Some sad news to report. Last year we got 5 blacktail chicks and we raised them as part of our annual stock replenishment. They started laying earlier this year and were pumping out eggs at a prolific rate. Instead of roosting in the henhouse, they adopted the small shed in the duck run. As the run was netted off each evening, the hens and ducks were safe from the foxes. Except they weren't. A fox found a small hole in the netting on Monday and killed four of the five hens. One got away. I found her in the goat house in the morning. The fox chewed off the heads of the hens but left the bodies. The same fox also got into the chicken run on the neighbouring allotment on the same night and killed all 8 of the chickens.
This loss is significant as it will put a noticeable dent in our egg production. We will have to replace them with point of lay birds which will be expensive.
The dead birds were brought back to the house. They cannot be wasted. As they were killed by a fox rather than died of illness, we could pluck and gut them and use the meat.
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