Fox attack

[Folly's place]

Last summer my birds walked right through two strands of hot wire, very hot, to get to my veggie garden. Not what I wanted at all! It did discourage the raccoons and groundhogs though.
Mary

 

[cheepteach]

. Do fox attack during the day as well? Other than locking them up ASAP at end of day, how do I prevent this?

yes fox hunt in daytime as well-one got 2 of ours right in our front yard at 9-30 AM

 

[cmom]

Here I have seen fox during the day in late winter and early spring when I assume they are looking for mates or feeding their young. During the hot summer months they are rarely out during the day and hunt mostly at night. I see them quite often on my game cameras. I love my cameras...

 

[amynw]

yes fox hunt in daytime as well-one got 2 of ours right in our front yard at 9-30 AM

Unfortunately, I lost a second chicken yesterday. My dear Isabelle got snatched up in the 7 minutes I walked in my house to put laundry away. 7 minutes. At 2:30 in the afternoon right out of my front yard. When I walked in, she was in the yard. When I got out, nothing but feathers. It’s eerie to know he had to be stalking our every move. My chickens stayed locked in their coop all day today, which I hate, but I’d rather have alive chickens than dead chickens. They are my babies. All we found of Isabelle were a couple feathers, soft belly feathers and a couple tail feathers.

 

[amynw]

I'm so sorry for your loss!
You do need to upgrade your coop and run to protect your birds, and do it today!!! This fox will return, for sure, and at least gray foxes can climb or jump fences very easily. They will also dig under fences, and couldn't care less about radios, lights, or whatever.
If you do try to trap or shoot this fox, remember that there are always more predators out there! And don't live trap unless you will shoot!
Our one fox attack was during the day, and he killed ten nice hens in a short time while they were free ranging.
Electric fencing, properly set up, will work very well. @Howard E and @cmom , and Premier1supplies.com, are good resources, and Premier has excellent products.
Mary

We have set traps and we are now playing the waiting game. Unfortunately right now the coop is the safest place for them, it’s a converted storage shed so we have a solid floor and doors, and windows are secured and stapled with small chicken wire. We are getting the upgrades we need for the run tomorrow, and my Black and Tan coonhound Hallie will be playing baby sitter next to the coop once the run is better secured.

 

[Folly's place]

I hope it's not chicken wire, rather hardware cloth, and not only stapled. Raccoons will have no problem with any chicken wire, or with staples.
And it is hard to trap foxes, they are pretty smart.
When we had that fox episode, i drove to any homes that had chickens within over a half mile, and also talked to our near neighbors. We didn't get a safe shot at the fox when he returned, but a neighbor was able to shoot him a few days later, a very distinctive animal with mange. Talk to your neighbors, especially any with chickens!
Foxes have a fairly wide territory, and certainly do watch for opportunities.
Mary

 

[vpatt]

We saw a Fox in the yard this morning! Makes me think it will be a bad year since they struck in June before. They are out early this spring! My husband said he was a big one.