[pepsi100]

could well be the fox and it might have tried to take the carcasses and failed, poss due to cockerel. Chickens themselves might well have tried to eat the carcasses.

Hens can and do cannibalise other dead hens, cute little dinosaurs tho' ain't they !

when there werent as many rules, we used to give them the turkey carcass to eat, never left a thing, but that was cooked meat, I didnt think they would tuck in to a former nest mate though and raw 

[grinling]

I've seen that happen by someone who was not so good at feeding her chooks. If eating poisoned rats then the fox is more desperate for food and in an urban area could cause a threat to small animals and children It might be worthwhile informing the council, the fox would be trapped and shot.

[pepsi100]

We think they know about it, as rentokil do a weekly report, but I cant see a fox going hungery, too much in the food bins (i have mentioned these before)

The council refuse to cull foxes on the grounds another fox will just move in to the vacant territory

[8doubles]

I've seen that happen by someone who was not so good at feeding her chooks. If eating poisoned rats then the fox is more desperate for food and in an urban area could cause a threat to small animals and children It might be worthwhile informing the council, the fox would be trapped and shot.

If the rats are getting through 5 kilos of bait every two days there is not a food shortage in the area and a poisoned rat is a very easy meal for a fox who will not know the reason why !
Given the amount of rats there must be to get through that amount of poison bait i expect they ate the hen after it died!

Be very wary off areas that may be contaminated with rat urine as a few nasty diseases it can contain are bad news!

It's hard for a hen keeper to say but given the choice of a fox or two or hundreds of rats give me the fox every time !

Those who take the `nature will sort it out' stance are way off track as far as rats are concerned.

[pepsi100]

I dont know what is getting through that amount of poison, either some rats are immune to it and its just younger rats that are dying by eating it, it seems a lot of poison to me, but rentokil dont seem bothered by it

I know people dont let their dogs off a lead because of the poisons that are about, maybe the foxes are getting into the bins, but I havent seen any dead foxes that might have eaten it

I wouldnt know where rats pee, its not as if they leave any sign

I was told when a fox eats a rat, its just the back end, which does seem right, but again I thought rats went off and died on their own

Even I have rat bins, they have covered poison in them, but its rare it gets eaten (usually the slugs get to it after a week or so)

[8doubles]

I dont know what is getting through that amount of poison, either some rats are immune to it and its just younger rats that are dying by eating it, it seems a lot of poison to me, but rentokil dont seem bothered by it

I know people dont let their dogs off a lead because of the poisons that are about, maybe the foxes are getting into the bins, but I havent seen any dead foxes that might have eaten it

I wouldnt know where rats pee, its not as if they leave any sign

I was told when a fox eats a rat, its just the back end, which does seem right, but again I thought rats went off and died on their own

Even I have rat bins, they have covered poison in them, but its rare it gets eaten (usually the slugs get to it after a week or so)

I think how much of a rat gets eaten depends on how hungry the fox is !

Rats do leave signs if you look hard, they normally keep to cover so will be close to buildings or hedges. Stand back and look for a line in the grass or a slightly darker or polished line across hard or plant free surfaces.Rat poop is easyier to spot! 

A single rat may not leave much sign but lots of rats using the same trail every night will .

[pepsi100]

Would rat poison kill foxes ?

If a fox eats a dead poisoned rat, whould the fox suffer any affects ?

When I was out this morning I saw a fox eating a rat that had been killed in a trap, shot off as soon as it saw me 

[8doubles]

Would rat poison kill foxes ?

If a fox eats a dead poisoned rat, whould the fox suffer any affects ?

When I was out this morning I saw a fox eating a rat that had been killed in a trap, shot off as soon as it saw me 

No idea if second hand poison will kill a fox, it might just make it ill !
Not sure if the fox could build up a tolerance to the poison , or whether the fox would just learn not to eat rats !

That would be a traversty in pest control !

[pepsi100]

Oh, I was kinda hoping, 2 with one go 
The rat eats the poison, the fox eats the rat, hey presto, both pests are gone 

Maybe I should get these poisoned rats, put them in the garden and the fox might learn to stay out 

[Redgoat]

Reading my grandfather's diaries from the late50's/early 60's recently and he wrote about a problem with rats killing hens in the hen house.

His 'ingenious' solution was to build a deep litter in the disused hay loft above the stable. It must have worked as I do recall going up to see the hens in the loft when i was very young in the 1970's.

[Sassy]

I don't think a fox would learn not to go and eat somewhere that made it ill. It would depend on which poison is involved as they can act differently in different animals. Certainly there have been cases of dogs being ill and worse having eaten a dead poisoned rat.

[pepsi100]

I think I have found what ate the chickens (Still not surewhat did kill them though)

I took up the slabs in the run yesterday, underneath was a hollow with 4 rats and a nest with about a dozen young in it, I killed the rats with the garden fork I was using, derowned the youngs in a bucket of water

The hollow under the slabs was big, but I never found any sign of a way in or out, there has to have been one or two

I never saw any sign of rats in the run, the hens never kicked up if they were in the run

Maybe it was them, I dunno, but they arent there now, put down mesh around the slabs now and covered them with soil and bark

A case of wait and see if they return

[joyfull]

rats are very good diggers, the rule is to put mesh either 18 inches out from the sides of the run or 18 inches down into the ground, I did that and they still got into my run making very big and long tunnels so the entrance into this run could be a couple of yards away.

[grinling]

any moles?

which bark as it can go mouldy.

[pepsi100]

nope, no moles, just a rats nest

The area is under cover, so the bark doesnt get mouldy

I put the mesh about 6 inches below ground level then covered it with soil, which is now very soft and crumbly, not very good for tunneling

As it is their run, I turn it over every week, after I have done my own (they are prety much the same) I use a Mantis rotovator (but I wont be doing the area where the mesh is, I will check under the paving slab in a months time)