Red Foxes! How do I get rid of them?

[Pinfeathersgeek]

Get some guinea fowl. They'll soon let you know when fox is nearby.
Just an idea.

I actually want some I love them. I just have to convince my Husband I'm working on him.

 

[DouglasB]

We haven't tried to kill anything we're actually very mellow folk and love all of nature's critters. The people being rude can keep those comments about us off of here. I asked for help we have not had any fox, coyotes or raccoons ever kill our Chickens Hawks here and there yes but not in years. To be rude is unnecessary and I said I would be looking into coil traps as I had never heard of them before since we do not just randomly go around taking out predators. This fox is dangerous it's coming during the whole day even while we are out by the coop! and I'm sorry if it upsets those who are against killing it but that option is not off of the table here. Again I didn't say we are killing ALL predators but I will seek help in taking out a predator that is that brazen to not even have any fear of a Human. We are securing the pen and my Husband's always outside with our flock the fox was so fast he didn't even hear a sound when he snatched up Blue he went looking for her as she wasn't in the flock going into the coop for the night and he saw the feathers just in the woods. We do love our Chickens they are part of our family the rest of them are 5vyears old and Blue was older so don't be preaching rudely that it's our fault the fox didn't come into the pen. Thank you for your suggestions. I'm asking for help and others opinions on it. I'm not rude to others and I expect that in return.

I am very sorry if you took what I said as being rude. I never even had a rude thought about this situation. If in your opinion the fox is ill or dangerous, by all means do whatever you think best to resolve the problem.

 

[Weeg]

We haven't tried to kill anything we're actually very mellow folk and love all of nature's critters. The people being rude can keep those comments about us off of here. I asked for help we have not had any fox, coyotes or raccoons ever kill our Chickens Hawks here and there yes but not in years. To be rude is unnecessary and I said I would be looking into coil traps as I had never heard of them before since we do not just randomly go around taking out predators. This fox is dangerous it's coming during the whole day even while we are out by the coop! and I'm sorry if it upsets those who are against killing it but that option is not off of the table here. Again I didn't say we are killing ALL predators but I will seek help in taking out a predator that is that brazen to not even have any fear of a Human. We are securing the pen and my Husband's always outside with our flock the fox was so fast he didn't even hear a sound when he snatched up Blue he went looking for her as she wasn't in the flock going into the coop for the night and he saw the feathers just in the woods. We do love our Chickens they are part of our family the rest of them are 5vyears old and Blue was older so don't be preaching rudely that it's our fault the fox didn't come into the pen. Thank you for your suggestions. I'm asking for help and others opinions on it. I'm not rude to others and I expect that in return.

I am also sorry. I don't want to be the bad guy. I definitely don't I just have different opinions then others, and I feel that killing is drastic. If you are in danger, do what you need. I hope I didn't cause any inconvenience, and hope your issue gets sorted out.
(Maybe without the use of traps and guns?)

 

[Fuchsia]

I forgot to mention before we set the traps we tried waiting out there with a gun, but the Fox always seemed to know we were there and not come out those nights.

 

[Fuchsia]

Oh, and one more thing, if you use coil traps, (what we used, and what I recommend using) be careful not to get your hand caught in the trap. Kinda obvouis, but I did and it hurt pretty bad.

 

[Weeg]

Oh, and one more thing, if you use coil traps, (what we used, and what I recommend using) be careful not to get your hand caught in the trap. Kinda obvouis, but I did and it hurt pretty bad.

Exactly, don't you think that is how the fox feels? They have much more delicate legs then you, it can hurt them.

 

[Isaac 0]

What the fox feels becomes less of a concern when numerous amounts of birds are being killed each day. Contrary to what some people believe, nature itself is not all butterflies. The new idea common with the new generation of kids that, no animals should be killed, as it's cruel, creates a monoculture type ecosystem, that allows the luxuriant growth of one species, over several.

Everyone is granted their own opinion on the topic, but forcing the idea, and providing false information on the opposing side is not good by any means.

To the OP, I hope you're able to solve your fox problem.

 

[cmom]

It will not move on.
But if you kill it, another will take over its territory. Maybe even a hungrier one.

How protected is your coop?

This is not necessarily true. I have eliminated some fox that killed some of my birds. Yes I have seen others since but they haven't bothered my birds but my birds are well protected.

 

[cmom]

We have always had foxes around gray's and reds we've had our chickens for just over 10 years and never had an issue with the gray fox or the red fox until 2 months ago when the red fox had killed 2 Hens.Then this past week we've seen 2 red fox one looks sickly it's tail is like a stick no hair on it and a normal looking one. One of them got another hen and was in the process of trying to grab another Hen 2 days later when my Husband ran up and scared it off and it let go of our Hen she's unharmed.. Since then we've shut them in our small run that my Husband covered the top with wire. They're relentless coming constantly all day when my Husband isn't standing guard outside with them and we hear our Rooster going crazy crowing our German Shepherds run look out the bedroom window and then run to the backdoor to get outside to run over to the pen we have chased the Healthy looking fox off all day! He keeps coming back we see where it killed a morning dove as it's got feather collection piles just inside the woods Help help help!! Our chickens have always free ranged every afternoon and now their not able to leave the run.any suggestions on how to get them to move on??? I truly appreciate any suggestions that would help us save our flock.

So Sorry for you losses. My birds all stay in their pens but they have nice large pens. I have electric wires around my coops and pens, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens, all due to losses from predators in the past. I have free ranged in the past but no longer since my special bird was taken during the middle of the day by a fox. I did catch the fox and eliminated. I caught it in a live trap. SSS. I set a couple of live traps because I was also having issues with coyotes too. I have seen fox since but they haven't made an attempt to get to the birds. I have several game cameras on my property and now it's my belief that the adults teach the young that getting zapped by the electric wires isn't worth it for any chicken. I put the traps out under some cedar trees we planted many years ago. I baited the traps and let the fox take the bait for a few days then set the trap and caught the fox. As I said I have seen some since but they haven't been near the coops and pens. I have had in a couple of attempted digs under the fence on the far side of the pens but apparently the predator came in contact with the electric hot wires and aborted the attempts. Nothing has tried to dig under the fence since. Good luck...
This fox dug under a gate and killed several birds. I chased it off and it kept coming back. That is when I put the concrete under the gates. I also put a hot wire across the bottom of the gates. This bobcat dug under a fence and killed 14 birds. That's when the electric went up around all of the coops and pens. It made the mistake of coming back for another try. I don't enjoy eliminating them but when they keep coming back and killing my birds they have to go.

This is another bobcat outside my chick/grow-out coop a little over two weeks ago.

 

[DouglasB]

That bobcat would have made a good mount.