fox ate all my chickens

[IggiMom]

Quote:
Well, that really sounds like a coon to me.

And believe me we have had MUCH experience with coons. I do not want to bombard you with information, but one thing you can do right off the bat is, get a trap. Some are better than others. I think my husband says that tamahawk (spelling) is one of the better ones.

And should it be something else, a trap will catch that, also.

You can bait it with a body of a dead chicken. Or other things, too. And again, I can help you.

The trap should be the right size for coons. Put it outside the place where it is getting in, and with any luck it will go right in and get trapped.

Spending the night outside with a shotgun is not likely to help because it won't come around while you are there.

Oh, and, here anyway, if you call the DNR they will loan you a trap. You have to give a deposit but you get it back when you are done. And they will also have the very best opinion of what it might be, because they are familiar with your area.

I HATE raccoons.

If you would like any more information on ways which have been effective against raccoons at least for us, please PM me. I don't want to write a book unless it will be helpful information.

And I really, really feel for you. We have lost so many of our lovely happy little hens to coons. And some to foxes, and the neighbor's dogs.

Catherine

 

[cooteroo]

Well, after 2 hours of trying to think of a quick fix, we put the dog in the pen for the night to see if that will help. Hopefully, I will be able to sleep tonight. Thanks for the suggestions, and I'll let you know how it went tomorrow.

 

[cooteroo]

The dog worked! He barked all night from being penned up, but we still have all the chicks. I will be looking into more permanent solutions now.

 

[tcampos]

This morning I lost fourteen full grow hens and a large rooster. Nothing left but feathers. It had to have been a fox who got in through to corner of the gate. Don't know how they got the roosters body out he was huge. Their is a creek and a bosque (dense willows) behind my property and I found one body and my schnauzer brought out one other. I am devastated I had them two years this was the third Summer without an incident.
I can't believe it was only one fox and I cant believe we didn't hear anything. The dogs did even bark. We are going to start over . What a helpless feeling.

 

[tomcatbubba]

Just lost a huge Roo - a big softy Buff Orpington named "Bo" and a RIR hen. I HATE foxes! Everytime I see a dead one on the road I cheer and if I see a live one in the yard I shoot it....Free ranging is definitely not a good option anymore.

 

[JerseyHen]

I am so sorry to hear about your loss, I know what you are going through.

I lost 3 to a pair of foxes a few weeks ago. Pulled in the driveway to a pile of feathers and then I saw one of them, it was staring at me from behind a bush 10 feet away. I actually had to hit it with a rock to get it to run off. Then its mate came in the other yard after another chicken. I chased that one off with a shovel and it actually came back a few minutes later. Then my rooster comes squacking out of the woods from across a hay fld. Poor guy lost all the feathers on his back and had a nasty gash, but he lived. Those foxes came back every night for a week. We harassed them as much as possible and have traps set out. So, naturally we haven't seen them again. I like to coexist with my wild neighbors, but not when they are so brazen. What if the kids had been out unattended? It took and adult with a shovel screaming like a maniac to get them to run off.

Apparently gray fox can climb trees, so an 8 foot fence might not be much trouble for them. I am not sure about the red fox's ability to climb, but I do know they can jump very well. We are still free ranging, but we are out there with them. That fox would be wise not to come around again while I am outside...