Does shooting the fox fix the problem?

[Krazyquilts]

Good luck with that. In my opinion that is a bad idea for both people and the fox. That is teaching the predator not to fear humans and only increasing the chances of it becoming a problem animal.

X2!!! I don't see a cute picture. I see a future problem. (Unless that's a pet fox? I hear that some people raise foxes specifically for pets, but I assume those under go a selection process etc and aren't aggressive.)

 

[Krazyquilts]

How does the fence not kill your chickens???? I am considering electric poultry fencing but i dont want my chickens zapped!

The fence shock doesn't kill them, just hurts really bad and after they touch the fence once, they'll never do it again. (I deliberately touched our electric fence once - barefoot even! - because the guineas kept running into it and I didn't think it was not enough. It was ABSOLUTELY hot enough!!!! Guineas are just that dumb.

Our little 5 lb Yorkie wouldn't stay away from the fence so finally I quit fighting her and let her touch it. Now she keeps a good 2-3 foot distance from it, even when she hasn't been near it in weeks. One of my mom's little dogs, on the other hand, has to "re-learn" the fence lesson every time they visit. Bless her furry heart.

 

[Howard E]

How does the fence not kill your chickens???? I am considering electric poultry fencing but i dont want my chickens zapped!

E fences don't work like an electrical outlet. The fence charger amplifies the electric charge from either 6 or 12 volts from a DC powered charger like mine.....or 120 volts from an AC charger......all the way up to a short burst of juice that measures from 6,000 to 12,000 plus volts like mine. But it is a short burst.......like that of a static electric shock or more like a spark plug in a gas engine. But ramped up like that, it is very painful. Like the feeling your arm was just yanked off.

Chickens get zapped like everything else and that is the beauty of it too. They learn it is a boundary they do not want to cross. I use a light wire system, and when training the birds to it, only one wire held only a few inches off the ground. Mine always walk up to it and step on it to get over it, so they get zapped on the bottom of their foot and may well launch 5 to 10 feet in the air when they do. They will then strut around in protest, trying to figure out a way back inside where their friends are. They do that by lifting up and hopping back over. But once back inside, they are not willing to risk whatever it was that bit em, so tend to stay away from it. Up to it....but not past it.

That is with the wire fence........with poultry netting, it more or less resembles a real fence, so they may well fly over it. If they have stuck their neck through and got zapped....maybe not, but for an E fence to work, they must get zapped.

Again, it does no permanent harm to anything, but nothing and nobody wants to get that twice.

 

[shawluvsbirds]

Sorry for your loss! I can definitely relate and understand how frustrating it is. They do have a very nice run that I put a lot of money and sweat into making for them. Welded wire around the entire thing, top to bottom with wire on the ground as well to prevent diggers. It just sucks because they do LOVE being out. However, I think I have to make the choice for them to keep them in for their own safety. I'm sure if they knew that them coming out makes for a possible meal for the foxes, they would stay in too.

I'm sorry to have to tell you this but unless you mean hardware cloth predators can and will kill your birds through welded wire. A fox killed my Rouen drake right through the fence. It's a pet playpen fence that I let them run in when I can't be outside. . I have privacy fence around 3/4 of my yard and the rest is barn wood fence. I knew it wasn't predator proof per say but being in town and never seeing a fox come into my fenced yard I mistakenly thought they would be safe. Unfortunately sometimes the birds are not smart enough to back away from the fence.

 

[Howard E]

Also, with a wire fence, a fox, coyote, dog, coon, etc, when stalking the birds, will usually be at a distance away from them. Still in super stealthy sneak mode and concentrating and focused on the birds and getting close enough to pounce. So when they get to the wire, they will try to sneak through or crawl under it......like they do every other physical wire then encounter.....and get zapped in the process. So without any warning to them, they get the beejeezers blasted out of them. They are smart and bold, but in the face of that, not knowing what it was that hurt so bad, they will rethink how much they like chicken.

 

[34Fam]

E fences don't work like an electrical outlet. The fence charger amplifies the electric charge from either 6 or 12 volts from a DC powered charger like mine.....or 120 volts from an AC charger......all the way up to a short burst of juice that measures from 6,000 to 12,000 plus volts like mine. But it is a short burst.......like that of a static electric shock or more like a spark plug in a gas engine. But ramped up like that, it is very painful. Like the feeling your arm was just yanked off.

Chickens get zapped like everything else and that is the beauty of it too. They learn it is a boundary they do not want to cross. I use a light wire system, and when training the birds to it, only one wire held only a few inches off the ground. Mine always walk up to it and step on it to get over it, so they get zapped on the bottom of their foot and may well launch 5 to 10 feet in the air when they do. They will then strut around in protest, trying to figure out a way back inside where their friends are. They do that by lifting up and hopping back over. But once back inside, they are not willing to risk whatever it was that bit em, so tend to stay away from it. Up to it....but not past it.

That is with the wire fence........with poultry netting, it more or less resembles a real fence, so they may well fly over it. If they have stuck their neck through and got zapped....maybe not, but for an E fence to work, they must get zapped.

Again, it does no permanent harm to anything, but nothing and nobody wants to get that twice.

So how is the fence strong enough for a fox to zapp them bad but light enough for the chicken to not get killed? Are you saying first do one wire to zap the chickens while learning... Then more wires for the predator because the chickens will already know to stay away from it? I have baby geese hatching in a week..... Electric fence here we come!

 

[MillersFarm]

I say shoot it, A 22. rifle or a B-mag will do the trick. Foxes are smart and pretty much impossible to catch, and once they find a good source of food they're going to come back every time they're hungry. I had a fox coming and going for the last 2 months killing my poultry (Which are free ranged too) until I finally caught her in the act, So I grab my savage b-mag and shot it. Haven't had a problem since.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

where i live we don't really have fox problems (too many coyotes)

we run a electric fence around a fully enclosed hardware cloth run. for over a year and half of owning chickens yet to lose any to predators.

i do however trap and kill raccoons (love them duke dog proof traps)

the other issue is foxes in some places are classified as a fur bearing animal meaning you need a fur license and have to kill it in season, however i do think most places have laws in place that state you can defend your live stock.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

... but in general when you remove a predator another one takes it's place. That's just the nature of things. Unless you are willing to sacrifice entire species in your ecosystem...

No one intends for anyone to decimate the vermin population just kill enough of them to keep the rest in line.

Anyway your whole idea of harm to the ecosystem is nothing but smoke and mirrors (well mostly smoke) if the resulting deficit in chicken killing predators is made up as quickly as you say.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

....What? What does any of that have to do with chickens or ecosystems?