Neighbour attracting foxes

[L Home Farm]

Have you considered a halo collar or a shock ‘fence’ wire for the dog? It’s not exactly cheap but a lot less than putting up an actual fence.

 

[tlcmurphy]

You can build your own fence with thin-ish tree branches. Make it as tall as you want, sharpen the end of the branch that is going vertically & stab it into the ground, then proceed with the next vertical branch & so on & so forth, then with thinner branches you create a weave. I think the term is called “whittle fence” but it’s been a while since I’ve done mine. It probably won’t stop him from jumping over eventually, depending on the height of it. They aren’t permanent, but they help for the time being.


It is time consuming, but you can work on it overtime if you don’t have a lot of free time. You should turn your neighbors in. Like you said, foxes are a danger to your chickens, dogs & yourself, especially if a rabid one turns up. We had a den right below our house, my chessie found it after a fox nabbed one of my leghorns.



View attachment 3648752

That fence is gorgeous!

 

[NatJ]

You can build your own fence with thin-ish tree branches. Make it as tall as you want, sharpen the end of the branch that is going vertically & stab it into the ground, then proceed with the next vertical branch & so on & so forth, then with thinner branches you create a weave. I think the term is called “whittle fence” but it’s been a while since I’ve done mine.

"Wattle fence" is the term I usually see. Yes, that can be time-consuming but cheap if you have the materials.

I would like to put up a fence, I've looked into it on and off but I can't justify it. I lost 2 birds last year to a fox before we got the LSG. He's great and everyone is calm because of him. The chickens love being outside and he loves watching over them. We free-range them all day and only lost 1 chick to a hawk this year.

Although, I'm considering a very basic exclusion fencing moving forward. Simple 4 foot tall chicken wire wrapped around the perimeter. It would effectively deter surprise attacks during the day and wouldn't restrict my chickens range while allowing my dogs a a somewhat freer range.

The absolute cheapest solution would be stapling chicken wire to trees and I'd be looking at well over 1k$ for something with a marginal benefit at best. I'd rather build a fence with purpose rather than as an ad hoc solution to an unnatural problem

I was wondering about something like orange plastic mesh: easy to see, relatively cheap (depending on how much you need), fairly lightweight so you don't need very strong posts (or you could fasten it to trees.)

Here are two places with pictures of the stuff I'm thinking of:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tenax-4...rdian-Safety-Barrier-Fence-2A060006/100384030
https://www.amazon.com/Electriduct-Plastic-Construction-Fencing/dp/B07SRW8M6L

I do not think that fence would actually stop a dog or a fox. But a strip of it along the boundary with the neighbor would give a very obvious thing to show the dog, and train him not to cross. Having it right THERE would remind him, every time he runs toward the boundary, that the boundary is there.

Of course that would have to be paired with training, but it sounds like training the dog is something you have been doing fairly well. If the problem is only with the neighbor on one side, I would probably not bother trying to fence the whole property, just the section where the dog most often chases the fox onto that neighbor's property.

Of course some places have rules about what kind of fencing you can put up, so that is something to check before you do any kind of fence.

 

[Geena]

I do not think that fence would actually stop a dog or a fox.

There are some dogs that don't respect or understand fences or are just escape artists, but they are in the minority. Thankfully, most dogs will stay inside their fence, even though they could get out if they really wanted to. The dog inside the fence should stop (most of) the foxes from coming through. It's worked well here for many years with only very few exceptions.

IMO if you own a dog you need to keep it confined to your property, no ifs, ands or buts.

 

[Another leaf]

I have a fox den on my land that I do nothing about, because the foxes are largely unable to catch my chickens. I'm aware you're in a significantly colder climate than myself, however there may still be breeds of chicken you can raise without overt concern of predation

My American Gamefowl are highly predator alert and with an LGD they have almost no concern over foxes. I've watched a fox raid on many occasions and they catch nothing. One time I even saw a broody hen attack a fox to save her babies, and they all survived without injury

I don't even think they're coming here anymore honestly. I think they're killing my neighbors chickens because they have fat, unathletic breeds and I hear dying noises over there occasionally

Consider raising tough chickens?

I have a fox den on my land that I do nothing about, because the foxes are largely unable to catch my chickens. I'm aware you're in a significantly colder climate than myself, however there may still be breeds of chicken you can raise without overt concern of predation

My American Gamefowl are highly predator alert and with an LGD they have almost no concern over foxes. I've watched a fox raid on many occasions and they catch nothing. One time I even saw a broody hen attack a fox to save her babies, and they all survived without injury

I don't even think they're coming here anymore honestly. I think they're killing my neighbors chickens because they have fat, unathletic breeds and I hear dying noises over there occasionally

Consider raising tough chickens?

Now this iss an interesting suggestion. This is only my second year with chickens and I've never heard of this before. Thank you

 

[Another leaf]

You can build your own fence with thin-ish tree branches. Make it as tall as you want, sharpen the end of the branch that is going vertically & stab it into the ground, then proceed with the next vertical branch & so on & so forth, then with thinner branches you create a weave. I think the term is called “whittle fence” but it’s been a while since I’ve done mine. It probably won’t stop him from jumping over eventually, depending on the height of it. They aren’t permanent, but they help for the time being.


It is time consuming, but you can work on it overtime if you don’t have a lot of free time. You should turn your neighbors in. Like you said, foxes are a danger to your chickens, dogs & yourself, especially if a rabid one turns up. We had a den right below our house, my chessie found it after a fox nabbed one of my leghorns.



View attachment 3648752

I actually thought about this when I first got chickens, I like the look of it, natural. Also it's good for tge amount of snow we get, I set up some temporary cattle fencing last winte and tge snow bent it all up. Coyotes were staking out my dogs at night so i forced them to have to attack from an exposed position. When I let them out I'd watch over them with a weapon light, they never even tried.

Anyways, I can at least get started on it, shouldn't have put it off. As for the dog he wouldn't jump over it at around 4 feet I don't think. Thank you

 

[Another leaf]

Keeping chickens, especially when you have containment issues with the birds and guardians puts the burden of additional cost on you. If the cost of keeping your LSG contained to your property, regardless of what is going on across the property boundary is too high, then the cost of keeping chickens maybe too high for you.

This is a valid criticism. Although I may feel that a certain level of risk was acceptable before situations change and I need to be prepared. Right now I'm caught off guard and am looking at this situation from as I am the victim.

I was reluctant before because of the sheer size I decided it had to be but seeing where they forage normally I could make more of corner fence to create a buffer zone from that back corner at the least

 

[Another leaf]

It's better not to use snares or leg hold traps unless one is proficient with them, and snares are most often illegal anyway. You also might want to check with your DNR first as many states consider foxes to be furbearers that can only be harvested in season, unless you have a nuisance permit. Please don't put out poison, also usually illegal, as anything could eat that, including your own or other people's pets.

At this time of year it's highly unlikely that there would be a vixen and kits still using a den, so I wouldn't bother looking for one. But youngsters are liable to still be hunting as a pack and maybe that's what has your dog riled up.

A fence is always your best bet in the long run. It will save you a lot of time and aggravation, keep your dog from going into the neighbor's yard and help prevent future predator attacks. Even if you eliminate these particular foxes, there will always be more of them and various other predators as well.

I'm more and more realizing that I should have put something up earlier. Normally I wouldn't consider poison , that came from an emotional response. Although killing the foxes would be legal for me it's still a Grey area and the responsibility is on me to prove it's justified and at this point I don't even have evidence that any fox exists other than my word.

General consensus is a cheap fix isn't my best option here

 

[Another leaf]

"Wattle fence" is the term I usually see. Yes, that can be time-consuming but cheap if you have the materials.



I was wondering about something like orange plastic mesh: easy to see, relatively cheap (depending on how much you need), fairly lightweight so you don't need very strong posts (or you could fasten it to trees.)

Here are two places with pictures of the stuff I'm thinking of:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tenax-4...rdian-Safety-Barrier-Fence-2A060006/100384030
https://www.amazon.com/Electriduct-Plastic-Construction-Fencing/dp/B07SRW8M6L

I do not think that fence would actually stop a dog or a fox. But a strip of it along the boundary with the neighbor would give a very obvious thing to show the dog, and train him not to cross. Having it right THERE would remind him, every time he runs toward the boundary, that the boundary is there.

Of course that would have to be paired with training, but it sounds like training the dog is something you have been doing fairly well. If the problem is only with the neighbor on one side, I would probably not bother trying to fence the whole property, just the section where the dog most often chases the fox onto that neighbor's property.

Of course some places have rules about what kind of fencing you can put up, so that is something to check before you do any kind of fence.

That orange stuff is ugly

Personal preference. But you're right. I'm fully confident he'd understand and wouldn't try to cross it. A little overview of tge layout is that the neighbor is on one side and that's it. Were separated by a thin treeline and on my side is another 70 so feet of tall grass that the chickens don't really forage in. They would fly over the fence if they wanted to but they likely wouldn't. I could put a steel mesh, chicken wire even, from the house to the back forest and it would be about 100 feet. Should be able to for a couple hundred $

 

[NatJ]

That orange stuff is ugly

Personal preference. But you're right. I'm fully confident he'd understand and wouldn't try to cross it.

I know it's ugly. Personally, I might not use it either. But since it is very visible and relatively cheap, I thought I would at least mention it. People tend to hear "fence" and assume something sturdy and expensive, which may be more than you need in this exact case.

A little overview of tge layout is that the neighbor is on one side and that's it. Were separated by a thin treeline and on my side is another 70 so feet of tall grass that the chickens don't really forage in. They would fly over the fence if they wanted to but they likely wouldn't. I could put a steel mesh, chicken wire even, from the house to the back forest and it would be about 100 feet. Should be able to for a couple hundred $

Yes, that does sound like it might help with the current situation.