HELP! I lost my first hen tonight

[Jtaranc]

We've had a mangey fox sniffing around for a few weeks and tonight he came earlier than normal and I heard a commotion and caught him in the act. He grabbed Rose a foot from her chicken coop.

I had just brought my pyrenees inside to eat and missed intercepting him by seconds.

I have farm fencing so he goes right through it. My girls free range during the day and go up at night. It was 8pm and they were in the process of putting themselves up when this happened.

What can I do? Is it worth it to put chicken wire across the bottom of the farm fencing?

Also considered getting a second pyrenees so there's 2 sets of eyes out there.

Should I try and trap him since it's the same one coming up?

 

[RoyalChick]

So sorry. I remember how terrible I felt when I lost my first girl to a fox.
Don’t think chicken wire is going to help.
I put up electric poultry netting against foxes and coyotes.

 

[Jtaranc]

So sorry. I remember how terrible I felt when I lost my first girl to a fox.
Don’t think chicken wire is going to help.
I put up electric poultry netting against foxes and coyotes.

I also have horses and goats, if they lean on it, won't it hurt them?

 

[RoyalChick]

I also have horses and goats, if they lean on it, won't it hurt them?

They won’t. They learn fast to avoid it.

 

[AGeese]

We've had a mangey fox sniffing around for a few weeks and tonight he came earlier than normal and I heard a commotion and caught him in the act. He grabbed Rose a foot from her chicken coop.

I had just brought my pyrenees inside to eat and missed intercepting him by seconds.

I have farm fencing so he goes right through it. My girls free range during the day and go up at night. It was 8pm and they were in the process of putting themselves up when this happened.

What can I do? Is it worth it to put chicken wire across the bottom of the farm fencing?

Also considered getting a second pyrenees so there's 2 sets of eyes out there.

Should I try and trap him since it's the same one coming up?

Sorry to hear. I'd feed the dog where the birds are.

The chicken wire isn't worth the time putting it up, he'd jump right over that fence. You'd want welded wire with smaller spacing or hardware cloth and that would probably be expensive depending on how much. You'd need at least a 6 ft fence with hot wire at the top and bottom to prevent jumping over and digging under.

The function of a fence is more so to keep your birds from wandering off out of sight into areas they will get taken. But if you're ok with another Pyrenees I say go for it.

Edit: now if your birds are going through the fence then sure put up the chicken wire, otherwise no.

 

[McChooky]

We've had a mangey fox sniffing around for a few weeks and tonight he came earlier than normal and I heard a commotion and caught him in the act. He grabbed Rose a foot from her chicken coop.

I had just brought my pyrenees inside to eat and missed intercepting him by seconds.

I have farm fencing so he goes right through it. My girls free range during the day and go up at night. It was 8pm and they were in the process of putting themselves up when this happened.

What can I do? Is it worth it to put chicken wire across the bottom of the farm fencing?

Also considered getting a second pyrenees so there's 2 sets of eyes out there.
ing him
Should I try and trap him since it's the same one coming up?

He's probably watched you and knows your routine well.They prefer to plan their attacks rather than grab one and go

 

[lagrange chicks]

Hope you close the coop door at night or it could get worse.

 

[Jtaranc]

Of course. I'm not worried about night time. This was at 6pm

 

[Jtaranc]

Sorry to hear. I'd feed the dog where the birds are.

The chicken wire isn't worth the time putting it up, he'd jump right over that fence. You'd want welded wire with smaller spacing or hardware cloth and that would probably be expensive depending on how much. You'd need at least a 6 ft fence with hot wire at the top and bottom to prevent jumping over and digging under.

The function of a fence is more so to keep your birds from wandering off out of sight into areas they will get taken. But if you're ok with another Pyrenees I say go for it.

Edit: now if your birds are going through the fence then sure put up the chicken wire, otherwise no.

Thank you! This girl is joining us in a few weeks and we've set some traps for the fox.

 

[AGeese]

Thank you! This girl is joining us in a few weeks and we've set some traps for the fox.

Beautiful girl and amazing coat on her! There was a stray GP that came up for adoption out here recently, but I figured I'd best finish my fence first.