Drat it all! It's a daylight fox raid

[TexasTurkeyMama]

We lost a chicken last week to a daylight raid. It was unknown what grabbed my silkie rooster or how it got over (or under) the wire of the fence. We
followed the feather trail and placed a live trap in a nice shady spot, plenty of camouflage. We have been trapping for a week now, keeping all the flocks
inside, "starving" the predator in to the trap. Unfortunately, the neighbors' chickens were playing under their tree, and I just saw from my drive a "doglike" critter
grab a chicken and drag it off. In case it was a domestic dog I started across the yard yelling and waving. I remember a long tail and a golden brown coat. And a trail of feathers. They have no fence and it ducked into the brush and scrub.

DH thinks it could also be a coyote. Either beast will be difficult to lure into the livetrap. Setting the game camera for some intelligence gathering.

 

[TexasTurkeyMama]

Follow on: neighbor says he followed the trail of feathers to the abandoned carcass of chicken and found a bonepile against the ranch property fence. The fox has been upgraded to coyote.

 

[cmom]

It could have been a fox or a coyote. My problem was a fox but we have coyotes too. I couldn't get the coyote in a trap but was after a fox I'm sure was doing the killing. I was seeing it during the day. I put out some traps and baited them for a few days and let the dox take the bait then set the traps and caught the fox. Since I have seen other fox on my cameras.

 

[cmom]

How many traps did you set, and what did you use when you were training the fox to go in the trap?

I set a smaller trap for the fox and a hog trap for coyote. We had processes a lot of birds and a couple of pkgs found their way to the bottom of the freezer so I used the frozen chicken as bait. I cut it up i pieces and would put some in the traps every day and after a few days set the traps and caught the fox. I had been seeing the fox during the day and even though I was outside the fox grabbed a bird, my favorite.

 

[cmom]

I will eliminate anything that bothers/kills my birds, but if they don't, I don't bother them. My birds are well protected. I see a lot of predators on my cameras. They respect the electric wires that go around my coops and pens.

 

[cmom]

No wolves here. I know there are bear but I have never seen one. Other than that coyote, fox, coons, possums, bobcats, skunks, hawks, eagles and owls are the primary predators here. Here is a coyote. They respect the electric wire. This is the chick/grow-out coop.

There is more of the pen on the other side of the coop and another pop door on the other side.

 

[cmom]

Same here. I have heard some being surprised by the wire especially when we first put it up. I think the adults teach their young not to touch the wire.

 

[TexasTurkeyMama]

To the OP, what type of traps have you been setting? If cage traps....which one exactly.....brand name and size? Under the right conditions, some cage traps may work for a fox. Seldom if ever for a coyote. In both cases, if you are open to it, you may want to investigate coil spring foot traps or if conditions allow for it, snares or collar restraints. Either of those in the right hands will be more effective for coyotes or a fox. There is a learning curve, but it is doable.

And if have not already done so, it would help you to set a trail / game camera up......and point it down the fence line where you think your varmint made his entry. That will tell you what and where and you can proceed from there.

If you are working with your neighbor, they should do the same. But be advised, if neighbor is allowing birds to free range, varmint will probably wipe them out (easy pickings!) before it comes back to you......so you have a few days to get ready.

I am operating a large live trap with the spring loaded foot pedal the predator steps on to reach the live bait behind two layers of wire. It is too small for a hog. We used it so catch bobcats. We have some "hand" traps but where to plant them is always a problem. We have
placed one game camera but no good pics yet. Whatever I do I will keep neighbors informed.

Thanks for your response.

 

[hayley3]

I hope the neighbor knows to put his chickens up too.
Good luck with the camera. Normally I have both coyotes and foxes, so it's hard to know which exactly grabs a chicken out in the open.

 

[TexasTurkeyMama]

It could have been a fox or a coyote. My problem was a fox but we have coyotes too. I couldn't get the coyote in a trap but was after a fox I'm sure was doing the killing. I was seeing it during the day. I put out some traps and baited them for a few days and let the dox take the bait then set the traps and caught the fox. Since I have seen other fox on my cameras.
View attachment 2186604View attachment 2186606View attachment 2186612

Is this third pic from the night shot a coyote?