# This morning I cried! :(



## Marc (May 24, 2011)

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.


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## Lanmark (May 24, 2011)

It's very sad. My condolences.


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## Heather (May 24, 2011)

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.


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## Candace (May 24, 2011)

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


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## NYEric (May 24, 2011)

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!


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## JeanLux (May 24, 2011)

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


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## Marc (May 24, 2011)

Heather said:


> 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.


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## etex (May 24, 2011)

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


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## Shiva (May 24, 2011)

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


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## jjkOC (May 24, 2011)

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


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## Marc (May 24, 2011)

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.


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## Heather (May 24, 2011)

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


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## Marc (May 24, 2011)

Heather said:


> 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!


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## Heather (May 24, 2011)

Seems the evidence is in!


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## KyushuCalanthe (May 24, 2011)

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...


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## SlipperFan (May 24, 2011)

Tough luck!


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## John M (May 27, 2011)

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.


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## Heather (May 27, 2011)

John M said:


> 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!


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## NYEric (May 28, 2011)

Ouch!


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## John M (May 28, 2011)

Heather said:


> 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:


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## Rick (May 29, 2011)

Living out in the sticks for the last 30 years I've seen a bunch of critters come and go. It still always sets you back to see life stopped. We had a flock of almost a dozen Barbados sheep get wiped out by a stray Rottweiler in Oklahoma. We spent years building that flock up, and the site of a dozen bloody/mutilated sheep wasn't thrilling either (some weren't dead and had to be put down).

This past fall I got to witness a pack of stray dogs kill our cat. We shot the pack leader dog when it came back on our property a week later. 

We couldn't get rid of chickens at our present house in TN, and the neighbors raise fighting cocks that are loose in the woods. We have lots of foxes, raccoons, bobcats, stay dogs and cats, and owls. And the ferrel chicken population is just as stable as ever. We keep wishing our dogs would keep the neighbors chickens at bay, but they keep coming over in our yard and tearing up the gardens. Periodically I find sitting hens and smash the eggs (our dogs like them).

Chickens are mostly sitting ducks at night when sleeping. If you get them trained to go into a coup at night that you can close up and lock, they will be safe from the wild predators that hunt primarily at night. In the morning you can let them out in a much less protected yard. 

This may be more practical than sympathetic, but sharing life with the rest of nature sometimes adds some ugly death to our lives.


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## Marc (May 30, 2011)

I understand your view Rick and I apreciate your words.

My biggest mistake was the coup that was build to keep the chickens out and never thought of it being used to withstand intruders from the outside.

Lesson is learned and construction of the coup will start soon.


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## Rick (May 30, 2011)

Marc said:


> I understand your view Rick and I apreciate your words.
> 
> My biggest mistake was the coup that was build to keep the chickens out and never thought of it being used to withstand intruders from the outside.
> 
> Lesson is learned and construction of the coup will start soon.




That's the way Marc. Sadder still it would be if you let fox win and you give up on the life you are working with. The struggle to live is the prayer that keeps things going.


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