Life after a fox attack - do they return?

[chickychicks]

A fox got two of our five girls this weekend (around 8:30 a.m. with a morning attack). We live in the city and have several neighborhood fox who are VERY comfortable roaming the area. We reinforced the run. But I am afraid to let them out of their coop (which is spacious) and so left them in yesterday and today because I am not at home. I am guessing the fox will come back for a few days knowing there are meals here (or looking for his meals as I think I disrupted the attack and he was not able to take off with the bodies).

What have folks done the few days/week after a daytime attack? Do fox continue to revisit once they know what is here? I really thought our three dogs kept the fox out of our yard (they were busy inside with us begging for leftovers of Sunday breakfast) -- but clearly the fox can figure out when they are not out there.

Any thoughts, experiences or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[iluvsedward]

some foxes come out in the day time but don't always hunt during the day.

 

[chickychicks]

any experience of city fox greatly appreciated....just want to keep the rest of the girls safe after making the coop even more predator proof.

 

[Harris5]

After a fox came in for a morning snack on one of our chickens, it apparently got the word out to it's buddies. After we trapped it, we had three more fox come in for a quick meal. Each one of them came in alone. At different times. Usually just after the sun went down or just before the sun came up. We also have two dogs that roam our property. In our observations, fox are just as clever as their reputations. To sum it up...your fox will be back!

My brother also has fox that attempt to dig in to his coops.

Good luck!

 

[can you hear me now?]

Until the run is predator proof, he will be back. Or if you run out of chickens. They know when they are done. If they can't get in for awhile, they will give up.

 

[Tala]

can you hear me now? :

Until the run is predator proof, he will be back. Or if you run out of chickens. They know when they are done. If they can't get in for awhile, they will give up.

Ditto this. They seem to live and hunt in a relatively small area. Meaning if you see one on your street you will probably see it frequently coz that is where it hunts. I kept seeing one in the headlights at night crossing the road two driveways up from my place - took me almost a month and 2 losses to trap it, but I finally got it.

They like dry cat food, but can be a little hard to get into a raccoon sized trap ---- but I've caught 2 this summer, so it's not impossible.​

 

[michickenwrangler]

Our neighbor had 6 guineas, she now only has 1. They've all been picked off by a fox earlier this year at different times.

We've had a fox check out our coop and run, but since he can't get in, we haven't lost any birds.

 

[newfoundland]

Do you have, or can you loan a male dog? Many people have told me that foxes will not prowl around where they can scent a male dog. Some seasoned old chicken keepers here allow their dogs to urinate frequently on the boundaries of the property and around the hen house. A bit of an unsavoury idea I know but it's what dogs do in gardens anyway. We have 3 male dogs and last night I accidently left the chicken coop open! This morning when I went to feed them, expecting to see them all safely locked up, I was greeted with the sight of them walking across the garden towards me looking for their breakfast. No visit from Mr. Fox though!

 

[allieloveschickens]

Sorry for your loss

Did the fox dig in? I would put a hardware cloth skirt around the run and coop, then put rocks/bricks on top of that, should discourage any digging. Good luck!

 

[nitefyre]

3 strands of hot wire around my run has kept the pesky predators away. I have a battery operated fencer that strong enough for 5 miles of fence on a 66x22 foot run with the coop in it, I have 2 -12volt batteries that i change out every 2 months. It packs a hell of a punch and the whole set up was not very expensive.