How to feed a fox

[old biddy]

I am having a real problem with a fox eating my chickens and guineas. I am also afraid it may start attacking my peafowl as well. The scenario is this:

My chickens and guinea fowl free range during the day. I have lost some to predators over the years but only once in a great while. I had not lost any for a couple of years until about two months ago when I started losing a chicken here and there. Every night I lock most of them up in the henhouse, though several of them have taken to the woods at night to roost. It seems though that the predator (which I believe is a fox) usually comes during the afternoon while all the birds are free ranging.

My peafowl are all in a secure pen and are locked up in their roosting house every night. I am going to try to secure all my chickens in pens for a couple of weeks to see if the fox moves on to a better feeding ground, but worry that it might try getting into the pens, which would also include my peafowl pens. I was planning to set a live trap out tonight to see if I can trap it, though that worries me too since it is that time of year when foxes have their litters and I would not want to hurt the fox or relocate it away from its nursing babies. I am just trying to do the right thing for all concerned...chickens, guineas, peafowl and foxes. SO...MY QUESTION IS...

...can I simply put out food for the foxes ... I would place it in the woods just beyond my farm. I am thinking if the fox has a convenient feeding ground it may not stalk and kill my birds. This may sound preposterous but this is how my mind works. LOL Any thoughts on the matter that may be helpful?

 

[Poultrybonkers]

you add food your be bringing in more foxes along with other predators that will break in your pens

 

[CatWhisperer]

I would try cheap dog food. Wild critters gotta eat so give them an easier option.

 

[Moop]

New on here. My suggestion would be to harass it until it moves on. Feeding any wild animal
would only encourage it to keep coming back for more. I get the concept of co-existence with other animals/wildlife. No mater what you feed it, i might decide on chicken or peafowl any day or opportunity it gets. I would get a guard dog (great pyrenees). Those dogs when raised with animals, are great flock protectors. Just a thought.

 

[KsKingBee]

New on here. My suggestion would be to harass it until it moves on. Feeding any wild animal
would only encourage it to keep coming back for more. I get the concept of co-existence with other animals/wildlife. No mater what you feed it, i might decide on chicken or peafowl any day or opportunity it gets. I would get a guard dog (great pyrenees). Those dogs when raised with animals, are great flock protectors. Just a thought.

Very very good advice. Where there is excess food there are a growing number of animals to eat it. Leave a bag of open wild bird feed in your garage and see how fast the mice population explodes.

 

[Dany12]

Peacocks are curious ... they want to control everything!

 

[FluffyFeathers97]

Please do not feed your local wildlife like this. This will only create future issues as they will keep returning for food and see humans as a source of said food. It will lead to someone getting bit or injured and the animal being euthanized.

 

[svh]

I understand wanting to coexist with the wildlife, but what is more important to you ….. The survival of your flock, or the survival of the fox ?

I think feeding a predator in close proximity to your birds is a bad idea for the sake of your fowl.

You could try improved security measures, but with free range, that could be a difficult, and expensive ordeal, with limited and unsatisfying results.

Trapping, and relocating could be an option, but not a very good one. Legality of moving wildlife needs to be researched for your area. I speak from experience as a trapper, fox are very intelligent, and fairly hard to trap ….. You need to get them on the first try, or they will avoid the trap like the Covid 19 !!!!!

Now Imagine this scenario ….. You feed the fox, it gets bigger, and stronger, and has more kits ..... Now you have several more predators to feed/deal with, and they all know where their next meal is coming from !!! Not to mention the danger of a wild predator that is acclimated to humans, as stated above.

They may/will go after the offered food, but they still like chicken !!!

It's a loosing battle, in my opinion.

Personally, I would either harass it till it moves on, which would prove difficult, or my preferred course of action would be to eliminate the problem ASAP.

 

[KsKingBee]

If you are considering feeding another animal I would suggest one that will work to protect your flock. There is no better livestock guardian dog than the Great Pyrenees.

 

[EggWalrus]

Great Pyrenees are the way to go. Mine is just about everything you could ask for in a Livestock Guard Dog. He's even gentle and protective with the biddies. He's only about 10 months old now, but when he sees a hawk or even a buzzard he goes crazy. He's had to have seen a hawk get one of his chickens. I think the birds may have figured out the difference in his warning barks. They don't pay him much attention if he's baking at something on the ground. But if he starts after an overhead predator, the birds run for cover.
But there's no way I would encourage a fox to take up residence and eat more of my chickens by feeding it.
That's just asking for trouble.