Another 'good' fox

This morning there was another dead fox in Chicca's paddock, alongside the mobile hen house. This time there was no doubt who killed it because Chicca was in there on her own. Monte wouldn't go back in with the chooks last night, preferring to camp at the front door!

As you can see it was a miserable mangy specimen - but they can do a lot of damage if they get at the hens. Many of the foxes around here are badly affected by Sarcoptic Mange which is a problem for our dogs and we need to treat some of them every six months or so

'Fox' attack may have been a Tasmanian Devil

The 'fox' attack our hens suffered last Wednesday and Thursday nights may not have been a fox at all but a Tasmanian Devil which escaped from a local fauna park.

It was a male and was apparently on the loose for two weeks before it was run over and killed on the Bass Highway.

Altogether at least 26 of our hens were killed and the electranet fencing on the 'chosen' paddock was chewed in a few places.

It's not just the loss of the hens which has caused a problem, the others in the flock are traumatised and our overall production has dropped by almost 50 dozen eggs a week. Imagine the devastation if more of these escape and start breeding!!!! The link to the article is http://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/article/2009/03/27/65971_latest-news.html