This is a picture of Walter the Wyandotte and Daisy the Dorking.In February 2007 I had Walter and eight assorted hens. They were all laying well (except Walter) and we were getting so many eggs we had to give some away.
Then the fox struck! All I found of Daisy was a sad pile of feathers in the adjacent field. Daisy had no chance, she had severely damaged feet and could not walk well. We had rescued her from being a snake's dinner at the Circus that overwinters in the Corve Dale. She was a grumpy thing but suffered badly with her feet so it was forgiveable.
I found the bodies of the two french maran hens down the garden. They were both heavy ungainly birds so would have had no chance of escape. The older Welsummer had survived two previous fox attacks, she is a wily old bird and had hidden in the nest box - a triumph of experience over youth! The Andalusian can fly well, she likes to taunt Poppy and then fly away. She escaped in the trees. I f I get any more hens I shall get more Andalusians. She lays a really nice cream coloured egg almost every day. When Sara heard the commotion she went into the garden to find the fox had the younger Welsummer pinned against a fence. Sara had to kick the fox before it would release the hen. The hen was distressed but recovered fairly quickly. Poor old Walter was in a sorry state and it was clear thet he had fought the fox. He was very battered and could not lift his head, it just hung against his chest. I doubted he would survive the night, he was so sad that I was able to pick him up and put him in the nest box - he did not try to peck me or disembowel me with his talons so I knew he was really ill. It took him weeks to regain some confidence and even now he is shaky on his feet. My friend the local farmer who keeps selection of rare breed chickens thinks Walter may have suffered some nerve damage in the attack.
So now I have poor Walter and three hens and a serious dislike of foxes.
All local poultry keepers have had the same experience with foxes this year. Is it just coincidence that fox hunting stopped locally last year and we are all now suffering unheard of levels of fox damage by some very brave foxes? My friend with the rare breed stock has lost £1000 worth of stock to foxes this year so far.
3 comments:
Yes 'townies' just don't realise the devestation that foxes cause,
I lost some 20 bantams a few years ago when the foxes where teaching the cubs to hunt. They took the heads off the lot, but only took away about 4 of the bodies, they took the eggs aswell including the china eggs I had in the nest boxes.
Nickey.
you clearly have too much money if you are putting faberge eggs in the nest box to encourage laying.....or go for extremely false economies ;)
I understand that hunting still goes on, they just have to take along a hawk when they are doing it. The hunters can then say that they are out doing a bit of falconry, but just happened to come across a fox. I am not sure if this works for other illegal activities but I will investigate this.
Post a Comment