I went to move the chicken tractor this morning, and there were muddy critter tracts all over it. All the birds are ok, but I figure whatever it is, it will be back. I have red heat lamps on to keep them warm at night, so I was hoping that would scare off any critters. It has that white pastic corrigated roofing stuff on 1/2 of the tractor, and "old" chicken wire on the sides and the other half of the top and then one end is closed in with a towel across most of the opening to the closed half to block wind and draft. What else can I do to keep critters away?
The old chicken wire and towel don't sound very safe to me. I would be looking into what I could replace those items with.
Well it's old chicken wire as opposed to the new stuff that is garbage. Anything can get through that. The towel just a draft protection. The fact that nothing got into them is a good sign that it's not totally unsafe. However, I do need to come up with something to beef up their protection and still maintain the whole chicken tractor idea, light weight and easy to move.
Well, we lined the edges with tomato cages to deter the little booger but there was definate signs of him trying to dig under. Good thing we have horribly compacted soil here The girls woke me up really early this morning making all kinds of racket. My bedroom window is open because it's so hot so I got the full effect of their noice. I went out to the coop and they were all standing on the roosts perfectly spaced like a choir, just bawking their little lungs out. So, I let everybody out about an hour and a half earlier than normal, and went back to bed. A few minutes later, it sounds like massacre in the coops, so I get up again, to see what the heck is going on. I come face to face with the red fox. Now I really like the red fox but not around my girls. Then I noticed the digging around the meat chickens coop and now I've got to take action. I guess I'll call animal control and see if they have a live trap I can borrow.
A determined canine whether fox or dog will make short work of chicken wire (no matter what the quality!) We found that out through sad experience when a dog tore right through plastic roofing panels and chicken wire and killed a number of our chickens! We now have a layer of welded wire over the top of our chicken wire and we have had no other problems of tearing through wire! I have also added hardware cloth in danger zones so that the racoons can't reach through and tear my birds apart! AND we have a baby monitor in one of the tractors which gives us immediate info should there be any digging or other attempts going on! GOod luck catching your intruder! BEautiful but deadly for those chickens!
Most places it's against the law to relocate predators. A live trap doesnt stand much of a chance for a fox. I've trapped for 30 years and only caught 5 in live traps. Foot hold is the best way. Look for a local trapper to come and get this fox or you aren't gonna have any birds left. Check this link for people in your area. http://www.coloradotrappers.com/
If you have a live trap you could make a one foot square box out of 1/4 inch hardware clothe and attach it to the end of the trap. Put a live chicken in it, the fox will figure the only way to get the free meal would be to go through the only opening available and then hopefully he would trip the trap. He shouldn't be able to tear through the hardware cloth so your chicken should be safe.