Foxes? advice, experiences... info etc

[Going Quackers]

So lucky me we have a fox who has discovered my farm is his drive thru dinner place. May i have a bit of info on their habits and any tips, ideas on dealing with them?

Basically trying to educate myself on the latest predator.... ty!

 

[LRH97]

Foxes have been my number one predator problem over the years. Only a handful of hawk attacks, but I've lost count of the number of fox attacks. Foxes have a nasty habit of sort of going kill crazy. What I mean is, if one gets in your run or coop, for instance, he may go nuts and kill way more than he needs and only make off with one bird. This happened to my nine ducks. A fox got into their pen, killed all of them and took only one with him for his meal. Another thing, they come back. They almost always seem to come back. If you get a frequent "visitor" fox, he'd clean you out if you gave him the chance. We've always set traps and stood guard outside when the number of attacks were up. I always did "flock inspections" about every hour or so, since I'm home most of the time. Something that has also worked well for me is putting a radio outside by the coop and letting it play throughout the day when the flock is out ranging. That was my latest trick, and I haven't had a problem...yet. I've also kept everyone locked up on random days, so he can't get an idea when they'll be outside. Believe me, they're crafty little buggers. We just have to be craftier. I hope this helped some. Best of luck!

 

[dekel18042]

So lucky me we have a fox who has discovered my farm is his drive thru dinner place. May i have a bit of info on their habits and any tips, ideas on dealing with them?

Basically trying to educate myself on the latest predator.... ty!

I have to rate foxes as our worst predator. They're smart, sneaky and killers. We've tried all kinds of traps and caught everything but foxes. Nothing else is a problem. They're brazen. Sometimes we run into one when least expected but usually then we're not prepared to deal with it.
I swear, they must lie in wait. If a dog is lose all day with the chickens, nothing happens, but let the dog come in for ten minutes and I've had a chicken disappear.
Finally we're getting a little respite. First we've turned the chicken area into Fort Knox. We have coops, covered runs and then a much larger totally fenced in area. This has taken place over time. The only poultry in danger is some of the more agile birds will fly over the six foot outer fence, but since they are the more wary and smaller hens I figure they can just fly back in again.
Our last fox problem and it was a major one was in April when the foxes had their young ones, but lucky for us most people up and down our rural road keep poultry and they were having worse problems than we were so everyone was after foxes and I think some were more successful because I haven't seen or heard any foxes in the past five months. It would be nice if it stayed that way.
Unfortunately the chickens I hatched this spring were meant to increase my flock but basically they are replacing what was taken.

 

[Folly's place]

Have you set up electrified poultry fencing? It should do a good job of keeping out ground predators. Mary

 

[KrazyKatLady]

I too am interested in anyone's experience with electric fences and foxes. In fact, I would not be opposed to a strong enough shock to permanently remove them one by one. If you have had success with electric fences I would love to hear the details!

 

[Howard E]

Krazy Kat:

For ideas on electric fences, see my member page. Link to it is below. That is your best defense against a fox, and most other ground based furry varmints.

 

[KrazyKatLady]

Krazy Kat:

For ideas on electric fences, see my member page. Link to it is below. That is your best defense against a fox, and most other ground based furry varmints.

I don't see a link here....tried going to your profile but couldn't find it there. I am still figuring this site out!

 

[Folly's place]

Search premier1supplies.com. They are the best! and great phone support too. Mary

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A lot of bushes, high weeds & grass, or other cover is a foxes' best friend. It not only provides foxes and other predators cover to spring an ambush from, but it will also impede your chickens from fleeing or flying to safety.

Then again, those chickens are your personal property and (hopefully) only you will be out if a fox kills the whole flock. So do what ever you do to or with your chickens that makes you the happiest is what your goal should be.

It is a good idea to persecute every groundhog or woodchuck that sets foot on your land because the abandoned dens of these rodents are the perfect location for foxes to raise a family. When the pups get up in age mama & papa fox will bring half dead prey back for their children to hone their killing skills and instincts. There is often so much decaying prey scattered about that you can smell a fox den before you can see it.

 

[Howard E]

I don't see a link here....tried going to your profile but couldn't find it there. I am still figuring this site out!

Here is the link.......

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/a-treatise-on-electric-fences-for-poultry

(look below and you will see it............)