Earlier this year i had a couple of ex battery hens and after 23 hours they were killed by a fox. They were in a coop with a run attached.

Anyway the point of this post is the out of date and out of touch information that is available about foxes.I had my two girls in their run in the garden during their second day and went to pick my daughter up from school. I was gone 10 minutes. I made her a sandwich and then we went up to give the chooks some bread. This is when we found the carnage


I had read up on as much info as i could. I read that foxes are unlikely to make a kill in the middle of the day and especially if there were a lot of people about. Well school had just finished and the gardens were full of kids as it was so hot. A neighbour saw the fox with one of my chickens as it made off with its kill, in full view of everyone. I have over 8ft high fencing. The trellis on top is an extra safe guard. I was stunned at the blatant behavior of the fox as i had only had the chooks 23 bladdy hours.
The foxes are using the join of the back gardens as a run. I have since found out that they are living in a few gardens in my road and that loads of people feed them.

I no longer have the same chook house set up. The coop is now inside a wooden enclosure with welded solid wire for the walls. I do let them out to 'graze' during the day but if i need the loo or something i have to get them in for fear of it happening again.

Sorry for the long post but i wondered if anyone else has had something similart happen to them

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HI again,

I have had chickens for about 15 years now. The difference that the ban on hunting made was devastating to us. The fox population grew very fast and furiously. They used to lay in wait whilst I picked the kids up from school then attack. That was the last time we had our poultry truly free range. Now if we use arks we net the bottom too as the foxes have been known to roll the ark and get in underneath and then kill. We have a big enclosure but still we net and have high perches so that they can fly up high if they sense anything.

Foxes just seem to kill everything that moves given the chance.

Sorry about your episode, it's a dreadful sight.

It's scary to read just how tame foxes are becoming now and coming out in the light. I can honestly say I've only ever seen one fox in the light and it was running through the fields but soon disappeared. The foxes round here still seem very wild. My o/h sometimes sees them when he takes the dog out at around 10.30pm but they soon scarper and don't hang around.

I'm really sorry to hear about your chickens, it must be heartbreaking to see a fox taking your chickens.

I was being given some chickens by a friend as he was downsizing, and we were late at work with a parents' evening. By the time he got home a fox had got in and anhhialated his entire flock leaving only one hen, a disabled goose and a duck, all of which came to me. It was horrific.

We've had the birds and some others for 2 years now and have not yet seen or heard of a fox in the area. I don't know whether the fact that I have a pair of geese and lots of cats makes a difference, I'm just glad we have been able to safely free range them. They are shut away in their house at night.

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I am finding fox poo in my garden so i just know they are waiting for me to slip up. I have them on the grass now and i cant see them so i will have to check they are ok. I hate not being able to let them graze for more than a few minutes at a time.

I am dreading the winter as that is going to be when they are hungry, and spring was torture from all the noises they make at night. Plus they need more food to feed thier young.

They sunbathe on car bonnets and lie on the traffic island in the sun. Its mad. Everyone is worrying about poxy chipmunks but foxes are by far the worst

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