Missing Chickens

Milly33

Sounds a bit odd but I was wondering if anyone who has chickens has had any go missing lately..

My dad has always kept them and they are great, they do go wondering the odd time alrite but always come back in the morning but lately he was saying there are loads of them gone missing. They are locked in at night so it cant be a fox plus if he was around you would see feathers all over the shop, someone had mentioned that people are going around taking them anyone else here of something similiar

kingtut

Hi can't say I have heard of missing chickens, I have however heard of people losing their marbles, is this one of those occasions? :pac:

corkcomp

id say it sounds like a case of missing marbles alright :eek: if they are locked in at night surely they would ALL go missing if the door / hatch somehow became unlocked? In all honesty I doubt they are worthy of stealing, no roast chicken is worth all that mess + squalking :P

Milly33

Cheeky fecker they could be like prize chickens you never know....

I havent lots me marbles no well not that many of them...Honest people do things like this

Milly33

Haha him and corkcomp must be in it together

babychuckles

similiar experience here.
The fact that this has been the coldest period for a long time means that foxy loxy is starving and will take a hen/chicken in daylight.
In my case there were very few feathers and it was at 1pm and 415 pm when we saw foxy taking ours, one at atime. The fact that there were also dogs trespassing on our property could have accounted for a couple more but we certainly saw foxy take two.
what we are doing at the moment is feeding foxy at night so that she/he gets food and leaves the hens alone. We buy the tripe/beef/chicken dog logs from lidl for foxy and fingers xd the weather will improve soon so that she/he gets back to getting rabbits.
Its nature unfortunately and foxy needs to eat, and with the weather being so bad its upsetting that she/he has taken to our hens/chickens but hopefully this wont last for ever.

Milly33

Ahhh see I knew he wasnt mad or me. Sorry to hear your chickens are going, it is nice to hear that you are not chasign the fox with a gun or anything, some people can be so mean to them and sure as u say they are only surviving too.

babychuckles

I know what you mean: I was thinking the same thing when it was happening here.
As for shooting foxy I dont approve of killing any animal or bird unless it is to be eaten. And eventhough its not nice that the hens were killed it wont prove anything to kill the fox. Im the one thats providing the buffet!!
I have had hens for three years now and this is the first time that they have not died in their sleep. Honestly I will be upset if it happens again but when the weather turns good then the girls should be left alone. As you know it's nature and she's being very cold at the moment.

corkthai

same for me...mr fox took about 5 of them during the cold snap...
Then last week two went missing during the day...did not see them for 3 days and was sure the fox got them....I woke up in the morning to feed the rest and discovered the other two were back...they just went for a wander somewhere....

I have a high fence all around with no roof...and they just decide sometimes to fly out.... if i wake late in the morning 2 or 3 of them will be at the back door waiting for food..

kingtut

Looks like the chickens finally got their own back

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/chickens-peck-fox-to-death-in-britain/111025-2.html?from=tn

In a shocking incident, a British woman claims that a fox in her neighbourhood was killed by her chickens.

Michelle Cordell said that she found the dead fox covered in blood when she went to collect eggs on Saturday.

According to her, it was lying dead, next to a little side table she kept in the coop. Though Cordell didn't witness the attack, she thinks her chickens stunned the fox when they saw him coming in through the hatch and then finished him off by pecking him to death.

Bill-e

I'd love to have chickens! How many would you need to guarantee 2 or 3 eggs each morning?

kingtut

Bill-e wrote: »

I'd love to have chickens! How many would you need to guarantee 2 or 3 eggs each morning?

Well assuming you get the chickens at the 'point of lay' i.e. the age at which they are mature enough to lay eggs you will get one egg a day per chicken (on rare occasions they may actually produce two eggs, or an egg that has two yolks!).

As they get older they will start to lay eggs less frequently and eventually stop all together.

When they start laying eggs they will be small to start with.