Any fox experts?

[kindir]

I have seen several fox in my yard over the last year - NONE of them has ever paid any attention to my chickens! I know that people have said that they've had chickens killed by a fox, but are they typically not in the fox diet???

Weirdest thing, the last time I saw one (and it was a rather large red fox which made me wonder if it was mixed with something else) it ignored the chickens and even made a detour around a cat that was casually sitting nearby. He wasn't near the coop but he could certainly hear the chickens.

My chickens are not free-ranging, they are in a coop with a top but I'm sure a fox could get in if they chose to. I didn't bury any fencing. Should I be concerned or if he's well fed will he just go about his business??

 

[Matt A NC]

Sooner or later you are going to start losing birds to foxes. Chickens are way up there on the dietary list of a fox. If you close them up at night in a good coop that will protect alot, but foxes will hunt during the day when they need to.

A fox will kill everything it can and then start carring them off and buring them. I have heard of 30+ birds being killed in one night.

Matt

 

[LeBlackbird]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=349012

 

[yotetrapper]

We have coyotes that come pretty close to our yard but haven't lost any yet. It's a good possibility you may lose some to the fox, but good fences are a good deterrent. Coon are more likely to dig under your fence than the fox is. I wouldn't be terribly troubled by a fox that ignores my coop, but if he showed interest, or I lost any birds, his days would be numbered. If however you free ranged, you would most certainly lose birds to this fox. I imagine the fox looks at it as whether or not breeching your security is harder than finding other food. In lean times, the coop will be more desirable, and this time of year now is when foxes work hardest to eat, because they're feeding 4-8 pups.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
fox will not mix if you see any grey on a fox it is a grey a red fox is all red usually with black boots. greys are like coon quiet opportunistic in their feeding habits greys eat a lot of fruit through the year persimmons blackberries grapes etc if there is an abundance of fruit they may not bother your birds until the easy food runs out I have watched fox in my yard eat low hanging figs LOL all the time while eyeing the baby robins just a little higher up

 

[kindir]

Well, after giving it some thought, I did leave out a very important piece of information

I have a small fenced area right next to the coop where my 5 dogs run around. They are only out there when I'm supervising (I'm an overprotective dog mom!!) but I'm sure their scent is all over the place. I'm thinking that is why I don't see any fox on that side of the yard...

I'm a bit slow but I get there eventually...

 

[kindir]

aprophet - this animal looked like a fox but had red AND some gray... and a HUGE fluffy tail. Certainly wasn't a dog. He was larger than my terrier so I'm guessing 20-25 pounds? I've seen red fox before and this looked large for a fox, but it was mostly red and had a fox face. It was daytime, around 8:00 a.m. when I saw him and while he stayed on the edge of my yard near the woods he didn't look terribly concerned about anything and looked healthy.

I live in Connecticut if that helps with identification of this creature

 

[LeBlackbird]

Red fox, summer fur http://briefwit.files.wordpress.com/2009/04/red-fox.jpg

Gray foxm summer fur http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~eswalker/GreyFox.jpg

Coyote And lab size comparison http://www.komar.org/faq/dog-versus-coyote/dog-versus-coyote-08.jpg

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
Most fox look bigger then they are, the greys here run 6-10 lbs the reds 8-15 if it really is 20-25 it is a small coyote ,ours are kina reddish because of the red wolves south of me fish and wildlife did not realize the wolves would let yotes breed them. We have been getting some funny looking yotes the last coupla years kina like a coydog but red, most yotes run 20 -40 pounds you start getting over 40 pounds around chicken farms they eat a lot better they get bigger. Most weeks they expend a lot of energy just finding food.