Foxes.

[nibbler4]

Good morning. I write with a very sad heart. We forgot to lock our girls' run last autum and the fox had taken our 3 young hens (my children had held them as they hatched), and beheaded and left our rescue red and our big, gorgeously fluffy Cochin. As we surveyed the carnage, our little bantam, the chicks' 'mummy' timidly came out of hiding.

Gutted is an understatement.

She was our only survivor. We got her 2 new friends and one of dad's bantam cockerels came to live with us.

Last night at dusk, the neighbour came running round, heard a racket in the back garden.

We hadn't locked the run YET. Too late. Our gorgeous little roo was gone and little Pearl (the only survivor last time) was wounded on the grass. Feathers everywhere.

We brought her in and I'm bathing the wound on her back. She on her feet again and trying to 'talk'. She's sipping sugar water. Pray she pulls through.

My question is how do we go about fox proofing our garden? The fox came back last night as there's dig/scratch marks. Our girls have free run of the garden, and a 2mx1m safe run attached to their house. We don't want to keep them locked up. But the foxes are roaming in the daytime and know where they are now.

Any ideas????? Thank you.

 

[GD91]

We have a fox, but it avoids our garden like the plague. A highly territorial spayed Tomcat & 2 dogs make sure of that.

If you don't want to lose anymore birds, you need to lock that run up. Unfortunately, the local foxes now know your garden is a banquet & can visit anytime of day. January - March is when foxes get the most hungry & the most desperate. Vixens are pregnant & food is scarce.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but you do need to take responsibility for your birds. You know there may be foxes around, they have taken your birds twice.

There is no way to guard against foxes while your birds freerange unless you turn your garden into a fortress or get a LGD,

 

[boskelli1571]

Since the foxes know where the restaurant is, you have a problem! You could try some predator pee sprinkled around the run and surrounding area, do you have access to a shotgun? A few shots in their direction should deter them for a while,try a guard dog? You could also try electric fencing around the area.
However, like GD91 says, you really are going to have to be more diligent about guarding your birds otherwise you are simply providing free lunch for the wildlife.

 

[blucoondawg]

I would get a gun and shoot them, more will possibly eventually come, then shoot them too.

 

[JackE]

I lost 16 birds in two separate daytime attacks. The answer for me was 300' of electrified poultry net from Premier. It worked out so well, I bought another 300' to expand the range. The fox gets a taste of that fence, they forget all about chicken dinner that day. The fence can be powered by household power, or solar if you want. You can get the charger from Premier. The fence is very easy to install, and move if you want it moved.
The fox are still around, and it's going on three years, and my birds haven't had any problems.