Fox!

[fowl farm]

I just witnessed a fox grab one of my ducks. This was the second duck, and it has taken 2 guineas and a chicken. How do I get rid of it?

 

[HEChicken]

A .22 to the head will do it.

Sorry for your loss. Unfortunately he WILL be back. I was visited a month ago and he killed 14 the first day and 2 the next. The .22 ended it permanently though.

 

[fowl farm]

This one seems to be coming every few days. Would it be possible to trap it (and then shoot it), or would it figure that out?

 

[HEChicken]

I have no experience with trapping and don't know how savvy they are (the expression sly as a fox comes to mind though, so I suspect trapping might be challenging). In my case, he visited the same time of day the second day, as the first, and because I was on high alert and ran out at the first sound, I interrupted him before he could kill more than two birds. I took the duck he had just killed and set it as "bait" just inside my fence. I watched the little booger climb the fence to get to the duck! I sat in a lawn chair by the coop, downwind of him so he never even knew I was there, and the .22 LR made it pretty easy. One shot to the head and he crumpled and that ended it.

I have since installed a Livestock Guardian Dog (LGD) because I figure where there's one there's more and if not more foxes, then certainly other predators willing to eat chicken. I was able to adopt a mostly grown puppy who took a couple of weeks to get her bearings but is now starting to understand the reason she's here and actively works to keep out anything that doesn't belong here.

 

[Miss Lydia]

This one seems to be coming every few days. Would it be possible to trap it (and then shoot it), or would it figure that out?

Go to the Predator pest thread and you'll see how people deal with them. I think setting a trap and then disposal would be best. So sorry about your losses.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Duplicate thread:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/695481/getting-rid-of-foxes/0_50#post_9431725