How do I free range my chickens with a Fox in the woods??

[centrarchid]

I currently use a 100lb. Doberman security system. I have no foxes, coyotes, raccoons, possums, hawks or anything else for that matter.

View attachment 2159920

You also have no grass or other benefits I associate with free-range keeping of chickens.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Yes I free range all year long but every spring the foxes come back! I've got a secure coop ( they get locked in it every night and it has chicken wire around the bottom ) and two dogs but it still seems to always come back!! I also don't have a fence because they have a small run, the whole thing is muddy dirt though, and I don't want to have to kill it because I have neighbors behind me and I don't want to shoot them!

When you say "they come back" do you mean you have birds being killed?

Because on any given night we have bears, foxes, raccoons, Bobcats, etc in our yard and investigating the coop. Just because they are present doesn't mean that they are a threat.

 

[centrarchid]

When you say "they come back" do you mean you have birds being killed?

Because on any given night we have bears, foxes, raccoons, Bobcats, etc in our yard and investigating the coop. Just because they are present doesn't mean that they are a threat.

That is a point I have occasionally tried to make. Generally, the predators have reasons to visit that are often more important than the chickens. My Red Fox and Great-horned Owl buddies are coming in to catch things almost every night, but very seldom actual chickens. There are times when Coopers Hawks come into barn hunting multiple times per day, although they are catching only songbirds. The Coopers Hawks are the same birds frequently called falcons on this site and they do have the ability to take standard sized hens on down if not interfered with.

 

[centrarchid]

That is the darn trade off with free-ranging versus predator management. As soon as you start restricting movements of the birds, you start limiting the importance of forages as a nutrition source. I can keep a dozen chickens in perfect health using no feeds what so ever. Same birds can grow and produce eggs just like those on a complete feed. The problem is the risk of loss imposed by predators which is subject of this thread. To keep my dozen birds in good nutrition takes three acres. I have to spend as much on predator management as I would on feed to keep those birds safe while foraging. If it were not fun, then it would not be worth doing.

 

[EggWalrus]

Best thing to do is use the 3 S's.

 

[CrazyChicken Lady]

When you say "they come back" do you mean you have birds being killed?

Because on any given night we have bears, foxes, raccoons, Bobcats, etc in our yard and investigating the coop. Just because they are present doesn't mean that they are a threat.

They are not always getting killed, but this just means I can't free range them because the minute I leave the fox comes. A few day ago I went out and a fox ran of, it had been stalking my free ranging hen while I was inside.

 

[CrazyChicken Lady]

Best thing to do is use the 3 S's.

May I ask what the tree s's are?

 

[EggWalrus]

Shoot!
Shovel!
and Shut Up!

 

[EggWalrus]

Shoot!
Shovel!
and Shut Up!

But in cases of yummy predators, it stands for Shoot, Skin, & Saute'

 

[Caroline0615]

Foxes right now have babies in their dens. Being kept in the run isn't really bad for the birds. If you really want them to have some extra space, use metal U stakes and run a 4 foot high fence of chicken wire. You could even include the run if you wanted. Get a livestock electric fence charger and run a wire along the top of the fence as well as along the bottom. You could even make three or 4 strands and run that a foot out from the chicken wire on a second row of stakes. Most foxes will not be out in the daytime but they might be strapped for food if they are feeding pups and be desperate.

Putting up an electric fence is easy. If you made a separate barrier of 4 or 5 strands, first one 4 inches off the ground, next three 6 inches or so spaced. Fox and other ground predators won't cross it. Put pieces of bacon over the wire in select spots (do not have the bacon make a connection between wires) and after a sample, mr fox will not be back.

We put up an electric fence around our coop and I have to say we haven’t had any animals get our chickens from in the coop since!!!