Fox

[MelodyGraulich]

A fox grabbed one of my girls during daylight hours a few days ago. I live in a rural area, on 5 acres, so there's no way to protect the girls from the fox if they're free-ranging, so I've had them locked in their run, and they're outraged. Any ideas about what to do about a fox? We won't kill it. Anyone trapped one in a have-a-heart? But then how to let it loose....

 

[mishellez]

Funny you should post this...this morning was the second time ever I've had a red fox outside my chicken run in broad daylight. First time (a week or two ago) I think he or she was hunting chipmunks but my stupid birds stood there in full view alarming at him, making sure he knew they were there. This time he was definitely running at them but was stopped by the fence before I chased him away. Unfortunately for you, free-ranging has its risks, as I am sure that in my case the only reason I didn't have any losses was because of the fence. I've heard that foxes are hard to trap in a hav-a-hart but you can try keeping your birds locked up and baiting with either the one he killed or some cat food. Problem is, how/where to relocate it? I've heard they're very stinky so I don't think you'd want one in your car. Plus you're taking a predator and making it trap-savvy then releasing it for someone else to deal with, not to mention possibly spreading any disease it MIGHT have. Your only other option is to secure your birds. When you have something as tasty and helpless as a chicken running around loose there will always be dangers, and you have to be prepared to either secure them for their own protection or use lethal force to eliminate the predators that are attracted to them. Sorry that I'm pretty much no help for you but I'm dealing with the same problem right now so I thought I'd respond....

BTW, I let my birds out to free-range in the yard in late afternoon/early evening for a few hours while I supervise. Maybe you can compromise, enclose/secure them for most of the day and give them 'outies' for a few hours before bedtime?