Fox

[lalaura]

We have a pesky fox that keeps killing our hens. We've lost 2 so far and almost lost a 3rd.

We have live traps out now and they have been out for a couple days. How long does it take to catch the fox? My hens are all locked up until we catch this thing and they are going nuts.

 

[Gofygure]

Live trapping a fox is notoriously difficult and you might be waiting a long time. They're clever animals and don't trust things that are too small to walk into or stink of humans. I'd suggest either building a run for you chickens or sitting in wait with a shotgun.

When I had a fox problem I kept the remains of my last loss and placed them near the fox's entry point. Sure enough, it came sniffing by and was distracted long enough to take a shot.

Sorry for your loss, I know how it feels. Hopefully you'll be able to resolve the situation quickly.

 

[lalaura]

Live trapping a fox is notoriously difficult and you might be waiting a long time. They're clever animals and don't trust things that are too small to walk into or stink of humans. I'd suggest either building a run for you chickens or sitting in wait with a shotgun.

When I had a fox problem I kept the remains of my last loss and placed them near the fox's entry point. Sure enough, it came sniffing by and was distracted long enough to take a shot.

Sorry for your loss, I know how it feels. Hopefully you'll be able to resolve the situation quickly.

Thanks. We have an A frame coop (it's very temporary) and it has a little run. We only have 9 hens but I am worried pretty soon they are going to get bored and start pecking at each other.


I don't have the hens from his last attack, they are too "old" now. How often should I be replacing the bait in the traps? (It's raw chicken and some guts/hearts). I actually had someone set all the traps and what not for me. He said we might need to rebait

 

[Gofygure]

Honestly, I haven't tried trapping one. I'm sure someone with a bit more knowledge will come by, or the man who set your traps will know. From what little I have read, though, your trap should be well disguised and the bait kept reasonably fresh. It's something of a balance between bringing in your scent and and keeping the food inside alluring. My fox showed up for a very ripe chicken when I nabbed her.

The problem is that if one fox is around, another will likely move into the vacated territory once you catch it. It's a dilemma for every chicken owner- do I free range them and take a few losses, potentially devastating losses, or do I keep them penned up for their own safety?

 

[chickortreat]

Is it a gray or a red? Grays are fairly easy to call in and shoot, but reds are a lot more wary. I sat on my front steps one evening after dark and called a gray into the yard. I missed with my first shot, kept calling, and within 5 minutes he was back.

 

[City Chicken]

how do you call a fox??

 

[Vamvakas]

Best thing for foxes is to buy a foot snare trap (it's a mini bear trap) and get some fox urine and fox gland lure. Foxes are smart and don't go into live traps unless you hind human scent and you need to cover the trap with leaves and wear rubber gloves. Snareshop.com sells traps/lure for almost any animal, fox snare/foot trap is like $8-$15 and you don't need a license to buy there products.

Edit... You may catch a possum with the snare foot trap with the fox urine/gland lure cause my trap went off and I seen a possum that had his nose attached to the trap, felt bad for the guy cause I wasnt looking for him and they don't bother my chickens.

 

[louie2037]

I just double-tapped a fox; maybe 15 minutes ago!! My wife had just gone to bed, and called me upstairs, wondering what kind of animal was yipping out back. It's a nice evening, maybe 60 degrees, so the bedroom windows are open. I told her it was a fox, and went for my 9mm Beretta (92F.) We have a huge deck on the back of the house that overlooks the backyard, and the chicken coop. Our yard slopes down on the rear of the house, so I can come out of the basement, under the deck. I told my wife that I was going to set down there for a while hoping; but not expecting, to get a shot at Mr. Fox if he came up to the coop. I wasn't down there for five minutes, where I saw him coming around the end of the coop.

I have to admit, it happened so fast, I didn't even get settled in, and I almost wet myself anyway! Being a retired cop has it's benifits; I calmed down, drew down with a perfect sight picture, and double tapped him just behind his front leg, and he folded instantly. Then I dashed out to grab the evidence, and toss him out into the woods before the working coppers come looking for who fired the shots. Pretty exciting evening I must say!

If this offends anyone, I apologize. Live traps are a waste of time since wild animals don't understand the whole concept of "behaving" themselves once they're released from the trap. As you all know, raising chickens in a labor of love, and costly too. A couple rounds of 9mm ammunition are a very inexpensive, but effective, manner of pest control.

 

[kelly52862]

I had 6 - 8 week old chicks, which were nesting at night in a stall. A red fox kill 3 of them, taking one body and leaving the other two. My dogs chased it off before it could kill off of them. The next night I locked up the 3 remaining chicks in a cat carrier, placing it on a live trap with the 2 bodies for bait in the same stall. The next morning I had a very unhappy red fox in the live trap. So I was able to trap a red fox, but that was the only time.

 

[Vamvakas]

I had 6 - 8 week old chicks, which were nesting at night in a stall. A red fox kill 3 of them, taking one body and leaving the other two. My dogs chased it off before it could kill off of them. The next night I locked up the 3 remaining chicks in a cat carrier, placing it on a live trap with the 2 bodies for bait in the same stall. The next morning I had a very unhappy red fox in the live trap. So I was able to trap a red fox, but that was the only time.

That's cause foxes are not as dumb as they look.. Foxes don't go into live traps easy even with live or dead bait chicken as bait. You need to cover your scent with a human disaffect spray the area you touched, foxes are all about scent. One tiny scent of human they wont even bother. This my sound kinda sick but if your a male and have a foxes around your chickens, pee around the coop this will mark your land and foxes wont bother with you.