Fox problems...how do I kill this thing??

[BirdyMe]

Every May, I have this huge fox raid. There's a den of them somewhere around here....apparently the fox pups were all born this week, because I'm losing chickens like crazy, and I've seen the fox twice with birds in his mouth. I just chased him off literally 3 minutes ago. He got my d'Uccle rooster. Not a single puncture wound on the poor bird, but he broke its neck.

How do I kill these things?? I've never had any luck trapping them, and they're too fast and sly to shoot. What have you folks tried?

 

[OreoPlymothRock]

can you use an electric fence? one of those portable ones?

 

[OreoPlymothRock]

Things You'll Need​

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  Wire fencing
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  Repellant

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Instructions

1. • 1​
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     Remove all possible food sources to keep foxes from returning to scavenge your property. Stop leaving food outside for your domesticated cats and dogs, because some foxes are known to eat pet food. Protect your livestock and poultry from fox attack by erecting a wire barrier at least 6 feet high and buried at least 10 inches below ground level. You may also install electric fencing which will deliver an unpleasant shock to any fox who attempts to pass. When all the possible food sources are gone or unreachable, many foxes will cease to return to your property.
   • 2​
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     Put out fox repellent across the expanse of your property, and pay particular attention to your property boundaries and the areas surrounding any animals. Visit your local garden center or feed supply store to find chemical repellents which are approved for repelling foxes. Fox repellent is made with strong chemicals which foxes find offensive. Most fox repellent is not harmful to other animals, and you can find fox repellent that is made to be environmentally friendly and will not harm trees or other plant life. Follow the package instructions for using commercial fox repellent products.
   • 3​
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     Check the local laws pertaining to wildlife in your area to determine whether you can utilize a wildlife extermination company or whether you will have to contact the Wildlife Protection Service or the Fish and Game Department for assistance. Call a wildlife exterminator if your state laws allow and all other fox removal efforts have failed. Look through your local Yellow Pages and business listings to find a wildlife extermination company that specializes in fox removal. Make an appointment, and the company will send out a representative to assess your property and estimate the level of the fox infestation. The exterminator will conduct fox removal upon your request and may employ hunting, trapping or poisoning methods to remove or reduce the wild fox population surrounding your home.

Tips & Warnings

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  If you call an extermination service, you may request the company utilize the most humane removal methods possible.

I got this from ehow. Hope this helps

 

[ButchGood]

Get on top of your coop with a rifle. Wait. Shoot. It takes a lot of patience. You can use a predator call or play a predator call recording.
Another way to do it is the leg hold traps. You need to boil the traps to get all human scent off of them. Hang your boots, gloves, and cloths your going to wear wile setting the traps outside for a day or 2. Go out side your property line or fence line and set your traps. Dig a shallow hole, place the bait in a hole, (Id use chicken meat from the birds they killed), place the set trap on top of the bait, sprinkle fine dirt on top of the bait. put some leaves and very small twigs on the trap to conceal it. Make sure your trap is secure to something or pinned to the ground. When the fox digs for the bait, you got him. Make sure you check your traps every morning before the sun comes up. These traps hurt and its not right to leave any animal to suffer. When you see you have trapped a fox, shot him in the head.
These traps are indiscriminate and there is a possibility of trapping someones cat of dog. If this happens you need a heavy jacket or blanket to throw over them to release the trap. I trapped coons back in the 70's. in 2 years of trapping I only caught 1 domestic animal, But it made me feel bad for the Beagle. The trap didn't break ihs skin on its foot and it ran home. These traps work well, but they do come with some risks you may not be willing to take.

 

[BirdyMe]

Man, I would love to do some fencing. That would be the best bet, I think, for us, but unfortunately we can't afford it, and we don't have the time to put it up.

And we did try leg traps once, but we had to catch our barn cats- one of which is schizophrenic (no joke).

.....hmmm, I hate when I can't make something work. x) Keep the ideas coming folks! I like seeing what other people have done. Success stories are good!

For now, I'm doing what i did last year: keep all of the birds penned up. I hate doing it, because that kind of defeats the whole concept of free range, but it's all I've got. They've got an exhaust fan in their coop, and they also have a run. They're not too crowded right now either, so I guess it's not the end of the world.

 

[ivan3]

Armed, supervised free range is the only ranging that goes on here. We keep all under-story and brush cut well back into our woodlines. Good fields of fire for us and plenty of warning time for the poultry. Many of our neighbors, in the surrounding area, also keep poultry and goats and so the Reds get triangulated via word of mouth.

Don't know how much property you're on, but foxes will usually cache large kills far enough away from kill site to feel both safe and be within an easy traveling distance to den. Usually, within days of the grab, that cache site will contain nothing but feathers. That is where to start hunting down the den (south facing hillsides/streambanks/under abandoned farm buildings/at the base of big Hickory/Oak snags).

Have had good luck with snares during the winter, but we've shot far more Reds than we've trapped ( several kits in the live traps/only one adult), 18 in 2007 - this year? only two - and someone was kind enough to hit one on the road by our mailbox). They are sly, but they go blood simple after they get a bite of chook. If caught in the act and it takes off, just get the rifle and wait a bit, it just has to come back. We've had the brazen Reds try to make grabs with one, or the other, of us within 30ft.

Can't get them all, but can sure knock down the overall frequency of attempted predation while `free ranging'.

Good luck!

 

[BirdyMe]

I did find where he's bringing the birds to yesterday! My coop is about 20 feet from my driveway- cross the driveway, go down a hill about 50 feet into a small creek, go another 10 feet into the woods, and there piles of feathers everywhere! I've looked for the den all through there, but I can't find anything. And the road is just another 15 feet away. My guess is he's got a den across the road.....or maybe up the creek aways.

Anyway, I think I'll be staking out there to see if I can get him.
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

 

[Gofygure]

Figure out the routine. I've got a fox that comes by the house along the same route every day between 2:30 and 3:00. Yesterday she was literally five feet away from me as I waited for her. Even then, she wasn't really afraid. She just turned around and trotted away. She's taken four birds this year and my boyfriend seems to be having a hard time shooting her, so I'm heading out today with some noisy chickens at my back and a rifle. Hopefully I'll have better luck. I don't want to use anything other than a humane trap or a gun for fear of catching a dog.

I hope you find the thief soon, and that your chickens stay safe!

 

[JudiB1212]

This is my first year with foxes killing the chickens. Past years were coyote, racoon, fishers and raptors. Right now the fox is one kill ahead of me. The male got hit several weeks ago, I shot one kit and my dogs killed another. Yes they had a rabies booster within 24 hrs! But the female is proving to be a real problem. She is brave and wicked smart. I know she comes out at dusk so the past couple of nights I have waited with gun near one of her normal routes.

 

[centrarchid]

Can you use a chicken as bait? Place it in a pen with two sets of see-through and smell-through walls.