Fox Tormenting Chickens during daytime

[Peppercorngal]

You can shoot that fox but tomorrow, another predator will move in and take his place. Have to set up for the long haul.

True, but you don't stop washing the clothes because they will just get dirty again!

 

[centrarchid]

True, but you don't stop washing the clothes because they will just get dirty again!

You can reload firearm as well.

 

[Al Gerhart]

The fox might have just happened across your coop but it was more likely drawn to the coop by rodents. Check to see if you have a rodent problem, mice or rats. The thing about wild animals is that few can afford to waste time and must constantly and efficiently forage for wild feed. Most have a very large range staked out and constantly defended from other predators. They MUST work very hard finding natural food to survive and feed a litter in the spring. The fox doesn't have time to waste and won't waste its time unless there is a reason to stick around.

If the fox is feeding off the rodents that are drawn to your coop, it will keep coming back. Predators can smell the rodents, some have different eye sight that can actually see the urine trails the rodents leave to and from their main food source.

I guarantee that the fox isn't sticking around on the hope it can get into the pen. Rodents have drawn it there and while it is hunting the rodents it will harass the birds hoping to find a way in. Make that fox earn an honest living on wild rodents.

Solve the rodent problem, the fox will leave.

 

[centrarchid]

Sometimes the rodent problem is not related to House Mouse or Norway Rat abundance. In some settings, abundance of voles and Cotton-tailed Rabbits are what the fox is keying in. Foxes here are clearly keying in on the latter.

 

[2Old2Crow]

I would say this fox was not after rodents, mice, or rats.

 

[centrarchid]

I would say this fox was not after rodents, mice, or rats.

That one would be easy to beat with a little hotwire. Real easy.

 

[Trisseh]

Fox is looking for an easy chicken dinner, of course it would like to eat them! They’re super opportunistic so they’ll eat what they can get. I 2nd (4th?) an electric fence. Bait it and wait. It works extremely well and will work for any others that come around as well, unlike dispatching this particular fox. Make it unpleasant and difficult to get that meal, and they’ll move on.

 

[rayrose]

Put out poison bait.

 

[Howard E]

I would say this fox was not after rodents, mice, or rats.

Couple observations.......fox easily defeated half measures, but coop was sturdy, door was securely fastened, and combination meant fox left empty handed. It can be done.

BUT, if a person wanted to live trap this fox, an appropriate sized cage trap oriented such that the birds it was after were positioned at the end of the tunnel........blocking off all other entrances....covering and camoflaging trap in such a way the only thing a fox could see was the tunnel opening and smelling and hearing birds at the other then......this agressive fox likely would have risked entering the tunnel to get at them.....and got himself caught in the process. No bait used other than live birds, who are never put at risk. Standard ADC trapping technique.

Yet another option would be a coil spring trap along the lines of a #1 1/2 to #2 trap.....securely anchored. All that is needed is to hide or bury the trap where the fox is likely to step on the trap's pan......which is about the size of an extra large egg. Blocking is employed to funnel them directly to it. As much dancing around as fox is doing, it would be only a matter of time before it stepped on the pan and got itself caught. Also live trapped for release or dispatch. But the coil spring trap option, while highly effective, is not that simple. Will require considerable time spent on trap prep, and time spent acquiring the skill in making an effective set. Easy peasy to an experienced trapper......not so much to a novice.

But as previously noted, what about an electric hot wire? One touch of that, fox would likely have bolted and would not have come back. Compared to the difficulty of trapping......childs play.....with the added benefit of not having to decide what to do about your freshly caught fox.

 

[Sublight]

Personally, I would hit it at all angles.

Bait the fox, and kill it.
Once it finds a meal source, it will keep trying to come back.
They survive by knowing where food tends to be.

Kill the rats. I like the 5 gallon bucket, with a screw in the bottom, and small holes cut in the sides so the chickens/cats/dogs cant get to the poison, but the rats can.
--
Discourage the rats. keep the feed inside the coop, and seal up the coop, so nothing can get inside at night. Seal up what you can find. Then go inside the coop at night, and have someone shine a flashlight at it. If there are gaps, you will find them.
Remove the free dinner, the rats will move on.

Add a electric fence if you want.

Lastly, look at my signature for a "Critter detection device". It works well.
when the motion detector goes off at night, it will turn on a radio in your room, or anything that comes on when power comes on. (Dremel tool with no bit, drill with no bit, radio, anything to alert you of the motion).

Then step outside and shoot to kill. It will tell you when something is skulking around your pen, and you don't have to stare at the pen all night.