fox decimated my flock

[Gazinga]

so so sorry to hear for your loss!

sadly enough, shooting trapping or otherwise disposing or the fox is the only answer, and this is coming from someone who truly cares for animals. But you must protect your chickens as well. Good luck and agian, sorry for your loss.

 

[go-veggie]

Just curious...when a raccoon killed our turtle and injured the another, we left rat bait chunks out the next night and watched it gobble them up...it never came back. Was that a good idea and could another kind of animal like a fox be killed that way? I agree...I don't want to kill any animals, but the chickens deserve protection from these wasteful scavengers. Any opinions on the bait chunks? It was the only thing we had, and we were so devastated that we just wanted to get him for what he did to our friendly, harmless little shelled friends. I, too, am sorry for your loss. What a sad experience. Hugs to you and anyone else who has gone through losing any of their little babies!

 

[FarmGirlNC]

I am concerned about the middle of the day attack/rabies possibility. Please be careful handling the fox/the chickens it killed.

There are predator lures and calls available to help you draw the fox to a place where you can shoot it safely (clear shot, away from house and road). I am happy to chat about hunting strategies and techniques (although I am far from an expert)- I have addressed predator problems this way successfully- and need to do another this weekend as well

It is sad to have to shoot a predator. I wish they had more range available to them and could stick to eating the groundhogs! But my experience says once it finds my hens it will come back over and over until I have no hens so I either need to give up keeping chickens or just address the problem.

I have used a .22 rifle with high speed hollow point ammo with good success for fox (the better ammo is worth th $ IMO). I have a youth model rifle being female/shorter arms I find it much easier to handle and aim than the larger models. We have a high speed air rifle for rats and possum but I like the .22 for anything larger.

I personally prefer shooting (direct and you know what you are getting) to poisoning where dosage and availability to other animals makes me concerned that the predator will suffer more than necessary/get sick but not die or that I will end up poisoning something I didn't mean to poison. But it sounds like it worked for go-veggie, so maybe that would work...

You might call any local person who does hunting classes/takes people hunting for pay- sometimes there are experienced hunters happy to have the opportunity to rid you of a predator.

I am sorry for your loss.

 

[FarmGirlNC]

(sorry for multiple posts)- (and this one is a bit graphic) regarding loud and lethal- the .22 or .22 magnum are a little loud but nothing compared to my shotgun or bigger hunting rifles. I use ear protection when I am practicing with the .22 only out of habit really- but I have used it hunting with no ear protection and it is not too loud for that. Any gun- any gun at all- even an air gun- should be considered potentially lethal. I would not have the guns or the ammo out of my safe unless I am personally holding the weapon getting ready to hunt and I would not load the weapon until I am sitting behind blind/cover and my kids are safely elsewhere or with me (beside me behind the firing line). While it is true that some guns are more automatically lethal than others (if I had to be shot with a 243 or a .22 or an air gun I would choose the air gun), we humans are soft skinned animals and if the airgun can go through a rat (it can) then it could go far enough into me to kill me too. Very skilled hunters actually can hut deer with airguns- my aim is not as precise as that- but it illustrates the point that they can be lethal. So I am obsessive and meticulous about the rules of gun safety- I would no more leave any gun or ammo out of my control than I would leave broken glass scattered in the floor of a child's bedroom. And definitely a body shot is an easier shot than a head shot- the head is smaller and moves around more. If you shoot it once and it drops, you can get closer and do a head shot as a mercy shot.