Two nights ago something got into the chicken tractor and wiped out 44 cornish cross chicks and 7 turkeys. I got it on camera last night.
Oh, that's sad. Not able to like that at all. Will you be able to replace the chickens and get rid of the foxes?
These were meat chickens so we won't replace them on this round. They were 3 weeks old...they go in the freezer at 8 weeks. We might end up having to do one more small batch. We'll replace the turkeys though and just let the 3 that we have left go a few extra weeks. I can't remember for sure, but I think the turkeys take 22 weeks or something. As for the fox, that's going to be tough. We have too many pets roaming the neighborhood to set any traps or put out bait. Might be a good excuse to get a can for .22 though .
Freeze the (some of) dead ones. Use them as bait and keep the 22 and a lawn chair in a nice dark corner pointed in a safe direction. I'd also snare his previous access point. That dude will be back.
Ouch! Can't like that... at least you know what your up against... now it's time to develop a game plan.... Good Luck
We didn't lose that many a few years ago (we didn't have nearly that many), but man it ticked me off. Turned out it was a coon, that didn't survive.
A live trap should work if you are concerned about pets. If it catches a pet, no harm done. However, it can be tough getting fox because of their extremely strong smell; they are able to detect the slightest human scent on any trap.
About 40 years ago my Dad shot at a fox that had been chasing the cats. He missed it and the next night the fox came back and pizzed on the front porch. Be careful out there! Gary
Hopefully your problem goes to the same place one of ours did this morning. This one and her mate have been harassing ours dogs for too long.
Good luck trying to outfox the fox. That one has crossed the line and has to go. Years ago, when I had birds, it was a coon that went about pulling the heads off the birds. Do you have dogs? A couple of dogs watching your birds should help.
