Fox Attack: Free Range, or a New Life Behind Bars?

[AppleMomma65]

A fox attacked one of my chickens - I saw it cross right in front of me on the four wheeler just minutes before the deed - last week. The chicken survived with minor injuries (missing feathers, bite marks on back end). Surprisingly, prior to the attack, she was broody and not laying. She just laid an egg yesterday - 3 days after the attack.

Up until now, my chickens were outside/free-range their coop/run most of the day but now I'm afraid to let them out - even if I am nearby. I put up a fence using plastic poultry fencing (4 feet high, no cover) attached to their run but after more thought, I'm afraid this is just a death trap for them and have not used it. My plan is to put up a dog kennel/run area but still need to figure out how to attach it to their run area.

Are my chickens doomed for a life of secured fencing? Previous attempts at catching the fox have been unsuccessful.

 

[sourland]

Can you install electric fencing or hot wire?

 

[neo71665]

If you can't get rid of the fox you gonna have to secure the chickens.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Some of us can free range without serious predator issues, some of us can't. I can't, not so much because of wildlife but because of people abandoning dogs in the country. Some people can accept an occasional loss, for others the loss of one chicken is a disaster. We are all different with different predator pressures and different tolerances. It's the kind of decision you'll have to make for yourself.

I'm all in favor of actively removing predators that are hunting your area. I've never had a problem with foxes, coyotes, or bobcats though I know they are around. In a typical year I permanently remove about two dozen raccoons, possums, and skunks from the coop or garden area. If you read that closely you'll see that removing one doesn't solve the problem. Two dozen. If there is one fox or raccoon, there are more. Removing one that is hunting your area reduces the immediate pressure but you never know when another will show up. So you either take your chances or you use barriers that work.

After losing a total of 13 chickens in two separate dog attacks I put up electric netting. That stopped all ground based predator attacks. Over the years I've lost one chicken to a hawk and one to an owl. The electric netting requires maintenance but it was the right solution for me. If your predator pressure is from flying predators like hawks, owls, or eagles the electric netting is not the answer. I don't know what the right answer is for you.

 

[Serin]

The predators are native, the chickens are not.

Fence your birds.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I free range in a high predator area. I have lost an avg of only 1 bird a year (only 2 attacks:4 birds killed). Considering I hatch, raise, and butcher over 40 birds a year and maintain a steady number of 8-14 birds in the flock at all times, i think thats pretty good.

Free ranging will always be a risk but you have to ask yourself, do the rewards out weigh the risk? Can you accept an occasional loss? If not, lock them up. For me, the free range benefits far out weigh my concerns.

I live in the mountains of VA, VERY RURAL. Hear the banjos in the background? Every chicken and egg stealing predator that walks or crawls in this state lives on or crosses our property yet attacks are rare. Why?

Its not all me i guarantee that. I focused on what I can control: night security. Most predation occurs at night so I designed and built a VERY secured coop. So far it has withstood 4 yrs of bear investigations (a determined bear will get into anything so nothing is bear proof but i made it so difficult as to make them not want to put forth the effort and so far it has worked).

What i cant control is where they go in the daytime. But that is where my dog comes into play. He is NOT guard dog, just our family pet, but his presence and most importantly his scent creates a perceived danger to predators. There is also a ton of work to do on the farm and so i am outside somewhere on the property doing something most days. This activity and perceived danger makes a predator feel the risk is too high for the meal.
I also keep large breed brahmas. Our rooster is 28" tall and over 10lbs (live weight) and he is only 1 yr old. He is very devoted to his hens which wards off the numerous aerial predators around.
I also do a lot of habitat improvements for wildlife trying to promote a great balance in food sources for everyone. Perhaps the predators are finding sufficient easier prey elsewhere?

The point is, free ranging will always have an element of risk but if you can accept the risk and do what you can to protect them at the highest risk times, you can successfully free range without killing all the predators that wander by.

BTW - only attacks ive had in four years occurred when i took my dog with me to run errands in town so neither of us were around and all was quiet on the home front.

 

[addctd2plnts]

Electric netting, but it still has to be in the open, so predators can't climb a tree and jump in, and it has to be high enough that it can't be jumped. IMHO most electric netting made for chickens isn't tall enough. We ended up using this one: https://www.premier1supplies.com/deer/fencing.php?fence_id=115

 

[MissE]

I love my electric netting. Bears, dogs, foxes, pine martens, and fishers all look for other places to eat after a good zap to the nose. Most animals won't go near it after a good jolt, so they don't try to find a way around it.

 

[21hens-incharge]

I have personally seen a fox clear a 6' fence like it was zero challenge at all. It touched exactly NOTHING and had no running start. The slope on the other side of the fence made it a 6' take off height and an 8' drop on the landing side.

I fence mine in a run with a cover and an anti dig apron.

Between hawks hanging around daily and random fox passing through I just cannot chance it for my birds.

 

[Perris]

In addition to the many good points made above, the breeds you keep has an impact too; some (typically, landrace or heritage breeds) are more predator aware and better at evasion than others.

I'm think like Mtnboomer that the benefits of free ranging outweigh the cons of confinement, and that getting them in to secure accommodation at night is essential.

I also am able to call on someone who likes hunting to let them know there's a fox around when (as happens occasionally) I've lost one who wouldn't go to roost in the coop at night.