Fox Killed all my Golden Polish

[eldorado]

Had a fox wipe out all my Golden Polish

Any ideas on how I can stop or catch him??

Thanks


joe
http://www.poultrybid.com

 

[Kitty&Eva]

ohh, i'm so sorry. lost our two americaunas last week too.

 

[chicknmania]

You don't say how you're set up as far as housing, or what birds you have left, but here's some things we've tried that may help. They seem to in our case, but we can't really be for sure if it's that or just coincidence. In our case we have a problem with skunks (primarily) and possums. We have found that playing a radio softly at night seems to help; preferably a station with a lot of actual conversation. We also leave a low light on ; enough to discourage a predator, but allows the birds to sleep, but also to provide enough light for our birds to see what's going on in the event a predator comes in; they can stay away from it easier if they can see, obviously. This is a no-brainer, but we try to secure the barn as much as possible every night....including checking for holes where something may have dug under the walls, etc. This is a real pain, as we have a large pole barn. We take our dogs out to the barn last thing at night before we go to bed, and go all the way around the barn with them, so it leaves a dog scent trail, as they relieve themselves, and just by walking in the damp grass. In most cases, our birds have the ability to roost high, which helps, of course. We got hit a week ago and lost two birds and a bunch of ready-to-hatch eggs. Since then we have used these tactics, and have not had any problems, except. we haven't done the dog thing for the past two nights and, last night, or early this morning, we know a skunk was around the barn again. No damage though. We have six birds among our 43 remaining chickens who refuse to roost in the barn since the last attack; our solution was to let them roost in our garage, then carry them to the barn when they are sleepy and secure them in an elevated, predator-proof pen; this works, but what a hassle.

 

[momof3]

I'm so sorry to hear you lost them. I have some and think they are so beautiful.

We had something taking our ducks and some chickens. What we did is put human hair around the perimeter. We also shut all our chickens up at night. The ducks have been moved into the chicken pen but do not go into the building at night. Also we let our dog run loose at night. I let him run several nights in a row. Now I do it on different days. We haven't lost anymore ducks since we started doing all this. I'm sure others have more ideas also.

 

[Blondie]

SSS

 

[chrissieg]

I've tried the hair trick to, but understand it has to be unwashed to carry the human smell. I've also been told that male urine also acts as i deterrent and get funny looks when I refuse men permission to use the loo, and point them towards the chickens!
(mind if they jump up

)

 

[MarkR]

Gentlemen, it's time to step up the plate, so to speak. We must consume quantities of cheap American beer and do our duty to protect our flocks. I'd say, I only drink good beer, but this is a case (heh heh heh) for quantity over quality.

Mark

 

[hencackle]

FoxTrapperSteph posted a way of trapping foxes on the ezboard.
http://p072.ezboard.com/The-HAY-SET...rdchickensfrm7.showMessage?topicID=1216.topic
Stephanie

 

[foxtrapper]

Well, you've certainly not given enough information for us to really help you.

Generically, keep your birds secure. It's far easier and cheaper to keep a fox out than to eliminate foxes from your area. Secure fencing on the runs so they can't easily get in, and electric fencing to hurt them when they try.

Otherwise, it's trapping or hunting. Both are a bit difficult and time consuming.

 

[TJ]

Hello, so sorry to hear about your Polish. I too have several Polish hens and a rooster and I love their look and personalities ~ the rooster is going on 6 weeks old and is trying on his "big rooster pants" and I don't know how to tell him that in several months he's not going to be able to see more than his feet and that he might as well let the other rooster take the throne... ~;>

I must ask, is your chicken house secure?
Are your poultry locked in at night?
Is the run secure and is the wire buried under ground around the perimeter of the run?
Is your run covered? (I know a fox can't fly but hawks and owls can and are natural predators of poultry)...
Do you allow your poultry to freerange and attend to them when they do so?

If you answered "yes" to all of the above questions and the fox has still managed to gain access to your flock then your only alternative may be to trap or shoot the fox. I would do what is necessary to ensure the safety of my flock (i.e. secure housing, covered run, etc...) and use the killing of the natural and wild predator as my last and only alternative... But I would like to add that I have done and do all of the above that I listed and I can say that I haven't lost a chicken in years!

This is just my humble opinion and I wish you the best!

Again, sorry for your loss...

TJ