That cheeky fox found the one loose board and took five of

That cheeky fox found the one loose board and took five of my flock

Oh, that *cheeky* fox.

October 7, 20263 min readchickens

That cheeky fox really did a number on ForsakenRepeat1902's flock, and we're here to say what everyone's thinking: this is the stuff of chicken-keeping nightmares, but it's also a cluck-tastic reminder that our feathered friends are tougher than we give them credit for. Five out of nine birds lost, with three vanishing without a single feather of evidence, that's the kind of fowl play that makes you want to reinforce every board in sight. We've all been there, staring at a coop we thought was Fort Knox, only to realize a determined predator sees it as a puzzle box. It reminds us of when we tried to figure out My hen's gone bald and I'm not egg-sactly sure why, sometimes the answer is hiding in plain sight, and sometimes it's a loose panel you never noticed.

The missing three are probably not coming back, and that stinks. But don't let that sour the egg-citing part of this story, four of those chickens escaped out the same hole the fox came in. That's not just luck; that's survival instinct. The one injured hen, with bleeding feathers but no tooth marks, might have fought back or simply been tossed aside in the chaos. Either way, she's alive, and that's worth celebrating. We've seen similar pluckiness before, like in My Ladies Have Swollen Ankles and I'm Totally Chickening Out, those hens didn't give up, and neither should this survivor. The practical takeaway here isn't just about reinforcing your hardware cloth (though ForsakenRepeat1902 already did that, with a buried skirt to boot). It's about accepting that predators are part of the game, and your flock's ability to adapt is what keeps the rest of them clucking.

For the rest of us, this is a wake-up call wrapped in a tragedy. Check your coop's weak spots today, not tomorrow, not after you've had your coffee. That loose board under the nesting boxes is the kind of detail we all overlook when we're busy admiring how cute our hens look. And if you're still worried about your own setup, take a page from Behaving Like a Hen, Looking Like a Rooster: I'm Stumped, sometimes what you think you see isn't the whole story. The question we're left with is simple: will you wait for a fox to find your one loose board, or will you find it first?

From chickens

Had my first fox break into the coop. I bought the coop and thought it was secure, there was hardwire cloth on the run and secured in-between two boards. But some how it managed to push it out of the frame. The hens were secured by a lock on the coop door. But the cheeky bastard found a loose panel underneath the nesting boxes. I lost 5 / 9 chickens. 4 of them managed to escape out the same way he came in, 1 of them injured in the back, no teeth bites, but pulled out bleeding feathers. 2 were…

When the dust hole tells a story you didn't want to hear

I sit outside with my chickens and have a pretty good relationship with them. They always run to me and let pick them up. Today I went inside for a quick second and I came outside to feathers everywhere, specifically in their dust hole. After investigating, I knew she was gone just by how many feathers there were, but I called my husband to help me find her. Found feathers across the street and followed them into the woods. Found 3 separate piles along a game trail, but no little Henrietta. I feel absolutely devastated. They are my little flock and Henrietta was the leader and always the first to run to me. I am pretty sure it was a fox because when I was in the woods across the street a realized there was a perfect view from the woodline and have seen a fox peering over the Ridgeline a couple times since. When they're not outside they have a coop and run inside of our garage. We're supposed to move them outside to an outdoor run, but I'm so scared this fox (strong assumptions because my neighbors have told me after the fact that a fox killed 19 of theirs in one day) is going to make it its personal mission to kill other girls, and my heart is broken over poor Henrietta. submitted by /u/WrenchJrNerd [link] [comments]

A feathered farewell and a hard lesson in fowl play.

Woke up this morning to feathers and blood. Somehow it pried open where the seam and wire mesh connect. Feel like I failed my bantams. submitted by /u/Honey_Suckle_Nectar [link] [comments]