Give a fox a inch and he will take a mile

welsummer

A fox got into my hen house 2 nights ago night an slaughtered my chickens. It killed 3 mature guinea fowl. Sixteen 5 weeks old guinea chicks. 5 mature welsummer hens and fourteen 9 week old welsummer chicks plus 3 ducks. The hen house was in top end of the yard and he had to pass by the poor old collie dog, that was panned out fast asleep. Not his fault as he is old and getting both blind and deaf . All i have left is 3 terriffed chichens and 1 chick. they have always been picking the odd one of in the woodlands surrounding the sheds, but to date never ventured inside the yard.They had given me a warning over the last couple of weeks, with the odd chicken going missing and the guinea fowel kicking up a racket during the day / late evening . I just have been extremely busy and ignored the problem. Went out last night and got 2, but seen another close to the shed, but as i was shooting on my own and he was a little bit wary, i missed an golden oppurtunity to fire on him as he looked back over his shoulder as he went through the hedge. Baited the area this evening and will be sitting waiting on him tomorrow evening.

patdahat

best of luck i wouldn't sleep until id get him that's an expensive loss.

kildare.17hmr

**** buz lad, if ya were near me id offer another pair of hands and a gun to help ya nail the ****er! Hope ya get him quick!

snipe02

hope you get him before he causes more damage

pheasntstalker

sad business losing any thing to a fox:mad: i hope u get him lad,i wouldnt sleep til i nailed the b*stard:mad:

Tommy87

Best of luck, I know how you feel. I had a mink kill 24 out of 25 of my chickens and ducks. I got a trap the same day and in 2 nights I caught 2 mink. Killing machines is all they are. Needles to say it was their last supper!!

Best of luck with that fox!

charlie10

i checked how fast my 6 shot repeater could empty the othe day and believe me it was quick .i would love to see that mother f&*ker coming in the gap and BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM:P

Jackasaurus rex

think you need to enlist a younger dog to help the old boy

dodderangler

Jackasaurus rex wrote: »

think you need to enlist a younger dog to help the old boy

I'd second that motion aswell

Hope you nail the bastard I'd sit up and wait for the little Cnut and put a 223 in his eyes
Best if luck hope to see pics tomoro

welsummer

You are right, i have fond memories of nights gone by, when i was out till 5.30 in the morning and then head to work.

garv123

Thats a awful thing to happen.. Are you sure it was a fox? Have you ever seen mink or pine martin around? They are more prone to killing everything for the fun of it and taking nothing, more so than a fox, although they will do it too they usually take some for supper.

welsummer

Dont think mink or pine martin would be able to carry away about 10 full grown chichens and what was left had the heads chewed off them, which is a classic fox sign

sfakiaman

I once found a badger in a hen house that had done the same thing. I often wondered if it was deliberate or if it panicked because it felt trapped. I never figured on badgers being that kind of carnivore.

Tommy87

welsummer wrote: »

Dont think mink or pine martin would be able to carry away about 10 full grown chichens and what was left had the heads chewed off them, which is a classic fox sign

Mink dont carry away what they kill. They just kill everything in sight. And the heads missing is definatly a sign of mink. If the op is near a river or stream i would definatly put down a trap.

johngalway

sfakiaman wrote: »

I once found a badger in a hen house that had done the same thing. I often wondered if it was deliberate or if it panicked because it felt trapped. I never figured on badgers being that kind of carnivore.

It's plenty deliberate. Friend of mine had his fowl wiped out by them and I remember an English lad telling me of the troubles his father had keeping them out of his free range operation.

welsummer

I baited the area the previous evening with bits of the dead chickens and again last night just before dark. I sat in for about an hour before she appeared. I shot her with just the light coming from the moon.I knew when i walked up to her that she was not the lamp shy fox as she was not dark enought. I then took a walk around the rest fo the farm and seen nothing. As i came back to the spot where i had baited , a quick fash of the light picked up a pair of eyes against the far ditch. As soon as the light hit its eyes, it turned and ran. This was at about half 12, so tonight i will bait again early and come back about mid night to meet her as she arrives. I love these full moon night,as it an easy way of getting the lamp shy foxes. The other picure is what is left of my poor orphans.

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Jackasaurus rex

nice solid fox. good thing you bagged him

martin s

welsummer wrote: »

A fox got into my hen house 2 nights ago night an slaughtered my chickens. It killed 3 mature guinea fowl. Sixteen 5 weeks old guinea chicks. 5 mature welsummer hens and fourteen 9 week old welsummer chicks plus 3 ducks. The hen house was in top end of the yard and he had to pass by the poor old collie dog, that was panned out fast asleep. Not his fault as he is old and getting both blind and deaf . All i have left is 3 terriffed chichens and 1 chick. they have always been picking the odd one of in the woodlands surrounding the sheds, but to date never ventured inside the yard.They had given me a warning over the last couple of weeks, with the odd chicken going missing and the guinea fowel kicking up a racket during the day / late evening . I just have been extremely busy and ignored the problem. Went out last night and got 2, but seen another close to the shed, but as i was shooting on my own and he was a little bit wary, i missed an golden oppurtunity to fire on him as he looked back over his shoulder as he went through the hedge. Baited the area this evening and will be sitting waiting on him tomorrow evening.

I am in north Dublin myself, there are plenty of foxes around my house but so far have not ventured into the yard, but i know its a matter of time i have had more problems with cats taking chicks, if u need an extra pair of hands or gun just pm me, martin.

John_Rambo

welsummer wrote: »

You're going to have to get a shrink for the poor fooker on the right, looks really traumatised!!