Fox is killing My chickens!!! What the Heck do I do!!!!!!

[johnderosa1]

[COLOR=333333]I was at war with mother nature for quite some time.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Win a battle, lose a battle.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Way too many loses on both sides.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]I found my energies better spent on building a strong defence as others have suggested.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]I don't even think about predators anymore.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]My avitar is a reminder of my very last capacitor, he was just a baby. [/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]Held him captive till I finished my reinforcements, then released him knowing he was now no longer my enemy nor threat.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]He left with a full belly of my dogs food, lamb and rice, not chicken .[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333]He returned often, but left unsatisfied.[/COLOR] [COLOR=333333] [/COLOR]

It's true.... I lost some birds early on to a raccoon and a hawk. While i did some pre-emptive trapping of raccoons for a while, i knew that the proper solution for the long run was better security. I now have a large area protected by 7 foot high metal hex deer fencing fortified by 2 strands of predator rated electric fencing. It's been well over a year since I installed it and so far the largest animals to get past it (as far as I can tell) are a few gray squirrels, crossing tree to tree to circumvent the fence, and chipmunks/mice /voles. For me this is a win/win since I really didnt like having to kill animals just because they were looking for a meal. My dual barrier set up really works well as the perimeter fence prevents an animal from getting past the electric strands and the electric prevents an offender from digging under or climbing over the perimeter fence!

 

[Free Feather]

Fox are not evil, no non-human predator is. They are just hungry. They do not think you own it, because in the animal world, that idea is absurd.Better protect your chickens. If the fox persists with a fence, fight it. Do not shoot it. That is cowardly.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

I had a fox problem.....i still do...... But havent had time to set my leg traps due to my cats. I will get it if its the last thing i do....it wont be alive once I catch it...... Anything I Catch I Dispatch. That way i know it wont come back I sure hell aint gonna feed them thats adding to the problem.

 

[flgardengirl]

Not only do foxes love chicken, foxes also love eggs. I found this out trapping raccoons with eggs in our live traps.
Foxes are smarter than most critters. What I usually do is set out the live trap and do not open it. I put eggs around it and even a few on top. I do this for a few days so the fox will get used to it being there and lose fear of the trap. They are very wary of strange new things in their environment. Once I see that the eggs are disappearing on a regular basis, I go ahead and open up the trap door and set it and put the eggs way in the back. Sometimes I will put one in the front of the door as well for a little taste lol. Anyhow, it must work, we have caught several red foxes here.
The other advantage to using eggs is the stray cats around here aren't really interested in them so I don't end up catching cats.

This guy was so bold he started running up and taking hens in broad daylight. He even chased one of our turkey hens almost all the way up to the house in the afternoon. I feel sorry for them but can't let them keep eating up our birds. I let dh do the dispatching. I just set the traps lol.

 

[Poultrybonkers]

Not only do foxes love chicken, foxes also love eggs. I found this out trapping raccoons with eggs in our live traps. Foxes are smarter than most critters. What I usually do is set out the live trap and do not open it. I put eggs around it and even a few on top. I do this for a few days so the fox will get used to it being there and lose fear of the trap. They are very wary of strange new things in their environment. Once I see that the eggs are disappearing on a regular basis, I go ahead and open up the trap door and set it and put the eggs way in the back. Sometimes I will put one in the front of the door as well for a little taste lol. Anyhow, it must work, we have caught several red foxes here. The other advantage to using eggs is the stray cats around here aren't really interested in them so I don't end up catching cats. This guy was so bold he started running up and taking hens in broad daylight. He even chased one of our turkey hens almost all the way up to the house in the afternoon. I feel sorry for them but can't let them keep eating up our birds. I let dh do the dispatching. I just set the traps lol.

Do you break the eggs or no?

 

[collingwood]

Shoot it!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

More fox will come if you trap and murder the ones you have. More will always come, and you should be glad because of it.

In that case you have a conundrum because if you fail to thin out the foxes that you currently have, the foxes you already
possess will continue to murder the chickens that you currently own. But as long as there are parcel delivery services and hatcheries, then the chicks will continue to come.... that is as long as your money holds out.

 

[flgardengirl]

Do you break the eggs or no?

No I don't usually break the eggs. If you find the fox isn't taking them you could try putting a little crack in one so they can get the smell. Once they taste eggs they will keep coming back for them (just like with the taste of chicken lol). They even will eat nasty rotten eggs. If you find any bad eggs around you can pick them up with a shovel and use those as well.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

No I don't usually break the eggs. If you find the fox isn't taking them you could try putting a little crack in one so they can get the smell. Once they taste eggs they will keep coming back for them (just like with the taste of chicken lol). They even will eat nasty rotten eggs. If you find any bad eggs around you can pick them up with a shovel and use those as well.

An all round attractant scent can be produced by breaking 6 to a dozen eggs in a plastic liquid dishwashing squirt bottle and burying the squirt bottle in you yard for a few months. Don't forget to leave a small opening in the squirt tip so that the bottle doesn't explode.

A few drops around each of your traps will go a long way to cover human scent and remove suspicion from target animals.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Which reminds me, in my youth no varmint was so universally disliked as an egg sucking dog.