As a hen keeper I am always fearful of a fox managing to find its way into my back yard and getting into the roost. I've always thought foxes only dare come out at night but I heard sad news from a friend this week who lost 2 of her flock to this fellow - or lass! - who very boldly came during the day whilst the hens were free ranging and ate two of them.
This bold fox returned later to see what else he/she could catch and my awesome friend Mun (who would have the best blog ever if she blogged) caught him/her on film! Mun - you take brilliant photos, thanks for letting me blog these!
Here is foxy loxy at the door...just checking out the place...
And here. Waiting to catch more hens. Poor girls :(
And here sneaking away...
And here just standing proud and saying hi.
Isn't Fantastic Mr Fox magnificent? Such a beautiful creature. I can't help but admire him/her. We all have to eat..but really can't the foxes make do with plump rabbits and field mice and leave our fluffy knickered girls alone?
Now that I think about it I really do have a thing for foxes.
one of my favourite books!
one of my favourite dresses
my favourite brooch
Now what does that say about me as a hen keeper!!
That just sent shivers down my spine!
ReplyDeleteThere were chicken feathers down our street last week. Poor girls!
I know, poor hens :( They look so afraid huddled there like that. Always so afraid I'll wake up to feathers one day, no matter how secure you think your chooks are...and I didn't realise foxes attacked during daylight hours as well!
ReplyDeleteFoxes become very cheeky and tame. Hopefully he has enough to eat elsewhere not to come back to visit you. Be warned though he knows where the chooks are and he will probably be back when he is hungry!
ReplyDeleteWith the good year that we have had, foxes have bred up. Plenty of feed around. We nearly run over one the other night chasing a mouse on the road, he looked really funny darting around chasing this mouse.
xTania
No, no, no! Get away from the chooks! Like you, I worry all the time for the chooks, I'd hate for anything to happen to them! But I must admit, the photos are magnificent!
ReplyDeleteohhhh, that's scary, hope your chooks stay safe and sound
ReplyDeletexo
Good photos of Mr Fox. They sure can cause problems. Hope he doesn't get to your hens!
ReplyDeleteWe have a fox who will almost travel to our back door in search of our hens. We are lucky to have a dog that runs him back into the field every time. They certainly are a brazen lot!
ReplyDeleteThat fox must be really desperate to fill his tummy to venture so close during the day.
ReplyDeleteThe fox is really handsome/pretty, but I really like the hens better. My sister had a mother fox who would come to her backyard with her pups every afternoon. She would yip and bark until my sister let her dogs out. The mother fox let the dogs play with her pups while she laid on a rock in the sun and rested. It was sort of her daycare I guess.
ReplyDeleteHallo everyone!
ReplyDeleteHi Kelli! Hi Claudia! Hi Celia! So far we've been lucky.
Hi Bella's mum, that story is amazing! What a thing to have seen. I definitely prefer hens too.
Hi Diana, I never really worried about my girls in the daylight hours before, I'm worried now though.
Hi Tania, they have bred up haven't they! I've seen a few more than usual as well.
Hi Nessa, my old dog (labrador x) was worse than a fox, she would hunt our hens mercilessly. What kind of dog do you have?
Wow. Mr Fox is quite beautiful isn't he? Although if I were a chicken I doubt I would admire him in quite the same way :)
ReplyDeleteOh, he does look cunning! Hope he finds food elsewhere and leaves your girls alone.
ReplyDeleteI have an absolutely huge fox here. He is twice the size of that one. I would have thought he was a coyote but he is read with a white tipped tail. So far he hasn't managed to get any of my birds, even the ones loose in the yard. Maybe the fact that he is so big makes him slow but some of the yard birds are Polish with the crest and even I can easily catch them.
ReplyDeleteHe or she may be beautiful but I'd be scared for the chooks. Mun's poor girls will have to stay penned up while it hangs around.
ReplyDeleteOh no! :( I have to say, I'd be worried about a fox making it into my garden even without the chicken aspect. We don't seem to have them around here so it's a fairly disconcerting concept!
ReplyDeleteCheeky bugger! Great photos though...he looks very soft.
ReplyDeleteI gave up on keeping hens after losing more than I can remember to foxes, usually after they had been let out in the morning. Just too heart breaking. Thanks for visiting my Blog, I do hope there is something magical living under those mushrooms. Perhaps they were hiding?
ReplyDeleteohh no no I hope the girls are still alive and happy, I love fox and sometimes get them in my garden but would be horrify if they do anything to my lovely cat, i would be devastated, so I hope your hens stay safe!!
ReplyDeleteDear Mrs Bok, long time since I've left a message I know but I was catching up on blog reading since coming back from holidays..... Now bear with me, I know this sounds strange, but my husband assures me if he "pees" on the fence that this keeps the foxes away..... As we have chooks, cat and bunnies and foxes in the area- I will humour him, you just never know! His theory is that we humans are apex predators and by "marking" our territory will put out the message to the foxes "do not enter" ! Food for thought :o)
ReplyDeleteHandsome fox and adorable hens! He seems almost like he's posing for the camera, doesn't he? I've never had the chance to take a picture of a fox, but there is one that I've seen around the periphery of my community garden, no doubt guarding the plots from any rodent trespassers!
ReplyDeleteAmazing photos! Love that bushy tail. We hear stories of foxes being close by (in suburban Sydney), and people losing chooks to them. Touch wood so far we have been lucky other than a terrible incident with a dog from the neighbourhood when we were novice chook keepers. We fenced our backyard after that. About a year ago we had a bush turkey kill one of our chooks. So then we had to put fencing on top of our chook area to stop the bush turkeys from flying in to steal food and harass the chooks. Seems like everything we do is to keep other creatures out, rather than keep the chooks in!
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