Daytime predator :( - Page 2

Can they get access to loose dirt to bury themselves in?  That's what my hens do on hot days - cover themselves in dirt

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvtim 

What kind of dog do you have that kills foxes?

Killed only one but has been trying to do it for some time.  German Short-haired Pointer is breed.  Any dog bigger than about 40 lbs could kill a fox.  Problems are having motivation and being able to catch varmint.  My dog caught fox that was focused on something else and almost caught another last summer that was focued on one of my stags like they do when fox will chase something between your legs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicole01 

This is from a fox right? It's one of 3 piles of feathers. It left no other remains.
I looked for the fox coming up empty handed. The dogs pick up the scent, but once it reaches the swamp, they pic up nothing.

I literally cry each time I see this.

Based on your location, it could easily be any of the following: red fox, grey fox, coyote or even bobcat.  All can take catch to another location for consumption / processing.  Even some dogs and wolf could do same.

I'm sorry for your loss.  I am hearing so much about fox attacks lately, or perhaps I am just more attuned to them after my experience a couple of weeks ago.  On the 4th of July, a fox decimated my flock, killing 14 birds in less than an hour.  At the time I didn't know what did it and fox didn't occur to me because it was broad daylight and I think of them as a nocturnal predator (my coop is Fort Knox at night).  I caught it the next day after it had already got two more - and that's when I was being vigilant and not leaving them alone for more than minutes at a time.  I can share with you what I learned in no particular order:

• Foxes hunt during the day
• A fox will climb a fence.  I watched it climb my 5' welded wire fence like it was a ladder
• Foxes are wily.  Hmmm....maybe that's where the expression "cunning as a fox" comes from.  After the second attack, I didn't go back inside.  I sat at the coop in a lawnchair, while DH went and fetched me my .22.  Fortunately I was downwind of him and he couldn't smell me.  I watched him watch the house.  When DH went in, he advanced.  When DH came back out, he retreated - silently and very stealthily, into our tree hedgerow.  While I was going in and out to keep an eye on the flock, he stayed hidden.  When he was still, he was practically invisible. 
• A .22 is the best way to catch them.  Get one and learn to use it.  I have never shot at anything but a paper target before, but am glad I had the training as I was able to put one clean through the head, killing it instantly (I didn't want to see it suffer, despite my losses; it was only trying to survive too).  If you trap it, what are you going to do with it then?  Releasing it elsewhere is only passing your problem onto someone else.
• A fox will take the electric shock to bypass a hot fence.  A good friend of mine lost 5 two nights ago, and her fence is hotwired and the connection was active.  She tested it personally - twice - after the attack.  She can see where the fox dug under, and then went back out, presumably carrying some of his prey.  He would have been shocked both times but he was hungry enough it didn't stop him.
• A fox will kill many birds indiscriminately.  According to my research afterward, they will bury what they can't eat immediately, to be dug up for a future meal.

I have added an LGD layer of protection to my property, just in the last week.  She is settling in beautifully and I have high hopes that predator losses will be minimal going forward.  I am fortunate that adding another dog was an option, since we also already have two but have no restrictions where we currently live.  Where I lived before, the limit was two but you could have four if you got a permit from the city.  Perhaps you can look into the option of a special use permit to get a third dog?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicole01 

I do know foxes will climb, but I wonder what the likelihood of it when our flock is near the road and house.

Based on my experience, I would say VERY likely.  My chicken yard is close to my house.  I watched the fox come and go when DH was walking around, and he wasn't more than about 50' away.  The fox just stayed very still and blended into the background, becoming almost invisible.

I had the same reservations about the dog - the care and feeding.  In the end, I decided it was worth it for the investment I have in my coop and birds. 

If your current dogs are out, that will go a long way to keeping the fox at bay (although my two dogs were both outside at the time of both attacks (they are outside dogs), and not only did their presence not deter the fox, but they didn't chase it away either, and that surprises me because one of my dogs will chase anything.  It was the hot part of the day, and they were up by the house lying in the cool spots they've excavated next to it, but even so, I'm really surprised they let this happen without either sounding the alert or taking chase.  I'm thinking he was so stealthy they weren't even aware of him, but if you knew one of my dogs, you'd know how big a surprise that is.)  As long as you are confident your dogs won't themselves be a threat to the flock?

Good luck and hope you get him soon because as everyone says, once he knows you're there, he will be back.