This morning I cried! :(

[Marc]

This morning my girlfriend and I enjoyed our breakfast before going to work. One of us always takes care of the chickens before we go to work.

As I aproached the area of the garden were we keep our chickens I was surprised to not see them running to the fence. I made a calling sound that I normally make when I don't see them and I want to feed them.

I stepped close and to my horror I saw the lifeless bodies of two of our chickens. Lot's of feathers were spread out as well.

I opened the shed that the chickens use during the night and was confronted with even more feathers. There is no trace except feathers to be found of our other 2 chickens.

You can imagine how my girlfriend and I fealt this morning, and the knot in my stoumach still isn't gone. They were the only animals that we had and as far as I'm concerned they were our pets.

My primary suspect is a fox but I'm not sure and probably never will be.

 

[Lanmark]

It's very sad. My condolences.

 

[Heather]

oh no! I'm so sad to hear that! Poor chickies.
I've always wanted chickens but we aren't zoned for them (yet - Candace, who lives near me, is, she has some.)

Do you think you'll get more? I'm sorry about your pets. My pets are like my kids.

 

[Candace]

Ack, so sorry:< Another vicious culprit would be a raccoon. Do you know how it got into the shed?

 

[NYEric]

Weasles, racoons, foxes... when we had a house in the Catskills it was obvious that chickens werenb't for eggs but to feed the local carnivors!

 

[JeanLux]

I understand your pain Marc; it is hard loosing a pet, whatever it is !!! Jean

 

[Marc]

oh no! I'm so sad to hear that! Poor chickies.
I've always wanted chickens but we aren't zoned for them (yet - Candace, who lives near me, is, she has some.)

Do you think you'll get more? I'm sorry about your pets. My pets are like my kids.

I'm pretty sure that we'll get new ones but first we have to make a new home for our chickens. This was allready planned but now we have to make it completely predator proof.

I've allready outlined a basic idea were I will create a completely reinforced cube for the chickens to live in which is impossible to enter from any side. Soil included.

 

[etex]

Marc, you have my deepest sympathy. It is heart-breaking to loose pets.

 

[Shiva]

Sorry for your loss. The loss of a pet or many is always very hard to deal with.

 

[jjkOC]

I'm sorry to hear about your chickens. That's so aweful!

 

[Marc]

My girlfriend spoke with the people who lived in our house before us and now are living in a house that is allmost behind ours. It seems that there is a fox running rampage in our neighbourhood. A couple of houses down the street a fox took 7-8 chickens, this happened last friday or so. And the same hapened to another family last sunday, they lost two chickens.

I checked out the sand around the chicken shed and I could clearly make out some paw marks that look very similar to those of a fox.

 

[Heather]

Wow, that must be one hungry (and now fat) fox! That's a lot of killing in such a short time. Very bad fox.

 

[Marc]

Wow, that must be one hungry (and now fat) fox! That's a lot of killing in such a short time. Very bad fox.

I just spoke to a person I know quite well, he's also a guide for a information center of a small "nature reserve" closeby.

He told me a few things, the fact that at least one of them, and now I've heard in other places had their heads bitten of is a sign it was a fox. Another predator know for killing complete chicken family's are those in the weasel family. But these don't bite of heads they just open the throat of their victims to drink their blood.

The person I spoke to also explained that the foxes have their young now and they need a lot of food. They even seem to forage even 7 km's away from their den when required. Put that together with woods being within 10 minutes walking distance and I have a strong feeling in which direction we have to look. A fox also seems to collect their prey and bury it in holes in the suroundings, so I'm quite sure that that it's putting meat in the "freezer" to feed it's young.

If it would have been a cat there a: wouldn't have been any severed heads and b: he wouldn't have draged of 2 complete hens. And I find the idea of a dog doing this a bit farfetched as there are no dogs walking freely in our neighbourhood.

I blame Vulpes vulpes!

 

[Heather]

Seems the evidence is in!

 

[KyushuCalanthe]

Been down that road before as a lad. I grew up in NY state where raccoons are a dime a dozen. They used to break into our coop no matter how much hardware cloth we used - amazingly strong animals.

Anyway, bloody shame, but that is nature. Sometimes she's like a gentle rain, and sometimes a cold winter gale...

 

[SlipperFan]

Tough luck!

 

[John M]

When I was a kid, I lost a whole flock of Bobwhite Quail to a mink. Years later, I lost a flock of ducks to a wondering dog and years after that, I lost about 20 Golden Pheasants to a weasel. It's heartbreaking to find the bodies and see all the blood and know that they were all your pets. I send my condolences to you. The only way to prevent this is to contain them inside an area that is completely sealed with 1/2" chicken wire on the top, sides and bottom.

When building a chicken coop and chicken run, most people think of containing the chickens and they build a flimsy home. That is wrong thinking. You must think of excluding dogs, racoons, weasels, foxes, etc., and build a very sturdy, strong, durable pen.

 

[Heather]

Years later, I lost a flock of ducks to a wondering dog ...

Sorry for ALL of your losses John.

and, I'm sorry…in advance….

But maybe he was wondering what they tasted like?

I'm sure you meant wandering, but it made me smile in the moment. I will refrain from saying no harm no… sorry again for your loss! Good info here too!

 

[NYEric]

Ouch!

 

[John M]

But maybe he was wondering what they tasted like?

I'm sure you meant wandering.......

LOL! Yeah! Damn fingers that don't hit the correct keys!:rollhappy: I think you're right, Heather. He was a wandering dog who was wondering what Duck tastes like! :drool: