Fox attack

[my birds rock]

I was in the barn in one of our boarders horses stalls cleaning the water buckets. I heard one of the chickens SCREAMING, I panicked because I never heard one in that much distress, I jumped out of the back stall door and there was a fox in the front of the barn shaking my chicken BooBoo. I though he had her wing or something, so i was SUPER scared. I ran up to it, I would do anything for my girls so i was ready to kick it or something, but luckily it dropped her and ran away. My dad game out with the dog, and he ran off after the fox, while BooBoo ran in the other way as fast as her legs could take her. I caught up with her and scooped her up, and luckily she only lost most of her back feathers, and had a few scrapes, probably from the feathers being torn off, we put anti-bacterial killers on it and brought the rest of the girls inside, they all where really scared, so they went inside the coop without a problem. BooBoo's eating fine, but my dad says that the fox was probably super hungry if it would go after a chicken in broad daylight, and with me banging around with the buckets in the barn. I am really worried that it will come back, and I don't know how long I should keep them in. I really don't want to lock them up for a week and let them out when I'm there. How long should i keep them in?

 

[gamelife]

I was in the barn in one of our boarders horses stalls cleaning the water buckets. I heard one of the chickens SCREAMING, I panicked because I never heard one in that much distress, I jumped out of the back stall door and there was a fox in the front of the barn shaking my chicken BooBoo. I though he had her wing or something, so i was SUPER scared. I ran up to it, I would do anything for my girls so i was ready to kick it or something, but luckily it dropped her and ran away. My dad game out with the dog, and he ran off after the fox, while BooBoo ran in the other way as fast as her legs could take her. I caught up with her and scooped her up, and luckily she only lost most of her back feathers, and had a few scrapes, probably from the feathers being torn off, we put anti-bacterial killers on it and brought the rest of the girls inside, they all where really scared, so they went inside the coop without a problem. BooBoo's eating fine, but my dad says that the fox was probably super hungry if it would go after a chicken in broad daylight, and with me banging around with the buckets in the barn. I am really worried that it will come back, and I don't know how long I should keep them in. I really don't want to lock them up for a week and let them out when I'm there. How long should i keep them in?

I don't think keeping the chickens in is your solution. I think keeping your dog out will keep
the fox away.

 

[Mygirls20]

I had a fox attack in daylight he injured one chicken and killed another. IT WILL BE BACK Get a gun and shoot it. The fox I had kept coming back even though my dog attacked it. I also shot it with a BB gun a few times and trapped it (my husband thought is we trapped it and let it go it would be to scared to come back) Nope it was back 5 mins later once they get the taste of chicken it will stop at nothing till all your chickens are dead. Seriously shoot it Sorry for the attack on your chicken just make sure to keep the wound clean. The fox ripped off all the skin of the wing on my hen Sandy and she pulled through.

 

[centrarchid]

I deal with red foxes regularly and successfully. It is like a big game. Dogs are my key and they kill it when they bite it and even a close call will keep fox away for days at least, usually a couple weeks or more. Dog has to be fast, a big monster dog is less fox worthy than a smaller faster one that keeps up with and maneuvers like a fox. otherwise fox treats dogs like a wolf that is not a general threat to fox. Fox treats my dogs as if it is a coyote which is a very real threat to a fox trying to take out competition. Bigs are simply too slow, stay in range of 50 to 75 lbs to be effective, upper still effective with coyotes in my area..

I will use containment of birds as well to make dogs job easier. This is very important when chickens are small and flocks are spread out of multiple acres like mine. More vulnerable birds are released for only part of day when dog activity can be concentrated near them.

Shooting is not my preferred method because it takes so much time waiting for fox and you have to be their to shoot gun. My fox does not come only when I am at home.

Trapping is generally a better method than shooting but dispatch rather than relocate; it most areas it is a legal rather than practical concern.

 

[Mygirls20]

My birds rock- check out this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738416/my-first-fox-attack-that-ended-in-a-kill/390#post_10395200

there are a lot of good ideas on here. hope it helps you out. If you free range your birds I would shoot the fox. Or you will constantly be at war. Call a wildlife officer in your area tell them your having fox attacks see what they suggest. If its not legal to protect your livestock in your area maybe they can come out and trap it for you. they will either kill it or relocate it.

 

[centrarchid]

My birds rock- check out this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/738416/my-first-fox-attack-that-ended-in-a-kill/390#post_10395200

there are a lot of good ideas on here. hope it helps you out. If you free range your birds I would shoot the fox. Or you will constantly be at war. Call a wildlife officer in your area tell them your having fox attacks see what they suggest. If its not legal to protect your livestock in your area maybe they can come out and trap it for you. they will either kill it or relocate it.

Mygirls you are trying to shoot the fox so at war, using up a lot time trying to get a shot and loosing birds to boot. If fox concern you are having now is same you started with in thread linked, then your batting average is terrible. Even when you do get fox, there will be more to take it's place. My system same fox usually persists but he / she does not get my birds and dogs have fun in process.

 

[Mygirls20]

I already killed the fox a week ago thanks though for the concern. I trapped it twice shot it the last time. I will put traps out every once in awhile and when I catch a fox I will shoot it. I have no more problems or had another attack since the first two. Besides you dont have to put in that much effort even if the fox wont go into the trap you can put out scrapes same time same place every day for two days or so then just wait for it and shoot it. I am not saying set up a blind and wait for the thing. The only reason it took me so long to kill the fox in the first place was because I had to wait for 7 days to get a gun. If I owned a gun the first night the fox attacked it would have been dead

 

[farmlife]

I've never seen a fox out in daytime. That is a scary thought. My chickens are in the coop at night but roam during the day. I thought my concerns were hawks and snakes.

 

[centrarchid]

Fox's, reds at least can visit night or day. They tend to be consistent once they start.

 

[my birds rock]

Thanks everyone I'll make sure that my dog is able to get into the back area and near the chicken coop. He is an aussie, so he's really fast, hopefully that can scare it. It is illegal to hunt where I live, but we can trap him to scare him. We can't relocate him because the den is a while down the road, and everybody knows where the fox is, usually there is a pup in the springtime, so i guess its a female.