Not All Sunshine And Roses

I get a huge amount of pleasure from my garden and it's produce but it can't always be sunshine and roses (even in Australia).  Last Sunday morning, I went out to feed the chickens as I do every morning, but that morning they didn't run down to meet me keen to see what treats I had brought for them that day.  Instead, I found three chicken carcasses with each head cleanly decapitated.  Something had got to my chooks in the night and that was the end of Daisy, Geraldine and Boris.

Here is how they were in happier times:

And the culprit? Well we have a security camera system around our house and in the early part of Sunday morning it captured this fox that must have wandered in from the bush.

I had thought that our area was fox free but a baiting program in the bush near our house has recently ended and maybe this little sod managed to get through.

So at least we know what happened to the girls and yes, it is now clear to me that foxes can climb 6 foot high walls.  So before we even think about getting any more chickens, I need to fox proof the entire run.  That will mean putting a wire roof over the top of the run (the walls were fox proof already).  I'll also put an internal cage with the nesting boxes which will be closed up every night once the new girls go to bed.

So rest in peace Daisy, Geraldine and Boris, you had two good years during which you kept us handsomely in eggs.  You also became part of the family and we miss your clucks in the morning and when we fed you.  You will be missed.