Thursday night before the Easter weekend, about 20 minutes before I went out to lock up the chooks, a bloody fox got in and killed the lot.

I went out there a bit later than usual and the dogs next door and two doors down were going berserk. I found two, still warm, bodies inside the coop and another two near the hole under the fence where the mongrel animal got in. There was no sign of the fifth chook and presumably the fox carried it off.

Apparently it’s been hanging around since Australia Day and was seen raiding the table at the BBQ when everybody was inside. I should’ve been more vigilant but I wasn’t and without a dog now it was much more likely to happen. Now, three of the chooks were quite old and destined for the pot anyway but that’s not the point. We should have had the place more secure and I’m changing the layout of the enclosure to help prevent any problems in the future. In the meantime, I had to source some replacements.

The place I normally go just up the road is convenient but a a tiny bit more expensive at around $20 per point of lay birds but they didn’t have any and wouldn’t for a few weeks. For some reason it is getting harder and harder to source birds locally for a reasonable price. Another place near Mansfield was a possibility, particularly since a mate was up that way and coming back on the weekend.  But they told me they no longer do Gate sales and the next delivery into the local area wasn’t until next Friday! I finally found a place in Bacchus Marsh that had Isa Browns for $18 each. So, up I went yesterday afternoon and had a good chat with the owner Mark, about birds, bees and life in general. I got six brand new chooks for $110 plus around $8 for fuel there and back. All in all a good result.

I checked the birds today and realised that the automatic waterer is broken so that’s another job, but the chooks are healthy and settling in fine. To top it off, imagine my surprise when I found six eggs in the nesting box. You ripper! Very happy with the outcome now.

So here are the new girls in their new home and lets hope we have many years of productive association. I’m still working out how to deal permanently with that fox. There’s still a bounty on them and I’d love to collect.