First experience with a fox.

[flyin-lowe]

I only let my chickens out in the afternoons when I am around. Today luckily my wife was out on the porch when I heard her yelling. A fox had one of my RIR's in its mouth. Fortunately when she yelled it dropped her. I chased the fox off and she was not in too bad of shape just two puncture wounds on her back. I gave her a spray of blue kote and she is acting normal. I had to go to work tonight but my wife called and said the fox was circling the coop before dark. My entire run is hardware cloth and I have a welded wire apron around the bottom. I had her stand a piece of 3/4 inch plywood over the pop door and she stacked some pavers in front of it just in case it could find a way inside the run.
Crazy part is my neighbor bought 14 chickens two years ago and still has 13 of them now. He just has a hole in the barn for them to come and go they have access 24 hours a day. He lost one to a neighbors dog and that's it. I'm going to leave them locked in the run for a while. I am assuming the fox is living somewhere near by. Hopefully I can get rid of it. Not sure what I will do if it doesn't end up shot or trapped soon.

 

[bobbi-j]

I would suggest keeping your chickens in their run until it's shot, trapped (and then shot), or gets discouraged and goes away. One thing to consider is that it could be a female with babies. If you kill it, maybe you can look to see if it's a female, find the den and get rid of the kits, too. I'd hate to have them starve to death. Not fond of chicken predators, but I don't want animals to suffer, either.

 

[flyin-lowe]

Thanks I saw it again this morning, the closest gun I had handy was an old .22 rifle with open sights. The fox was about 40 yards away and walking when I shot at her and I am sure I missed. It didn't yelp and no sigh of any blood or anything. I am definitely going to leave them locked up for a while.

 

[flyin-lowe]

My neighbor just told me he shot the fox. Sad part is it managed to get 30 of his chickens over the last couple weeks. I would assume it had a den nearby, my question is this, is there likely to be a male around also? The one taking his chickens was a female. I don't know if males stick around to help raise the young or if they are more transient?

 

[centrarchid]

I would suggest keeping your chickens in their run until it's shot, trapped (and then shot), or gets discouraged and goes away. One thing to consider is that it could be a female with babies. If you kill it, maybe you can look to see if it's a female, find the den and get rid of the kits, too. I'd hate to have them starve to death. Not fond of chicken predators, but I don't want animals to suffer, either. 

Males help with rearing of kits. They help at lot just like with coyotes.

 

[flyin-lowe]

Thanks for the info. I asked my neighbor today and he has not lost any more chickens since he shot the fox. Hopefully the issue is taken care of for now. I started letting mine back out today for a few hours.

 

[chickens really]

Thanks for the info. I asked my neighbor today and he has not lost any more chickens since he shot the fox. Hopefully the issue is taken care of for now. I started letting mine back out today for a few hours.

Yes their will be another fox..We have a fox problem also. The crafty bugger came into my yard and grabbed my hen that was only about 30 feet from me. They worked as a team and the one lured the dog away as the other grabbed my hen. My husband shot the male but the female has been more sneaky.