Will a dog help deter a fox attack? What type?

Cajunchick3 said:

I've been battling foxes. I have a boarder collie whose good with chicks but is somewhat disabled so no help as a predator deterrent. I'm looking at a Great Pyraneese this weekend whose grown up guarding flocks and goats. GPs unlike BCs like to be out alone guarding constantly and even though large their food intake is minimal due to their metabolism. I don't have a fence so I'll have to see if she stays or try perimeter fencing. I've heard they have high pain tolerance and sometimes ignore the shock though. Each dog is different even among breeds.

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Why is it we all seem to be getting fox attacks now? You, me, and another LA poster all losing birds to foxes. I have 5 dogs. 3 Bassett Hounds, A pit bull/lab mix, and a full blooded pit bull. They have chased off all the possums, raccoons, and everything else from our property, but I've lost 4 hens this week. Right now they have a squirrel carcass and a rabbit carcass in the field, so I know they are still chasing and killing things. Every afternoon they go nuts about 5pm and run into the woods. They chase and bark for half an hour but come back empty handed. When the chickens return to the coop every night, we are missing another one. The chickens free range over about 6 cleared acres but we are surrounded by 100's of acres of trees. There's no way I could track it down. We are calling in a trapper to see if he can help us. I think we are also going to have to stop free ranging for a while. I hate to lock them up, but I hate to lose them too.

Dmontgomery said:

Why is it we all seem to be getting fox attacks now? You, me, and another LA poster all losing birds to foxes. I have 5 dogs. 3 Bassett Hounds, A pit bull/lab mix, and a full blooded pit bull. They have chased off all the possums, raccoons, and everything else from our property, but I've lost 4 hens this week. Right now they have a squirrel carcass and a rabbit carcass in the field, so I know they are still chasing and killing things. Every afternoon they go nuts about 5pm and run into the woods. They chase and bark for half an hour but come back empty handed. When the chickens return to the coop every night, we are missing another one. The chickens free range over about 6 cleared acres but we are surrounded by 100's of acres of trees. There's no way I could track it down. We are calling in a trapper to see if he can help us. I think we are also going to have to stop free ranging for a while. I hate to lock them up, but I hate to lose them too.

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Work on tightening your flocks fee-ranging habits to shorten time dogs need to get to threat. Six acres to too big of an area to defend when all dogs lounging near home when fox attacks. It can be a real problem if fox conducts a snatch and grab then uses either distance or a fence to stop dogs from chasing after it. When my dogs are effective against fox they do very little barking, rather they run fast and quite and usually so that only one comes up on fox directly, while the other dog runs parallel or even attempts to loop around to catch fox when it tries to evade first dog. Also most dogs can run faster than a fox burdened with a chicken.

Kills and near kills on foxes here usually before fox actually catches a chicken. Work on making so dogs are in game before birds contacted. Basset Hounds will have a lack of speed issue. Pit Bulls and Labs are not what I would expect to be good pursuit dogs either but you can work with their smarts to compensate.

To make job easier for my dogs I put up strips of hotwire that dogs can beat. The hotwire distracts fox and other predator slowing their hunting chickens and creates a funnel dogs can learn to take advantage of.

We are at work for long hours and have a plethora of hungry predators, so we have livestock guardian dogs (LGDs) to help keep our animals safe. Many years ago we had Great Pyrenees x Antolian Shepard mixes that were excellent guardians. We currently have full blooded Great Pyrenees dogs. Both breeds, and crosses, are dedicated to their flocks and we would recommend them to anyone looking into LGDs.

We have all types of predators in our area including, but not limited to, weasels, skunks, opossums, raccoons, hawks, owls, eagles, bob cats, foxes, coyotes and even mountain lions. Plus there are a lot of feral and stray dogs and cats in the area. All of which can decimate a flock in no time. We have a variety of critters on our farm, that are our pets as we strive for show quality animals. We have free range chickens, guineas, ducks-including 14 colors of call ducks, Katahdin hair sheep, miniature horses and quarter horses.

Our farms are fenced and we have built "fort knox" type pens, sparing no expenses. But even still, the predators are still attracted to what they hope will be an easy meal. The LGDs we've added over the years have definitely cut down on our losses. They give us an extra piece of mind that our animals have their own personal "security" working 24 x 7 for them.

Hope you find the solution that best suits your needs. Good luck & enjoy your birds.

PINOAK RIDGE
SQ & HEBQ. Call ducks in: Apricot Silver, Aztec Blue, Black, Blue, Blue Fawn, Buff, Butterscotch, Chocolate, Grey, Khaki, Pastel, Snowy, Silver & White.
Black East Indies, Miniature Silver Appleyards and Silver Mallards

My lil duck died of her wounds 6 days later. I'm using her as bait now for a foot trap, poor thing but fitting justice of it works. I just brought home a seasoned Great Pyranees who is still adjusting so birds stay in coop till I'm home.
I believe foxes leave their dens in the fall and are more active as well in spring time with pups. Maybe all that rain in La this year drowned their normal prey...not, but I wonder too. I've never had issues with foxes before only other animals.

We've had very good experiences with mature German Shepherd females for LGDs. We talk to GSD rescue groups about temperament desired and get to "try out" the suggested dogs for a few weeks. Have gotten a wonderful dog that meets our needs every time. Our adopted girls were spayed, 3-4 yrs old, and immediately showed respect for the flock.

Those breeds are much too aggressive for a nervous new dog owner, let's be real here. You have to be a very strong pack leader for those types. She needs a border collie, great hearding protection dogs or a Great Pyrenees great guard dogs and friendly.Start with a puppy so you will bond quickly. training is not hard you just have to be consistent.

centrarchid said:

Work on tightening your flocks fee-ranging habits to shorten time dogs need to get to threat. Six acres to too big of an area to defend when all dogs lounging near home when fox attacks. It can be a real problem if fox conducts a snatch and grab then uses either distance or a fence to stop dogs from chasing after it. When my dogs are effective against fox they do very little barking, rather they run fast and quite and usually so that only one comes up on fox directly, while the other dog runs parallel or even attempts to loop around to catch fox when it tries to evade first dog. Also most dogs can run faster than a fox burdened with a chicken.

Kills and near kills on foxes here usually before fox actually catches a chicken. Work on making so dogs are in game before birds contacted. Basset Hounds will have a lack of speed issue. Pit Bulls and Labs are not what I would expect to be good pursuit dogs either but you can work with their smarts to compensate.

To make job easier for my dogs I put up strips of hotwire that dogs can beat. The hotwire distracts fox and other predator slowing their hunting chickens and creates a funnel dogs can learn to take advantage of.

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Yeah. I know the Hounds can't actually catch anything, but once they start tracking a scent they usually don't give up. I figured they could lead the lab and pit to a den somewhere and end the threat.
What I'm thinking of is this. Locking all the chickens up for a few days, no more free ranging. Will that possibly draw the fox out in the open? All the losses are happening at the tree line, under cover. Usually around 4-6pm. If we can get it out in the open area, we can kill it. Will a fox give up after a few days and move on? The trapper is coming this weekend to look over the situation and see if he can help.

The reason you get fox attacks now is that it's coming into winter. And shortly they will be pairing up. That's what it's like in the UK anyway, whether it's the same for you or not I don't know. But throughout winter fox attacks are more common as the are fattening up and getting there cubs food and training them. Most dogs will defend your area. We have 3 labs and if a fox is in the garden they chase it off and bark for ages. If you can find its den a good strong terrier will go down and sort him out. But in the meanwhile until you catch the fox try putting a radio in the area that generally keeps them away. I've heard that geese and guinea fowl are good at alerting the flock to predators I've never had them but apparently they keep the foxes away. Hope you get him soon!
G

The reason I see more fox attacks now is the young animals have already dispersed and their abundance is relatively high. Young animals float between established territories where the landscape is more thoroughly explored. As the season progress mortality of foxes will lower population to the annual low that occurs in spring just before next generation of kits are born. During the same interval the young foxes will settle into either establish their territory or stay back as helpers for an existing pair. Some may continue to float.