Thursday, October 13, 2011

And Again...

Another, or the same, fox has killed 2 more chooks.  I hear something early Tuesday morning, around 5ish, so got out of bed, grabbed the torch and went out to check.  All the gates were shut and I didn't hear anything else, didn't see anything, so thought it must have been something else...Went back to bed and kinda heard something, Hubby was snoring so I lie there listening, yep something.  It's 5.30 and I say to Hubby that there is something in with the chooks and we both go out.  Didn't see anything but heard *it*  And of course 1 chook is dead and it looks like the fox had been trying to pull it out under the fence where it has dug a small hole to get in..  I later found a second chook not far from the fence.  In the last 6 years this is the pen that I believed was the most fox proof.  One has come up near the house again and dug up where I have the Jerusalem Artichokes planted.  Bloody thing!  We had traps set last night and Hubby was ready with the gun but they didn't come back.  This is where I had put the breeding chooks as I was worried about them being out behind the shed.  The rooster is still there and I have other chooks that I can put in with him but these were nice looking chooks and good layers so I was getting enough fertile eggs to keep the flock sustainable.  The rooster is a bit *toey* but if I lose him I wont be able to get chickens for awhile.  Yes, I know I could easily get another one but this one was hatched and raised by us so I'd like him not to get his head bit off.

More work to do now, I'm out all day but luckily Hubby is home for a few days.   All the jobs on my list will be moved down as getting this pen fixed up is more important.

4 comments:

  1. It is so frustrating and sad! sorry to hear it.

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  2. I hate it for you and the hens! Of course, digging a trench one foot deep and burying hardware cloth or sheets of some kind of metal would solve your fox problem and my raccoon problem. That's not happening here! But, an internet friend solved her problem by driving bamboo stakes around the edge of the pen so that the digger quit. Maybe short pieces of rebar would work instead of bamboo.

    Having a hubby is handy...lol.

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  3. We're doing the trench and tin tomorrow, on the house/yard side. The other side, a paddock side, had wire buried, they must have dug through...it's worn away...We missed a spot...It will all be checked tomorrow. In the meantime I am putting them in a small, empty pen where I want to plant melons...not the best spot for rooster as it is not far from our bedroom window...

    Barb.

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