Fox Vs. Fowl, Battle Royale

[BBQJOE]

property is only a few acres, with a subdivision in the back, precluding the safe operation of firearms.

Well, there goes my idea for blasting caps and dynamite.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

I have two runs. One is for the older flock which is electric poultry netting and gets moved around for free ranging. These are great for this purpose. The other run is rigid and gets an apron of 2x4 welded wire 14 ga. around it. I use that same welded wire for the run and comes in 4ft by 50ft roll for $35-40. I cut the 4 foot in half and then to length of run. Just like aart has diagram of. The grass will grow through it and soon it disappears or just lift the sod and lay flat under it. The coop still needs to be closed at night but works for day predators.

You can trap and shoot all the predators you see and loose a chicken the next week as another predator moves into the now unoccupied area. If your run is secure you wont see any predators as once they try to get to your birds and can't have no reason to show themselves to you. Predators will still be in the area but are now trained to not bother with your birds. Wasted effort in the case of dig proof apron or pain training from an electric fence.

 

[21hens-incharge]

We are in the middle of town and have fox as well as racoon. I have the apron set up as well as a secure fence for the run with a wire top due to the passing hawks. I have not lost one to a predator.
I have seen a fox in the yard giving valiant effort to dig under in a couple spots. It would dig then move over a bit and try there.

Secure the run better with an apron and use hot wire if you want to give added protection is my advice.

Leg traps are likely to catch your cat as is a hav-a-hart trap.

If you kill them more will take their place. Best to make it so none can get in.

 

[LeafBlade12345]

I agree with most of these posts. A wire apron could be very helpful. Then, there's no need to kill the fox and go through the hassle of buying, setting up, baiting, and hiding traps. You don't run the risk of hurting other animals either. Remember, new predators take the old ones' places. Whatever you choose, you will do what's best for your animals and, I hope, the local wildlife. Anyway, Good luck with keeping your poultry safe.

 

[Crowlung]

How do you get fence a foot into the ground without digging?! <scratcheshead>

What it looked like to me was a sort of series of prongs that you poke into the ground, like columns, not rows, of stock panel. I have some stock panel left over from some goats so I might just have to jerry-rig something to my own design.

Also, I must say that defensive fortification is not in my nature lol. I perceive a threat and then my impulse is to eliminate it. Conventional circumstance might suggest simply pred-proofing, but I have kept almost every predator at bay, save this fox by careful observation and intervention. I feel that this is the exception, not the rule.

Also, it turns out that my favorite hen did survive, it was a very similar looking hen that bought it and my favorite was merely harassed to the point of losing almost all of her plumage . So kind of a mixed bag here.

 

[Crowlung]

Well, there goes my idea for blasting caps and dynamite.

Now we're getting somewhere

.

 

[tdepointe]

I understand you response of see a threat and eliminate it, but this approach requires an attack and potential loss before you can eliminate the threat. By increasing the defenses with one or more of the options that have been given you remove the food supply and the predators move on.
When I have had an attack and loss I first identify and fix the weakness in defenses then eliminate the predator that has found the food supply. Because once they have found a food supply they will be back with a vengeance.

 

[hayley3]

In the past I always got a warning. One chicken gone..one duck missing and then I was more vigilant and didn't lose any birds. My good fortune lasted a while until one day I got hit with a massacre, killing 6 of my beautiful hens...the guilt of not protecting them is still killing me. I wanted them to be free outside but now the remaining 3 have no desire to move from their protected place. Although I am in the process of fixing them a day place.

At first I wanted revenge, and I bought a $400 camera system so I can see who/what killed them, but in the end, it doesn't matter, because as everyone else has said, there will be more. I used to trap raccoons and then shoot them, well I was shooting one a week and it was getting to me. And it wasn't even the raccoons that was taking my beloved ducks.

The thought of digging wire into the ground was a big turn off for me so I just use pieces of thin wood or plywood with a cinder block on top for my bottom edges. Whatever prevents them from digging under. I didn't know that the wire skirt would disappear like the wood does..so that's good to know.

 

[21hens-incharge]

The apron of wire is super easy to put in place. Attach the wire to the existing fence, pin it to the ground while bending it at a 90 degree angle so it lays as flat as you can get it then place a couple pavers on any place that is humped up and the grass/plants will secure it. By next season it will be embedded in the ground enough that you cannot see it at all. The mower and weed eaters have not hit it here doing it this way.

Just a note..... chicken wire rusts and would need replaced in 2 to 4 years depending on moisture in the soil.