Fox problem

[bdfive]

FarmerTony, Thanks much for the chuckle, LOL!! Love your last post (post #160). You say it like it is and don't try to candy coat the facts and actions needed to protect your birds. Like I posted earlier, I can't put down Fox or Ringtail Cats and probably wouldn't a Bobcat if I got lucky enough to live trap one. Only say that because my aviaries are built like forts therefore impenetrable. Turned both of these loose.

 

[roosterhavoc]

FarmerTony, Thanks much for the chuckle, LOL!! Love your last post (post #160). You say it like it is and don't try to candy coat the facts and actions needed to protect your birds. Like I posted earlier, I can't put down Fox or Ringtail Cats and probably wouldn't a Bobcat if I got lucky enough to live trap one. Only say that because my aviaries are built like forts therefore impenetrable. Turned both of these loose. View attachment 1704646

We’re either of those animals actually coming after your chickens or did you just set the cages and catch them.

 

[bdfive]

We’re either of those animals actually coming after your chickens or did you just set the cages and catch them.

They were both caught outside the peacock, pheasant and swan aviaries which they can't get into so turned them loose where I caught them. If fox and ringtail cats can't easily make entry they leave however raccoons come with buddies and tear at pens for hours. Here is picture of 3 coons caught all in one night just outside the aviaries. They were dealt with differently.

 

[bdfive]

Want to say it makes me feel bad to dispatch some predators but anyone having animals has a duty to care for and protect those animals. I wish I could let my birds free range but predators have become so bad we've spent a fortune building nice large comfortable pens for birds. We can't have preds tearing them up. ALSO if they hang around digging and ripping at the wire birds may become frightened flying in dark of night and hurt/kill them selves.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Want to say it makes me feel bad to dispatch some predators but anyone having animals has a duty to care for and protect those animals. I wish I could let my birds free range but predators have become so bad we've spent a fortune building nice large comfortable pens for birds. We can't have preds tearing them up. ALSO if they hang around digging and ripping at the wire birds may become frightened flying in dark of night and hurt/kill them selves.

I totally agree with the predators constantly messing with the pens. I don’t think a lot of people realize how traumatic that is for the birds. They’ll stop laying, mess up feathers, break off toe nails etc while bouncing off wire. IMO its not ok to have animals patrolling the wire looking for an opening like most allow.

 

[rockpuppy]

Every year around this time I have a few chicken come up missing to a fox. Just a few hours ago I lost my first chicken of the year to a fox. I did lock all the chickens up and will keep them locked up for now. I haven't had a fox in the coop yet and don't want it to happen. Do motion sensored lights help keep them away a night? I have to work tonight and thought about getting a few to put up in the morning if it will help. I do have 3 chicken friendly dogs that do a good job at keeping them out of the yard, but my coop is right next to the wood line. Any help would be great.

 

[rockpuppy]

I have electric poultry netting. It keeps out most predators, but the Fox jumps over it. Mine is 4’ high as are most that sold online. I’d get 5’ high if I was to do it all over again. The only company that I’ve found with the higher fencing is Premier 1. It’s costly, but the distance between posts is 8’ instead of ten. You can also but a doubled stake which makes the fence sturdier. You have to be religious about keeping your fence line clear of weeds etc or the fence will sort out. It’s also a pain if you have very rocky soil like I do. Good luck

 

[redshoulderfox]

About the only predator that is affected by lights suddenly coming on is the human kind. I've watched raccoons and foxes and bears behave totally unconcerned and unaffected by light, including a strong flashlight beam right in the eyes. "Pffft!" they say. "Go ahead and light up the joint, so much easier to see what we're doing!"

The only real deterrent to predators is an electric hot wire. And to be sure a thick fur-coated predator is made "aware" of it, I place some peanut butter on the wire to invite some "interaction". For predators in the cat family that aren't suckers for peanut butter, I will encase a piece of mackerel in a little cage of chicken wire and wire it to the hot wire (while it's shut down.)

The mackerel worked just splendidly this past fall when a bobcat got a hen and returned for another. It hasn't returned since it got a "taste" of the electrified fish. (10,000 volt fish.

That's interesting you say that I've heard mixed results with solar powered flashing red lights like nite guards and with use of spot lights on the coop and or run. I used nite guards when I had quail and never had a problem but my birds hutch was inside a run that had a layer of chicken wire and a layer of hard ware cloth all the way around. As well as floor which included a chicken wire skirt around the outside. It was more likely the run design than the nite guards.
I'd say the best way of keeping your birds safe is by designing a solid structure that is difficult to get into. THE MORE STEPS the better. For example, for a predator to get to my birds it would have had to first get through the chicken wire and hardware cloth in the floor or walls of the run. Next it would need to figure out how to get into the wooden hutch. Lastly it would need to get through the wire cages that the birds are kept in.
Electric netting or wire like many people have suggested is another added step that a predator has figure out how to get through. Also it gives the added benefit of a stinging reminder.

 

[redshoulderfox]

Thanks everyone. I do have live traps, but never had any luck with getting a fox to go in. I can't move the coop because anywhere I would move it to would have a wood line next to it. Where I live is in the backwoods of Louisiana and I have a swamp behind the house. I think I will check on getting a electronic fence. My mama has a electronic fence and she's not having any problems, so that may be the best way to go.

I've just started getting into trapping so I've been getting a lot information from experienced trappers on youtube and face to face. From what I've seen from experts who have been trapping for awhile very few people trap red foxes in the standard sized cage trap that you might get for coons or opossums. Gray foxes are bit more likely to go in those but not much more likely. Most people who cage trap foxes use a much taller version of a cage style trap. I've normally seen these listed as bobcat cage traps. But these tend to be quite expensive so if possible you might want to make a taller cage trap yourself.
Also with foxes it seems to be that covering the trap in brush is very important. Definitely use some sort of meat like chicken for fox because if you use something that's sweet like peanut butter or your more likely to catch a coon or opossum. Also avoid rotting or old meat because that tends to be what trappers tend to use for skunks.

Also speaking of trapping trap wax is a product used to disguise foot hold traps but it's not a bad idea to use on cage traps. It's a process that involves boiling water and coating the traps with the product.

Foothold traps would not be a bad idea if they are legal in your state because people seem to have better luck with those. But if you use one your probably going to have to shoot the animal unless you can somehow have success getting the fox out of the foothold trap and into a cage without getting yourself scratched or bitten.

 

[redshoulderfox]

I would also like to learn more from you. Like I said earlier in this thread just started getting into trapping. I've taken all the required classes but have not trapped an animal yet. Well other than mice but those do not count.