A salutary tale.

In my delight and distraction that my daughter was coming home from University for the weekend at very short notice on Friday I totally forgot to close up my hens and ducks. Mr. Fox came a calling. He had the whole night to decimate my small flock of about 50 birds. He took approx 24 hens and ducks but left me the body of my gloriously beautiful Welsummer cockerel as I think his body was just too heavy to get over the fences. I was greeted by the remainder of the flock cowering in the hen houses, up trees and behind bushes. Poor, poor things. They lived through the carnage in the dark (hens and ducks don't see well in the dark worse than we do). I have kept hens for roughly 18 years now and have forgotten to shut the hens away for the night 4 times over that time. Each and every time the fox has been. When it snows I can always see his footprints going from one house to the next, just checking and I'm certain he checks each night. Just like a terrorist he only needs to be lucky once. So people, learn from my terrible mistake. I feel just awful about my slipped memory. These birds were in my care and I let them (fatally) down.

Orchardlady

Orchardlady - I am so sorry to hear what happened to you. It could happen to any of us - my OH actually saw a Fox take one of his favourite banty hens in broad daylight. I am sure many of us have  forgotten on occasions to lock up our hens and you should not be too hard on yourself.

so sorry but this is so easy done and most of us will have forgotten to lock up on at least one occasion 

Sorry to hear that Orchardlady, couldn't get to lock one of our coups last week & lost 4 fine cockerals (luckily he didn't discover the 10 birds in the coup beside it)