Fox killing chickens

[roosterhavoc]

Foxes take guineas just as easy as a chicken. I’ve seen it happen with my own. Guineas aren’t the brightest and will run instead of flying. They obviously can’t outrun a red fox.
The only difference is they make more of a racket before they get killed.

 

[Rodrad]

You can't really keep anything away. All you can do is provide predator proof containment for your flock.

I keep my flock behind poultry netting powered with a 10,000 volt charger. We have lots of fox, coyote, fishers, racoons, roving dogs and several black bears.

The black bear has been on our property more times than I can count, right up within 7' of the house. She's never giving my flock any trouble. I'm sure she's met my electric fence and learned very quickly that easier, less painful meals can be found elsewhere.

Aerial threats are managed with good cover. A covered run the chickens can run under, thick shrubbery, etc.

We just lost one chicken, probably late in the evening (when I went to lock them in the coop, around 9 pm in Indiana, one chicken was missing. In the day they are in our 50 ft square run secured only by chicken wire. I couldn’t see any hole dug underneath, so I assume fox climbed over it. I have an electric fence at about 8” above the ground but that apparently didn’t prevent, I assume fox, getting the chicken. So I would like to get some details of your electric fence.

There is a possibility that a hawk got it, they are about 4 weeks old and are heavy breed (Orpington, RIR, Barred Rock and Australor). Only about 10% or so of the run is visible from the sky, the rest is under the mature trees. Adjacent to the run is fairly large wooded area of around 25 acres. So I suspect the fox was the culprit.

 

[DobieLover]

We just lost one chicken, probably late in the evening (when I went to lock them in the coop, around 9 pm in Indiana, one chicken was missing. In the day they are in our 50 ft square run secured only by chicken wire. I couldn’t see any hole dug underneath, so I assume fox climbed over it. I have an electric fence at about 8” above the ground but that apparently didn’t prevent, I assume fox, getting the chicken. So I would like to get some details of your electric fence.

There is a possibility that a hawk got it, they are about 4 weeks old and are heavy breed (Orpington, RIR, Barred Rock and Australor). Only about 10% or so of the run is visible from the sky, the rest is under the mature trees. Adjacent to the run is fairly large wooded area of around 25 acres. So I suspect the fox was the culprit.

I run 40" high poultry netting that has 10 strands of hot wires. Any curious ground predator is going to make a cautious approach to sniff the fence. THAT is when they get the shock and if the charger is strong enough to deliver a powerful punch, they won't be back for seconds. My charger pushes 10,000 volts/1.4 Joules. It hurts my arm or leg when I accidentally touch it. I can't imagine what it would be like to hit it with my nose.
If and animal approach and made running leap and jumped over the fence, that is another story. But in the nearly 3 years I've used the fence, that hasn't happened.

 

[Rodrad]

I run 40" high poultry netting that has 10 strands of hot wires. Any curious ground predator is going to make a cautious approach to sniff the fence. THAT is when they get the shock and if the charger is strong enough to deliver a powerful punch, they won't be back for seconds. My charger pushes 10,000 volts/1.4 Joules. It hurts my arm or leg when I accidentally touch it. I can't imagine what it would be like to hit it with my nose.
If and animal approach and made running leap and jumped over the fence, that is another story. But in the nearly 3 years I've used the fence, that hasn't happened.

Wow, that sounds a great way to have such electric fence! Anymore details on the source of such fence?
I will have to check my old charger, with my digital voltmeter I couldn’t detect voltage! It has not been used for 25+ years so it could go bad just of age (although it says on it that it is solid state!)!

 

[DobieLover]

Wow, that sounds a great way to have such electric fence! Anymore details on the source of such fence?
I will have to check my old charger, with my digital voltmeter I couldn’t detect voltage! It has not been used for 25+ years so it could go bad just of age (although it says on it that it is solid state!)!

You don't want to use a solid state charger. You want to use a low impedance charger. It drives more current and packs a bigger punch. Look for a charger with at least 1.0 Joule OUTPUT.
I bought three 164' nets from Kencove with enough extra poles to double the number that come with the nets and jumpered them together. I also used two 8 ft copper ground rods, 10 ft apart sunk into a perpetually wet area to maximize ground.

 

[MROO]

In my opinion there is only 1 way of protecting a free range flock. A guardian dog that will watch over the flock is the best protection system you can get.

Only other way is to keep them fenced in with electric fence. That still leaves you susceptible to birds of prey.
Good luck and happy hunting.

X 10!