FOX: Is there ANY way to get EVICT them from the premises?

[aart]

Hubby already piled in some boulders and filled in the dirt they moved.

Might have to keep doing that.

This is what he installed at the edge of the barn, securing hardware cloth from the ground to the underside of the barn:
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...animal-barrier-10-pack-dd3103210?cm_vc=-10005

This might be would probably be more effective...along with the hotwire.
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

 

[cmom]

Do not trap and then relocate and give someone else an issue. We are rural on a dead end road and have been the recipients of relocations.

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

Catch'em Alive traps from Tractor Supply. Drive them 10 miles away and let them go. We've instructed our boys to pee directly into every foxhole they can find. You can buy predator urine to sprinkle around. Don't choose a native animal like wolf or bear as it can attract them to you. Choose lion or tiger. Just know, they'll only get chased off a little ways, but they'll come back for your new chickens.

Yeah, the people ten miles away will be pissed.

 

[Astrid]

I don't think hot wire will help in this situation.
OP says

Behind our house we have a big carriage barn, and part of the barn has been our coop for several years.

Anyway, I didn't replace them right away, and for two years (that we know of-- most likely longer!) a family of fox have been living in under the barn,

So, if I understand correctly, coop is a part of barn that foxes are living under.
Hot wire would trap foxes inside? Or am I reading this wrong?

Yes; I think they've been denning there and I'd bet there are kits already. We see two adults on our trail camera, coming and going. There is a tack room that's an extension of the barn, separated from the main barn floor by a sliding door. That room is the coop. It's got a sturdy, solid foundation and wood floor so the indoor coop itself is secure, but it opens into a large wire-enclosed run where the hens forage during the day.

 

[MissE]

I use an electric poultry fence. It even keeps the bears out. Unfortunately, I can only use it from April until October, so the rest of the time I need to make sure my run and coop are like Fort Knox.

You may not be able to get rid of the foxes, but you can keep them away from the chickens by having a secure run and deterring them with electricity.

I'm in the sticks and have no problem letting them play catch with the 12 gauge of they are causing a problem, but I understand this is not an option for you. Can you call a pest control or animal control company to get rid of them?

 

[Astrid]

Is that where they dug in.....and where they killed the birds?

No, the fox are denning under the barn. In December of 2019, a fisher ripped open the chicken wire and got my whole flock. We had planned to start again in the spring of 2020, but that's when we noticed the fox family. We spent all last summer trying to convince them to relocate, all to no avail. I've got chicks ordered for this spring, but the fox family are back! I want them gone, because although I've never had a predator issue in 15+ years of a backyard flock, now I've suddenly, in my urban backyard, got a family of fox AND a fisher, apparently. ARGH.

 

[MissE]

We have thought about a Havahart trap and relocation ourselves, but we know we have skunk in the area (as most urban/suburban neighborhoods in Connecticut do) and are worried that we'll trap a skunk instead-- and then what???

Keep in mind, relocation is illegal in many areas, and you are just making your problem become someone else's problem. Heck, the DNR doesn't even relocate bears around here. The rule is do your due diligence to not attract them, but if they are destroying or about to destroy property, you can shoot them. You just need to report it within 48 hours.

 

[Astrid]

Keep in mind, relocation is illegal in many areas, and you are just making your problem become someone else's problem. Heck, the DNR doesn't even relocate bears around here. The rule is do your due diligence to not attract them, but if they are destroying or about to destroy property, you can shoot them. You just need to report it within 48 hours.

"not attracting them." That horse is out of the barn. It's not like I posted a neon sign, "VACANCY!" but they found their way here on their own, at least two + years ago, attracted by the cozy, secluded, dry denning area under the barn.

Similarly, shooting them is not an option either, as I'm in a close, urban neighborhood of victorian homes on half-acre, in-town lots.

 

[MissE]

"not attracting them." That horse is out of the barn. It's not like I posted a neon sign, "VACANCY!" but they found their way here on their own, at least two + years ago, attracted by the cozy, secluded, dry denning area under the barn.

Similarly, shooting them is not an option either, as I'm in a close, urban neighborhood of victorian homes on half-acre, in-town lots.

You misunderstood what I said. In my area, when it comes to bears, we have to do our due diligence to not attract them. That would mean no bird feeder or garbage left out. That does not apply to feeding livestock.

Using a live trap to relocate animals seldom works, and is illegal in many areas. The DNR here will not even relocate bears anymore. Either they just come back or they become someone else's problem.

 

[Astrid]

No, I completely understood what you said. We have a bear issue in my area too, exacerbated by folks feeding wild birds and/or leaving their trash unsecure. I'm not sure what due diligence I could have done to avoid attracting the foxes; they return year after year and dig through/under/around any barrier we put in place. I don't feed the birds, and my coop has been empty for two years. Our yard is fenced, and our large dogs are only out when we are out with them. It's a busy neighborhood, across from a school, and with neighbors behind. We can't shoot anything in this area, that's against the law. We haven't attempted to live-trap them as we also have raccoon, skunk, and neighborhood cats.