I would just about give up.....!!!!! It's a fox!!!!

[speckledhen]

I'm beginning to wonder if I have a predator prowling under the coop more than I realize. We have this giant Rubbermaid tub pushed underneath the backside of the coop and when the girls kick apart the strawbales too much, I put the straw in it. Today, I for some reason pulled it out from under the coop and there was a nice deep impression made in the straw that went all the way to the bottom of the tub, almost tube-like, where something had curled up to sleep. I'm hoping it was just a stray cat hiding out in a warm place for the night and not something worse.
Good luck with your fox elimination.

 

[Dances with Roos]

Buried wire, cement, locked doors… why would you have to shoot him? Once he sees the chickens are more trouble than they’re worth, he will go catch something easier like mice or rats. YAY!

 

[Scrambled Egg]

This question will probably not get me into the mensa society but I was just wondering if most of these predators "eat" at night? Meaning, do we have the most worry about our chickens being prey after dark? This would make me worry less I suppose than being at work all day because my chickens are secured inside the"A" frame part of their coop at night but, of course, they are in their pen with the chicken wire nailed to the 2 x4's during the day --visible to predators. My yard is mostly wooden fenced, the front has a short picket and not a solid food fence and one corner of the backyard is open abit to accommodate a bent neighbor tree. I really haven't thought about this before, but I guess my question would be whether or not predators eat or forage for food more in the dark?

 

[RubberChickenLubber]

Opossums, raccoons, foxes, and most of you wild prey animals attack at night. Cats, dogs and hawks are most likely to attack during the day.