3 Chooks have died

Sad news to report today. Three of our four chooks were killed by a fox last night. A' found two beheaded chooks in the pen this morning, (Blacky and Arky the Arakuna) with Marmalade completely gone, abliet a few feathers. A suspects she was taken off. Mrs Fatso - the head of the chooks lived to see another day. We can only assume a fox has gone into their nesting pen during the night and dragged them out one by one and didn't go back for Mrs Fatso. It's a strange feeling. Chook's aren't like dogs, where it would be devestating, but there is a sense of loss, and a sad feeling of the terror that the chooks would have suffered for a short while. I had tears in my eyes, but not a all out blubber. It's almost a feeling of this is what happens in the country and I need to get used to it. Having said that we will now be closing the pen gate (which we hadn't been doing) at night time now. The gate separates their pen to the run they spend the day in. A (and now I) really hate foxes, - they don't just take what they need - they also massacre everything else just for fun. We have been down to the local old guy who sells chooks and such (affectionately known as chookman sheepman to the locals.) He lives in this big old property at the deadend of a street nearby. His living quarters is an old caravan. There are chooks and duck running around everywhere. The story goes that he lived in a beautiful house which was burnt down by a rogue relative - and thus the insurance was void. So he now spends his days in this caravan, occasionally greeting locals who stop by to buy a chook. This morning we brought a replacement arakuna - but will wait to replace the others until later in the week.
I will post photos of the new chooks in the next few days as they arrive. (click here to read blogs about our old chooks)