fox in the hen house

[nocody1]

my new chickens are not laying. they are about 6 months old. we give them plenty of water, grit, calcium. lighting is good. we believe the cause to be a fox family that is causing them to be stressed. we were also wondering if we obtained a hen that was laying, would this help them to start?

 

[OldRedChicken]

do you keep the door closed or open cause if it is open that would probably cause them not to lay cause the fox could come in. we also have a fox that is trying to catch our chickens but we leave our dog out and she chases them away. you could use a live trap and catch them and move them to a different place in the woods.

 

[nocody1]

durning the day it is open. they are enclosed in an open 8 ft fence with a roof but the fox or what ever has gotten in at night when we forgot to lock them up for the night. also something has fallen threw the roof and gotten one. am looking for a dog to train as a sentry for them. use to have a lab that kept them away but he died. we are looking for live traps but in our county we have to have a permit (we do) to catch them and they are vector 8 species so we have to kill them because they carry rabies and can not be relocated. thanks

 

[OldRedChicken]

I would probably leave them in all day then.

 

[donrae]

do you keep the door closed or open cause if it is open that would probably cause them not to lay cause the fox could come in. we also have a fox that is trying to catch our chickens but we leave our dog out and she chases them away. you could use a live trap and catch them and move them to a different place in the woods.

This is illegal, I think in pretty much every state.

 

[redstar14]

Use leg hold trap duke makes one with rubber pads so its humane for the animal they can be bought on ebay or flemming outdoors .com

 

[chickengeorgeto]

my new chickens are not laying. they are about 6 months old. we give them plenty of water, grit, calcium. lighting is good. we believe the cause to be a fox family that is causing them to be stressed. we were also wondering if we obtained a hen that was laying, would this help them to start?

No mention about what breed of hen you have. The breed of hen makes a difference about how old they are before they start laying.

 

[appps]

Ditto above. My faverolles have only just started at 6.5 months old.