Can we wait out a fox?

[TriciaAZA]

Any idea how long to keep chickens in before the fox will move on? We have 10 free range chickens. A fox took one last week and took the feathers off the backside of another. We have the remaining chickens closed in now for the past week, hoping the fox will move elsewhere.

 

[neo71665]

The fox has you on it's radar and will out wait you. Might be a day after you let em out might be a week but it knows where a food source is now. Time to trap and kill it, shoot it, or call whatever local authorities to remove it. Make sure you have any permits needed first if you do it.

 

[Geena]

Any idea how long to keep chickens in before the fox will move on? We have 10 free range chickens. A fox took one last week and took the feathers off the backside of another. We have the remaining chickens closed in now for the past week, hoping the fox will move elsewhere.

Adult foxes don't normally move on. Typically they have a set territory that they patrol and expand that territory as necessary to acquire prey. Now that it's found a good source of food (your chickens) it's not likely to leave on it's own.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Foxes are "loop" predators meaning that they patrol a territory and circle back to known food sources. Depending on how good the territory is determines its size and therefore how often it returns.

Once it has found food, your chickens, it will return and probably has been looking for another meal ever since you locked them up. If the food runs out, unavailable due to being locked up, the fox will eventually return less frequently but NOT FORGET about them. Remember, those birds are still making noises and pumping out scent so he knows they are still there despite not being able to reach them.

I also free range. Fox sightings are almost daily along with many other would be predators yet i rarely lose a bird. I explained why earlier today in another post if you are interested. I also have never needed to kill any predators except coyotes. The only predator i recommend shooting on-site are coyotes and ferrell cats because both devastate wildlife specifically deer, rabbit and wild turkey, which i want more of.
You may end up killing the fox but it should be a last resort and its only a short term solution. Removing one fox wont stop the next from coming after your birds. Instead i would spend my energy and resources on what you can control: night time security and creating perceived daytime threats to predators.

 

[Krugerrand]

The life span of the average fox in the wild is 2 – 6 years. 'Tis a long wait.

 

[cmom]

Adult foxes don't normally move on. Typically they have a set territory that they patrol and expand that territory as necessary to acquire prey. Now that it's found a good source of food (your chickens) it's not likely to leave on it's own.

I agree. The fox will lurk looking for another opportunity and you may never see it. You'll have to either eliminate it or catch it and contact a wildlife rescue who will come and get it and relocate it. It won't go away on it's own and sooner or later another will show up. Lessons learned the hard way. Free ranging is a risk you take sad to say. I built nice large covered pens for my birds. I have electric wires around my coops and pens, good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens and concrete under all of the gates due to losses from predators in the past.
Last night's visitor.

 

[TriciaAZA]

Foxes are "loop" predators meaning that they patrol a territory and circle back to known food sources. Depending on how good the territory is determines its size and therefore how often it returns.

Once it has found food, your chickens, it will return and probably has been looking for another meal ever since you locked them up. If the food runs out, unavailable due to being locked up, the fox will eventually return less frequently but NOT FORGET about them. Remember, those birds are still making noises and pumping out scent so he knows they are still there despite not being able to reach them.

I also free range. Fox sightings are almost daily along with many other would be predators yet i rarely lose a bird. I explained why earlier today in another post if you are interested. I also have never needed to kill any predators except coyotes. The only predator i recommend shooting on-site are coyotes and ferrell cats because both devastate wildlife specifically deer, rabbit and wild turkey, which i want more of.
You may end up killing the fox but it should be a last resort and its only a short term solution. Removing one fox wont stop the next from coming after your birds. Instead i would spend my energy and resources on what you can control: night time security and creating perceived daytime threats to predators.

I’d love to hear the perceived daytime threats to predators you mention. Can you provide the link to your other post? We have dogs, but they’re only outside when we are outside. I am a softy and really don’t want to harm the fox. But I do want to let my chickens out. They’re always closed in at night. So daytime is when we may have problems. Also, our chickens are not small. We have Marans, Orpingtons and other medium breeds.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I’d love to hear the perceived daytime threats to predators you mention. Can you provide the link to your other post? We have dogs, but they’re only outside when we are outside. I am a softy and really don’t want to harm the fox. But I do want to let my chickens out. They’re always closed in at night. So daytime is when we may have problems. Also, our chickens are not small. We have Marans, Orpingtons and other medium breeds.

Post in thread 'Fox Attack: Free Range, or a New Life Behind Bars?' https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...-a-new-life-behind-bars.1477431/post-24615549

Its pretty simple, time outside is the key. I installed an underground fence for our dog out of respect for our neighbors. He would go off and explore but if he jumped a deer he would chase it until he realized he had no chance of catching it. This may take him across the property line and around here, a dog that chases deer on someone else's property will get shot. So to keep "Charlie" safe and myself in good standing with the neighbors, we put in the fence.
The added benefit is that he can now patrol the 1 1/2 ac yard all the time which includes the chicken coop without my supervision.
I am building our property into a homestead/small scale farm enterprise which means i am always outside gardening, building fence, mending fence, tending the chickens, mowing, building barns/sheds, and i do a lot of wood working. So there are noises and activities going on somewhere on our 47ac property virtually everyday.

I understand that things may be different in my situation because i am fortunate enough to be around all day but the principles are still the same. Folks don't always believe me when I say that we have every predator from bears to bobcats on our property on any given night, or think im exaggerating, but I run trail cams looking for deer and turkey and will see nightly an assortment of predators.
There are predators that are bold enough to take the risk but the vast majority will not risk personal injury if they can avoid it.
A friend of mine has a conventional coop & run setup and had a fox investigating the coop one evening. He added cheap metal pots and pans on strings to clamber around making noise and even turned on a radio. It worked for awhile but fox are intelligent and it got used to the noise not being associated with any danger. I told him to walk their dog around the coop to use the bathroom at least once a day. According to trail cams, the fox hasn't been back since (in daylight) for 5-6mos now.

 

[cmom]

I have several cameras up on my property and I have seen many of the same predators around here. Some have unique markings or sometimes injuries but they do roam and return mostly at night here. They do appear to have routes and routines.