Foxes Foxes Everywhere!

[DuckDuckSook]

Hello friends!
I've posted on here about dealing with hawks but now our bigger issue is foxes. My neighbor feeds a family of foxes (9 to be exact) and so they are around our property all the time at all times (morning, afternoon, night). We see them constantly on our surveillance cameras. So, needless to say I'm very careful with my chickens. They are in protected, safe coops and runs. However, I really want them to be able to free range more. How can I feasibly do that? We tried it for a while, but unfortunately, when I came in to take a shower, they attacked and we lost two hens on Memorial Day. Do I have to make sure a person is out there at all times to keep my girls safe? Is there anything I can do? My girls are so much happier when they can get a few hours of free ranging in. Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Theorrin]

unless your keeping an eye on them all the time or have a livestock dog/donkey its not gonna happen. or youll have to start trapping and getting rid of the foxes

 

[Shabby Chic-Hens]

Ask the game wardens around your area to help you get rid of the foxes. Unless you want to get rid of them yourself.

 

[Liz Birdlover]

You just described my scenario. My flock are in predator proof pens & my neighbors also feed the foxes. Their yards are fenced in. Mine isnt. So whose yard do the foxes hang out in? Yeah...mine, 24/7.

I thought if I was right there we (my flock & I) could enjoy gardening together, that they'd be safe if I only let them out while I was right there. No so.

A few weeks ago, we were enjoying the day, I walked over to grab a bucket (about 40 feet) & came right back. I heard some squawking & it sounded like Roo jumping a hen. I looked over about 25 feet, expecting to see Juno the deep gold Buff Orpington Roo jumping on Amber, a Buff Orp hen. I saw what looked like the color of Juno, but on top of Chanel, my big Buff Brahma mama, who is a little too old for that kind of stuff.
I yelled, "Boy, you know better than to jump her, get off of Chanel!" Imagine my surprise when up popped a head & instead of a comb he had 2 pointed ears. Then I ran full speed & yelled much louder, "Get off of her!!!" As I got close I was going to whack him upside the head with the empty 5 gallon bucket then kick him or grab him by the fur and drag him off, if I had to. Well, he looked up at me right there swinging the bucket & his eyes got real wide & he ducked the bucket practically rolling on the ground, then grabbed Chanel again & tried to drag her along, but her fat bottom dug in & all he got was a mouth full of some feathers. I was growling like a big dog & reached down to grab him, & he saw me in his face & hands about to grab, he looked totally shocked & ran off. He even was looking behind him as he stumbled & ran, I guess he thought I was chasing him. Chanel ran underneath the elevated coop. I made sure the male kit kept running towards the cornfields. Then I sent the Rooster under the coop to get her, he went under, clucking & cooing to her & a few hens followed & went under, they were all clucking gently, but Chanel would not come back out with them, not even for mealworms I tried to coax her out with. I was worried, was she injured? Bleeding? I have to tend to her! I did a belly crawl & went under the coop, 12 feet, thinking oh well, Black Widows & Hobo spiders are gonna tear me up, but that's my sweet hen, I gotta check her over & tend to her. I got to her & pet her. She was kind of down in a mini trench by the cinderblock elevating the buiding, because the idiots that built this coop for me never backfilled where they should have. I used the light on my phone to see her, she was hunkered down. Anyway, she was making her sweet sounds like she always does for me whenever I pet her, & as best I could tell, where I was petting was dry & fluffy, I didnt feel blood...yet, so that was somewhat reasurring, as the fox was grabbing her from the top, on her back. I got ahold of her and tucked her gently, close to me with one arm as I did the crawl back out with my legs & the 1 free arm. When I got out, Rick had just gotten home, he saw me & said what the heck happened to you? I was covered head to toe in dust, dirt, cobwebs & parts of leaves & branches, hair sticking up. I was already a mess earlier cutting grass, sweating & gardening, but now I looked like I'd been in a major dirt fight & lost. I told him the big male kit grabbed Channel, right with me walking close by. He said yeah, it was bound to happen. He's a man of few words but gets to the point lol.

For years, we had a synergy with the foxes, same mated pair. They kept up mouse patrol & left our flock alone. Some jackass down the road killed the male fox a few months ago, soon after this batch of kits were born. We see the exhausted mama fox & her female kits stick with her, she is a gentle soul. But the males, now fatherless, are running around crazy, doing things no other kits ever did, getting into neighbor's trash, picking fights with their cats, & now terrorizing my flock. Every year they raised their kits & we had no issues. Now, with no male matriarch to teach the kits who to hunt & who to leave alone, we have issues.

I checked Chanel over, not a mark on her skin, she is the most fully feathered & fat ole lady, so she was too much for him to handle. She was pecking at watermelon leisurely 10 minutes later, unfazed. I have not free ranged them at all since, though, and I won't. I am hoping the male kits grow up & leave, go establish a new turf. They usually do. But now the main male is gone, I'm not sure what will happen. If this male stays, the guy that killed his father will probably end up killing this one, too, which is a shame as I am a nature lover, but if he continues to terrorize my flock I won't be too upset.

All I can say is, make sure your pens are predator proof, including digging down & having a barrier there. I am considering getting a LGD & will most likely have to fence at least part of my property in so the dog can patrol that area.

Once foxes go after chickens, they may keep at it, unless there are other ample food sources. Neighbors feeding them is a food source, but not enough quantity & not often enough & it does not satisfy the chase & hunt urge instilled in their DNA.

I've heard others praising electric fences & LGD so that's probably what I'm going to do. I've got a terrible time with hawks here as well, so being on the migratory flight path, the only times I dared free range them in my company was during spring & summer, anyway.

Well, good luck to ya. I understand the challenge all too well. This place was great before neighbors.

 

[Captain13]

At lunch today, I caught a fox sitting at the end of my garden eating something. He didn’t see me. I stepped back in the barn, grabbed a 410 shotgun and peppered him broadside. He left but will not be as kind if he comes back.

If your neighbors are feeding foxes, call your wildlife rangers. It is illegal in most states to feed predators. They are creating a dangerous situation. Foxes are a carrier of rabies and they will readily attack a human. Let the rangers warn them and or fine them. If they come after your chickens, you usually have the right to eliminate them. Our Department of Natural Resources won’t trap them here but they will give us a permit to kill them.

 

[mowin]

If my neighbors were feeding foxes, they would be using less and less food every few days.

 

[McChooky]

Only building predator proof coops and runs will prevent them killing your chickens if your neighbors feeding them.Apparently they have dens nearby. Chicken tractors and tunnels are other options.

 

[Penpal]

Donkeys never went after a fox. They just didn't see them as dangerous. However, they were protecting sheep, not the chickens. If a predator comes in your yard you can kill it. If any four legged critter threatens your livestock, you can kill it. It is hard to trap a fox, but they can't outrun a bullet.

 

[Coffetym]

I know the old saying is survival of the fittest. As for me & mine, my family & what is ours takes precedence first. Especially over stray & or wild animals! As I have commented in previous articles, bait & eliminate! There is no wild predator that trains their young to not feed in your backyard! That is the craziest idea I’ve heard in a while. Predators do have favorite prey, but that is also influenced by how easy it is to catch & kill the prey.
There is only one way to stop this & that’s by permanent removal!

 

[McChooky]

Hello friends!
I've posted on here about dealing with hawks but now our bigger issue is foxes. My neighbor feeds a family of foxes (9 to be exact) and so they are around our property all the time at all times (morning, afternoon, night). We see them constantly on our surveillance cameras. So, needless to say I'm very careful with my chickens. They are in protected, safe coops and runs. However, I really want them to be able to free range more. How can I feasibly do that? We tried it for a while, but unfortunately, when I came in to take a shower, they attacked and we lost two hens on Memorial Day. Do I have to make sure a person is out there at all times to keep my girls safe? Is there anything I can do? My girls are so much happier when they can get a few hours of free ranging in. Any and all suggestions will be much appreciated. Thank you!

They hunt on trails to conceal their presence at night .Its not uncommon to see them in daylight during breeding season (when they have kits)They'll kill the flock when they're teaching their kits to hunt.Your chickens aren't safe with their dens being nearby.