My first Fox attack that ended in a kill

[Troublco]

It's amazing how brazen a fox can be.

My wife told me we currently have a fox that not only checks out the coop, but leaves "calling cards" on our doormat, while the dogs are on the other side of the door trying to get out! (I'm out of the country on business right now, so I'm getting this from her.) We have three large Labs, and apparently the fox waits until they're inside and then walks up, bold as can be, and makes its deposit on our doormat. Then it walks off down our driveway like it doesn't have a care in the world. We have sidelights on our front door, so they can see the fox and it can see them.

I built a run outside the coop, and put extended wire out on the bottom to prevent foxes and other critters from digging under. I also put an automatic door in the coop so they're protected at night. We live very close to the river, and I've seen raccoons, foxes, feral cats, and I know we have a skunk whose burrow is not too far off that have all tried to get into the run, unsuccessfully so far. The skunk has to be dealt with when I get home, it's sprayed my dogs twice now. Added to this, we have Eagles, Hawks, and huge Owls living in the woods on my property. I love to watch them, I just don't want to be feeding them, so no free ranging for my birds.

As unfortunate as it is, sometimes it comes down to either the chicken or the predator. And I'm not risking having a skunk or fox with rabies being right up close and personal with my dogs and kids, so when they start acting like they don't care if we're there or not it's time for them to go.

 

[Shellz]

Exactly! Sounds like us 2 years ago. Couldn't trust our dogs to stay out of trouble when we had to leave the property for any reason. No fencing here, so finally got them trained to stay off the road & now they can be out all day to protect the flock. For first time ever, no fox seen in daylight. 0 losses this year. Such a relief! I know not everyone can do this, but this has been what's worked for me.

Now go get those darn critters! I've trapped & shot 4 coons so far this season. They were getting into chicken yard, but had yet to get into coop. Not waiting for them to get an invitation, you know what I mean?!

 

[Troublco]

We have some fence, and I put in one of those radio fences so the dogs could be outside. But our big Chocolate Lab has decided that getting zapped is worth it to go swim in the river, so only the girls (black and yellow) can go outside unattended.

When I get home, though, I'm going to pay the skunk and the fox some attention. My daughter has seen the skunk trying to dig under the run. I already had to take care of one feral cat, and I've seen another close by as well as a couple of very large raccoons. I don't recall installing a KFC sign when I built the coop, the predator community must have great word of mouth communications.

I'm thinking about trying one or two of those "night eye" units, with the red LED's just to see if they help. From what I've heard, they're a mixed bag and my being close to town may mean they don't work very well but I think they're worth a try. I'm also curious about their effect on deer...I don't want to spook the deer and wild turkeys that feed in my field.

 

[PIGSinSPACE]

Board up your coop. you could have the dead chicken checked for rabies, if so, animal control will take care of the fox for you.

 

[Shellz]

Tough dog! Wow, what to do? I trained mine often to the 'come' command near the front of the driveway. (Main access point to trouble) When they 'got it', I gave lots of praise & a treat. Positive training led to positive results for me. Your mileage may vary.

KFC sign. Lol! Yeah, know what you mean. Once had a feral cat stalking my young chicks - got gun & he was gone. Never saw cat again. Coyote probably got it. I can't imagine having to deal with a skunk. Oye! Never seen one here, thank goodness!

I'd love to hear how the night eyes thing works out, if you get it. Best of luck to ya!

 

[CatWhisperer]

Rabies virus will not show up in a freshly killed chicken. If the fox was acting normal its unlikely that it is infected. Skunks and bats seem to be the more common vectors in NM, although there have been a few foxes. Your state dept of Health is a good source of information on local rabies problems.

 

[3 NH reds]

We have some fence, and I put in one of those radio fences so the dogs could be outside. But our big Chocolate Lab has decided that getting zapped is worth it to go swim in the river, so only the girls (black and yellow) can go outside unattended.

When I get home, though, I'm going to pay the skunk and the fox some attention. My daughter has seen the skunk trying to dig under the run. I already had to take care of one feral cat, and I've seen another close by as well as a couple of very large raccoons. I don't recall installing a KFC sign when I built the coop, the predator community must have great word of mouth communications.

I'm thinking about trying one or two of those "night eye" units, with the red LED's just to see if they help. From what I've heard, they're a mixed bag and my being close to town may mean they don't work very well but I think they're worth a try. I'm also curious about their effect on deer...I don't want to spook the deer and wild turkeys that feed in my field.

Tough dog! Wow, what to do? I trained mine often to the 'come' command near the front of the driveway. (Main access point to trouble) When they 'got it', I gave lots of praise & a treat. Positive training led to positive results for me. Your mileage may vary.

KFC sign. Lol! Yeah, know what you mean. Once had a feral cat stalking my young chicks - got gun & he was gone. Never saw cat again. Coyote probably got it. I can't imagine having to deal with a skunk. Oye! Never seen one here, thank goodness!

I'd love to hear how the night eyes thing works out, if you get it. Best of luck to ya!

Yep Labs have a thick hide and can take things most dogs couldn't. We ran a solar electric fence around our coops and we have had no problems. My wife thinks one night she heard a coyote yelp near our coops, must have touched the wire. Our Labs are afraid of going near the coops. They made contact one day and yelped for a long time. As stated Labs are tough, the same dog will go after the cat and get whacked and not care.

 

[Devilsrejects]

FYI... only mammals can contract rabies, so a chicken wouldn't test positive for this.

 

[RossH]

Poor girl! I had a neighbors dog kill 5 of mine in one day and I was so distraught! He kept coming back for days afterwards even after BB guns and even a .22 bird shot so I did what centrarchid recommended and used one as bait in a live trap and then took care of the problem. Sorry you had to experience this, but honestly, sometimes it takes stuff like this to show us what isn't safe about our coop so we can fix it and hopefully never have to deal with loosing one that way again

 

[sssharon]

I hope it doesn't either. I am taking care of my grandkids chicken who was attacked by a fox and he was attacked in broad daylight. I hope this fox doesn't have rabies either. He was hanging around my kids house and my daughter saw him goes across their driveway and even worse, with a chicken in his mouth. I think he's thinking he will stay around and finish the rest.