There's good news and bad news...

Those damn foxes! Sorry to hear about that. The ducks are gorgeous. Your new chucks seem to have settled in well. Great blog.

Oh how utterly gorgeous! Fluffy babies!
Lovely photos and sorry to hear about your 'girlies' it's so sad when it happens :(

Welcome back Karen. Sorry to hear your news but love the new babies.
I have just got some chooks & had my first egg today!

I think I will invest in a shot Gun if the foxy comes near mine :-)

I'm SO pleased to see you back. Beautiful mademoiselles les canetons!

Thanks Lijem, I'm not sure if it was a fox or a stone marten...but either way...it was just carnage for no reason. Very upsetting.
But, I can't imagine life without girlies now...they're comical and productive (hopefully!) :)

Hi Lulu! Who can resist fluffy babies like these? (including wild things - the cage is everything-proof, I hope, fingers crossed).
How are you and your menagerie? x

Thanks Willi! It's nice to be back!
Isn't having chooks great? And didn't that egg just taste fantastic? :)
Mine like spaghetti...I also like giving them spaghetti...several minutes of fun and games! lol!
What sort of girlies have you got?
The strange thing is...nobody (including the two demented dogs) heard a thing that night...my bet is on the marten...

Hi Gatti! I'm SO pleased to be back! I've missed you! Com est ai, Gianna, cara? (unforgivable spelling, I know...but you know what I mean!) x

Glad to see you back Karen. Sorry you had to come home to that awful scene. I have not kept chooks since I was a child but have never forgotten how great it was, as each had a personality and the fresh taste of their eggs. Love ducks, they look so cuddly.

I've got a light sussex, Black rock & 2 red blacktails.
I just luv em!

Hi D! Glad to see you too! :)

You are so right! I can remember every single chicken I've had over the last nine years. Each has her own way...they are all kind of like Victorian Ladies to me. I know that probably sounds a bit mad...but they're in crinolines and bloomers...and, sometimes, they behave badly! lol!!!
...and you don't realise about the eggs...until you've had them... :))

Nice to see you again Karen, lovely ducklings i had one when i was younger, sorry to hear about your girls, they are devils those foxes,,,

Ooh, Willi! Once you've got them, your hooked! :)))
I don't know anything about black rocks or red blacktails...only came to keep chooks in France and not available here...but, I'm going to "google"!

I've got a Sussex now...and I used to have two Orpingtons. One of them was the tamest bird you could imagine. I miss her loads...even though she turned out to be "him" in the end... :))
(Seems to be the story of my life! lol!! :D)

Hi W! Nice to see you again too! :))

It's nature...not always nice, is it? But, it is nature :(

I just hope Mr. Reynard and Mme Fouine are thwarted in their efforts now!

Hi Karen, lovely to see you back and also to see your new babies. must ask, as can't possibly guess. What does your OH do, that keeps him travelling like that? Jx

Hi Karen,
How awful to find your poor girlies like that. I get mad when the foxes dig up my lawn or pee on it. Your new babies are gorgeous!

Welcome back K :)))))))))))
Fantastic pics! Love the wee duckies..and Jack and Terry lol. Hope you arent going to stuff them and put them on the wall like Hilda! heheh
SOrry bout the girls :(((((((((

Oh,Goody,Karen..funtime again,I hope..so nice to hear from you..thought you had got stuck in Jane's Jacuzzi..and she was keeping it quiet Lol.
Sorry to hear about your girlies..that is so sad..but your new ones look gorgeous..hope they live a long and happy life..great to have you back :o) x

Welcome back Karen - sorry about the horrid news of the animal that got in - such cute pictures :-)))))

Welcome back. Sorry to hear about your poor girls. I like the new ones especially those fluffy delights. You seem to have been away an awfully long time so I hope you had fun with all your visitors.

What a dreadful thing to happen to your 'girlies'; it must have been devastating. Your new ducklings are gorgeous. Good luck with them and welcome back too.

Nice to see you again! No wonder you've not been around - you're up to your eyes in feathers! So sorry to hear of the devastation and hope everything is Reynard-proof now? :o)

Hi Jane! Lovely to see you too! OH is an oily...with itchy feet! He was home for over 6 weeks - it's the longest time we've spent together ever...I'm exhausted! lol! ;) x

Hi Linda! I've heard that foxes are diggers. Luckily, the pen is on old foundations so they can't get under, no matter how hard they try. Do they keep coming back? If so, I think I'll get a gun! :) x

Hi Pixi! Thanks hen! How are you??? :)))))))
They're too cute for wall decorations! lol!
Mind you...if they all turn out to be boys...it might be another story! ;))) x

Hi Bloomer! How are you??? :)))))))
It's lovely to be back! I don't know where the time has gone this summer! But, I could do with a wee break at a spa now...
Hmm...maybe I could do something with the duckpond (old sink)...lol! :) x

Hi Paul! And thanks! I'm hoping that keeping the cuties on the porch will also make them very tame :)))) x

Hi Sg and thank you! It feels as though I've been away for ages...I don't think I've ever had such a busy summer. And it's not over yet, as my daughter and grandson arrive next week - for almost a month...and I think I'm exhausted now! lol! :) x

Hi TB and thank you too! I can't describe how it feels to find such devastion... I'm glad that my OH was there at the time and dealt with it all. I'm being very careful to shut them in at night now. Unfortunately, with it being so warm, they don't want to go in...it must be quite amusing to watch me "herding" them around the pen with a big stick every evening... :))

Hi Nariz! Nice to see you too! I've done my best...short of netting the whole pen...which I might do next...
...or, relocate to Spain! We had a taste of your lovely life in the mountains around Pamplona...not the same mountains, I know, but so beautiful. And such lovely people. I'm very envious! Mind you, I'd have to deal with bears as well there...lol!:)) x

Hi Karen - nice to see you back. You have had a busy time!! Love the ducklings - so beautiful. So sorry about your hens, though. It must have been a horrible thing to find. The hen house is tres chic!

;)

....... and wolves! And wild boar! Not to mention the village dogs who live only to tear every car tyre to shreds!

Hi Mel! Thank you, so much. It's now day three with the ducklings on the porch...very cute...but hoping they grow fast and can move into Maison Poules quite soon. The heat is intensifying the unmistakeable odour of "eau de duck"...they poop constantly! lol! :)))

Oh, Nariz...you're shattering my illusions! Still, I suppose there's always a downside...lol! :)))

There has to be one somewhere .... Um? ........ Oh! ...... no, not that ........ eeerrrrrrr? .......... Ah! There's ....... no, not really ......... um ............ No! Can't think of anything! ;o)

LOL, Nariz! See!!
A few bears, wild boar (we've got them too...but they're like buses...), village dogs...

...minor problems! lol!

The dream is still alive! Yay!! ;)))

Yay indeed!!!!!! :o)))))))

Me and the menagerie, they are following me around like lost kittens and also, they didn't help me dig my new pond!

Lovely new girlies and duckies Karen. I was always anti-hunt, but when the fox got my two girls I'd have donned hunting pink on the dot ...as you say ...devastating. Mind you, if the fox had looked at me with its little face, I'd have been helpless. As you say, it's nature, but so terrible. I hope your new shy girlie settles in soon, with telle une belle maison neuve how could she not:-)

What do you mean, they didn't help dig, Lulu?!
Mine dig...everywhere!! They also help to make sure that anything I plant is shredded in the process...so maybe that was a good thing...? :/

Aye...me too, Ba...about donning the pink and the fox's eyes...but, the giant dormouse challenged all of that...and, I'm thinking about getting a gun...
...not that I'd know how to use it (actually that's not quite true)...but, I'd never be awake when the trouble arises...

The ducklings are still on the porch...they're still cute, yellow and fluffy...

...and quite tame! Not sure whether that's good or bad...they smell of duck!!!

Doormouse?:-)

So glad to see you back Karen! :D xx

Pleased to see you back Karen, it seems you have been having a busy old time of late, sorry to hear of your troubles, the new ones are delightful, hoping your new measures are successful in keeping all of them safe...