Fox Help...

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Goaldielocks

Goaldielocks

In the Brooder
11 Years
Sep 17, 2008
33
0
32
Southern Maine
Ugh...He got another one yesterday, my favorite, lovie.
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:( We thought it was a hawk, but last week I chased of a fox that was 10 feet from the busy road at 5 pm with one of my girls in his mouth! He ran and so did they back to the coop. She was shaken but alright. Then yesterday, 2 were missing. At dusk one came back. There were feathers all over, obviously he got one again and during the day too! Our coop is less than 12 feet from our house. I am a bit concerned as I have 2 young kids and can't let them outside without me now. Any advice on what to do? Can I set a trap for a fox? Shoot it? Poison? He's gotten 4 of my 7 girls.
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Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
How about putting a hot wire around your pen? Or is this happening when they are out of the pen free-ranging? Also, I don't think a fox would attack any human, even a child. You may want to call you local animal control and find out if you can set a live-trap for the fox, they may even have one to loan you. I don't know if you can legally shoot or poison it. Sorry for your loss, I hope you can get it stopped.
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I also have a fox. I also belong to Defenders of Wildlife, so I'm not going to sit out there with a shotgun. Instead, I'd like to know if any of you have heard of or tried a method they promote to keep wolves from livestock that is called Fladry. It's extremely simple and cheap, a factor important to me since I can't afford to electrify our fencing. Apparently, wolf hunters in Europe have used this method for hundreds of years. They take a rope and tie red or orange strips of cloth to it at set intervals. They would then use these as fences to funnel the wolves to where they wanted them because the wolves won't cross this boundary, even when frightened. Defenders has taught ranchers and sheep herders to use this to "fence" in their stock when they can't watch for the predators and apparently it works great. I'm wondering if it might work for foxes. I've written to them to get an opinion. In the meantime, I'm going to take plastic grocery bags (Guess it's good that I occasionally forget my reusable bags!) and loop them onto the fence about 1 foot up. My sister-in-law and I are thinking that better yet, we'll put those obnoxiously loud Sun Chips bags (empty) in the grocery bags. That should scare off anything!
Opinions?
 
My Girls free-range. We hadn't had any issues until about 2 months ago when we came home to a pile of feathers.
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We have a couple of acres, but they mainly hang out near the house especially when it's warm. Anywho, we they've been free (during the day) for almost 2 years. I don't think it's fair to leave them inside, and I know they don't like it because they strt laying eggs on the floor of the coop when they are inside for a few days. Any ideas how long it might take for the fox to move along to other food if I keep them inside?
Thanks!
 
Sorry you are having this problem. The fox like the early in the morning and the late in the evening attack. I personally do not like to kill anything but when it has my chicken in its mouth it has to go.
Get your self a shotgun and take them out. I do not agree with poison, two many other animals could get in trouble.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=108585
Here is a link to one of my fox stories. Its worth a laugh.
S@R@
 
I have a feeling the fox will hang around until all the easy pickings are gone. I just got done tying grocery bags around my fence, at least for now. I'm about 30 short so I'll see if I can get some from the local grocery stores recycling bin. It looks really funny, but sadly, the only way to test this is to see if the fox gets in again or not. I hate risking my girls on an experiment! It's possible my sister-in-law shooing him off will be enough, but I doubt it since our first attack happened while the hens were out loose to eat fallen apples and the fox got one while my husband was washing his car not 50 feet away!
 
The fox will continue to go across your property as it is part of their range until almost all prey in the area is gone (they move into an adjacent area) or they die.

They don't just eat chicken and the smell will keep them coming back until hunger drives them elsewhere.

I'm not one to mix most control methods and children. I'd confine your chickens to a predator proof enclosure, it doesn't have to be a coop during the day, just something that will slow a fox down until you can run it off. A good electric fence on the outside of that enclosure would be excellent.

What you can do in terms of a lethal means depends on a number of things that involve land use, size of lot, local ordinances, and state law.

For example, if your chickens are not legal you have a different situation than if they are legal.

Here is a link to get you started: www.maine.gov/ifw/ give them a call and tell them what is going on and ask for suggestions.
 

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