touchy ,just waiting my chance for some payback-and yes im always sure about anything i post, an otter may predate upon aquatic birds in the water but does not posses the physical agility to catch a chicken on land,
it doesnt take david attenborough for that.-here endeth the matter.

so what your saying is a 12 kg male otter will not take ground nesting fowl or game at night or day as they cant catch them or they will not surplus kill

dresden8

ffs!

flanum

op sorry for the loss, but off topic slightly, what breed are the fowl(esp the second from left and black one on the right)? im thinking there capes would make for some fine fly-tying!

maglite

jwshooter wrote: »

so what your saying is a 12 kg male otter will not take ground nesting fowl or game at night or day as they cant catch them or they will not surplus kill

No he is saying he cannot hunt down a "flock" in quick succession,

ducklings in the water fine, a chicken after chicken after chicken, NO,

E. Fudd

flanum wrote: »

op sorry for the loss, but off topic slightly, what breed are the fowl(esp the second from left and black one on the right)? im thinking there capes would make for some fine fly-tying!

Am I right in thinking they're wellsomers?

KRICO.22

Had a bit of trouble with mister fox tis wkend my self. Took one of the breeding geese straight out of the shed dragger her under the door and eat her out side the shed.:mad: :mad:Nothing else gone though.

Vixen feeding Cubs?

Dog fox on the prowel?

Going to try a live trap this week to catch the B*****D.

Neo Researcher

If you can measure the distance between the teeth in the bite marks you should be able to find out from that which species killed them.

F-ClassWillie

KRICO.22 wrote: »

Had a bit of trouble with mister fox tis wkend my self. Took one of the breeding geese straight out of the shed dragger her under the door and eat her out side the shed.:mad: :mad:Nothing else gone though.

Vixen feeding Cubs?

Dog fox on the prowel?

Going to try a live trap this week to catch the B*****D.

These Bipods sure make it easy.

kowloon

E. Fudd wrote: »

Am I right in thinking they're wellsomers?

About half of the chucks were wellsommers. The 4 in the photo are young ones so they aren't feathered out fully yet. The black one is an adult Bantam Australorps, very friendly breed.

Left with 2 Wellsomer hens and the rooster. 1 light sussex hen. 5 mixed breed chicks. The fox never came back. Will measure bite marks on surviving hen when she lets me pck her up.