Foxes take away my joy of keeping chickens.

[MsBrahma]

What to do... In 48 hours all but one chicken has been killed. We are just sick about it.

What has happened was two days ago I saw a fox killing one of our chickens. I ran outside, but it was too late--her neck was broken. This was at four in the afternoon! The fox ran, and climbed up over a 5-foot fence like it was nothing. Our chickens are free-range, but in 3 years we have never lost a chicken to predation except once, with a hawk. Our dogs went ballistic when they saw the fox that afternoon (too late for Minnie, unfortunately), and they made a huge racket; I was hoping that would deter the fox from coming back. But apparently not.

Last night three more chickens were killed; not eaten, but one was decapitated. I was outside with them at 7 pm and everything was fine; they had not gone into the coop yet, unfortunately. I think he got them shortly after. One was dead inside the coop, two were outside.

The one hen who survived was setting, so she was in a secure shelter on her own. This shelter is bullet-proof, but she can't stay in there for life!

I assume it is the same predator; two days running would be an incredible coincidence. It angers me that the birds were not even eaten. I am very sympathetic to any animal, but this isn't just a survival thing, obviously. I want him gone!

I am not sure we can trap him. He didn't go into the trap we put out after Minnie was killed.

 

[Trish1974]

What to do... In 48 hours all but one chicken has been killed. We are just sick about it.

What has happened was two days ago I saw a fox killing one of our chickens. I ran outside, but it was too late--her neck was broken. This was at four in the afternoon! The fox ran, and climbed up over a 5-foot fence like it was nothing. Our chickens are free-range, but in 3 years we have never lost a chicken to predation except once, with a hawk. Our dogs went ballistic when they saw the fox that afternoon (too late for Minnie, unfortunately), and they made a huge racket; I was hoping that would deter the fox from coming back. But apparently not.

Last night three more chickens were killed; not eaten, but one was decapitated. I was outside with them at 7 pm and everything was fine; they had not gone into the coop yet, unfortunately. I think he got them shortly after. One was dead inside the coop, two were outside.

The one hen who survived was setting, so she was in a secure shelter on her own. This shelter is bullet-proof, but she can't stay in there for life!

I assume it is the same predator; two days running would be an incredible coincidence. It angers me that the birds were not even eaten. I am very sympathetic to any animal, but this isn't just a survival thing, obviously. I want him gone!

I am not sure we can trap him. He didn't go into the trap we put out after Minnie was killed.

How awful! I am so sorry for your losses. Fox are very hard to trap. He will likely return around the same time as previous kills - can you watch for him at that time and try to shoot him?

 

[Trish1974]

I would also like to throw this out there about foxes - they are NOT strictly nocturnal like most people think they are. I personally have seen the most fox activity from daybreak to late morning. Fox attacks can happen any time of day, especially this time of year when they have kits to feed.

 

[bruceha2000]

Sorry for the loss. One expects a 5' fence will keep predators out but many climb. You need hot wire running across the top of the fence. A strand a foot off the ground on the outside will probably keep it from starting to climb. If it jumps it will get tagged by the top wire.

 

[Unexpected chicken lover]

I agtee dogs ate the way to go..i have the pits and they literally babysit while my birds freerange...one even herds them back into the run with a simple comnand of "get em in" cuz a couple are hardheaded and dont want to go in at dusk. He is also the one most protective of my 2 1/2 month old chicks. He has also taken a few beatings from my head roisyer that does not like me...i yell bigfoot and he is instantly inbetween me and that mean rooster...love that dog

 

[T-Bone64]

I agree the best thing to do is shoot it. It will keep coming back especially now that it has had easy prey. Sorry for your loss.

 

[Fishkeeper]

For now, can you bring the chickens inside your house, into a basement or bathroom? Fox can't get in THERE.
And yes, shoot it. Put the body out somewhere for scavengers to eat. Heck, bury it in your yard and dig it up next year for the bones.

 

[MsBrahma]

Thanks to everyone for your concern. Do you think it IS a fox (the night-time killing, not the one we witnessed)? Eating off the heads and not carrying off the corpses--that seems weird. Is this some other animal, like a raccoon?

We have been trying the trapping method where you gradually move the bait closer to the trap, building up the predator's confidence that it is safe (supposedly). The trap itself (a live trap) is disguised as best we could in a brushy area near the coop. So far the bait (those awful fake crab chunks -- our dogs love them) has been eaten every night as we move it closer to the trip mechanism. Of course, there's no way to know what's eating the bait--yet.

Even if we had a gun, AND could learn to shoot accurately, we'd have to be waiting when the fox shows up. And get a clear shot. It just doesn't seem practical...

We have two dogs, and I'm sure if they saw a predator they would go ballistic noisewise, but again both these killings happened without them alerting us.

 

[MsBrahma]

PS: we only have one chicken left, and she is setting, which is why she was safe. To give her peace and quiet, she was in a separate, predator-proof enclosure (24/7). She's busy with her brooding business and I'm not sure she realizes her comrades are all gone. :-(

 

[MsBrahma]

The fence we have runs the perimeter of two acres. It's deer fencing, mostly. We have always let our chickens free-range... We could run electric wire around the entire perimeter, I guess. I love having the birds wandering around near the house where we can interact with them.