Foxes and electric fences and/or traps

[oatsbgoats]

So about 2 months ago, we lost all of 12of our chickens to a fox around 7pm (still light out!!) . We keep out chickens free ranging during the day in a 15x30 foot fenced yard and lock them inside their secure coop around 6pm every day. That night we were late locking them in their coop (I just had a baby 4 days before and things were wild in our house with the new baby and our 2 year old) and came out around 8:30 and found the massacre. Very sad. We know for sure it was a fox because some were missing and the others just had their necks broken. We were devastated- these were our babies, as I'm sure you understand. It was a mother and daughter hen and their babies that they raised who were only about 4 weeks old. Heart breaking.

So I am doing what I can to re-bolster the yard. I think what happened is that the fox jumped on top of the coop and into the yard....now we are enclosing the coop within the yard. The fencing we are using is 8" tall 1 inch high quality deer fencing. I was told the floppy nature actually helps keep the predators out.

So my MAIN questions are:

1- Could we just always keep a trap next to the chicken coop to try and catch the fox when/if he comes near again?

2- Would a 48" electric poultry fence keep out fox if they can jump over 8"?

I am trying to figure out whatever we can do....I don't know if I could go through what we went through again.

Any thoughts/advice appreciated Thank you!

 

[sumi]

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss.

How awful! I think setting a trap is a good idea. We went that route with our predator issues and we caught a few beasties. Didn't lose any more chickens after that. Also, can you maybe put the electric fence on top of your existing fence? Give Mr. Fox a surprise when he climbs over...

 

[bigoledude]

I keep traps and snares set 24/7/365. You can certainly put more than 1 trap. Do a YouTube search for "dirt hole set". Foxes just can't resist them. Couldda been a local dog.

Hang snares where you know they are travelling. "Spring-up snares" use everything from bungee cords to a tree limb to hold tension on the snare. Again, do some Google and YouTube searches.

Electric wire and fencing is a great deterrent for unwanted critters.

I'm assuming you meant 8-feet and not 8-inches. No fox can jump 8 feet. They can climb a good ways but, can't clear an 8-foot fence in a single bound!

 

[featherz]

I use the 4 foot electric fencing. So far the resident fox has not gone through or over it. From what I have heard, a fox will investigate with his nose first and that will give him a zap. I was more surprised that none of the chickens have tried to fly out! (keeping fingers crossed here).

 

[AlbionWood]

The electric fencing is by far the best strategy. If you trap a fox, you'll be OK until the next one comes along... if you get an electric fence, you'll keep them all out. They don't understand about electricity, will touch the fence with their nose once and then stay away from it after that. It does require constant maintenance to keep the grass from shorting out the fence, but it's worth it for the safety against all four-footed predators, up to and including bears.

Your description sounds more like dog than fox, but an electric fence will work on either one (and on racoons, etc).

If I didn't have an electric fence I wouldn't be able to keep chickens at all.

 

[featherz]

/agree. I heard foxes screaming and yapping VERY CLOSE last night, ran outside, didn't see the fox, but all my chickens were just fine. nothing went through or over my electric netting. Yes, you do need to keep the grass short - I have a BIT of leeway since my charger puts out 14.4K on a perfect, no shorting, fence - and drops to 10 or 12 if I've got longer wet grass. If it drops lower than 10, I move it and mow and/or pull weeds. Touched it by accident a few times, even with my shoes on it's a JOLT. The netting is pricey, but so far I love it. I used a parmak mark 8 charger (about $100), which is cheaper than the ones premiere sells, but you need AC power for that one.