Six sweeties gone - possible fox

[ausash]

I believe a fox got three of my hens this morning and three of my 3 week old babies also. They were all there this morning when I left and gone when I came home about 7 hours later. There is a fox that keeps crossing the field behind us but so far had not bothered anybody but the neighbor has been feeding it. The other neighbors said they saw it this morning cross over around 9:00am and now they have feathers all over their yard. No signs of digging under the fence so it is going over the fence and hauling the chickens over the fence again. Anybody have any clue how to get rid of it before it takes the rest of my now much smaller flock? This is happening in daylight hours and not nighttime.

Thanks.

 

[Jillylam]

I'm very sorry to hear about your losses. I have no experience with foxes but if it happened to me I would run some kind of electric wire. I don't really like the stuff but if something got any of mine during the day I think that's the first thing I'd do. My chickens free range all day and I wouldn't want to have to keep them inside so I guess I'd figure out what to do to secure the perimeter. Sorry I don't have any other good suggestions.

 

[justusnak]

I am so sorry for your losses. WHY ON EARTH would anyone FEED a fox??? These act of "kindness" are ULTIMATELY the demise of the animal. They are makeing it people friendly, and someone will get hurt...a child..dog...or more chickens.

Just my opinion...you have 2 choices.

1. Electric fence

2. S S S ( Shoot shovel SHHhh)

I personally would opt for 1...if that didnt work, then 2

 

[blue fire]

Maybe you can catch it and release it in a park or something.

 

[Poison Ivy]

We have had problems with racoons and possums killing my chickens before. We bought the have a heart traps from local tractor supply store. Florida law states it illegal to turn a nuisance animal loose. So we came up with filling a large tall garbage can with water and placing cage in it. Drowning is cleaner then shooting it and I'm not comfortable with guns. We kill about 10 racoons a year plus a couple possums. I would buy a trap and bait it with raw chicken and cat food. Then you could call animal control to come pick it up and relocate it if its a fox. Not sure what laws you have in you area.

 

[CarriBrown]

I was going to suggest animal control, too. They will probably be especially interested if it is coming around during the day.
When you talk to them, let them know that someone is feeding the fox. Big no no. Hopefully they will be able to educate these people.
I'm sorry for the loss.

 

[chickbea]

This time of year, the fox may very well be feeding pups, so shooting or relocating it on your own is not a good idea.
Call your local game warden, and absolutely mention that someone is feeding the fox. Nothing good can come of that.

 

[ausash]

Thank you for the great suggestions. I believe my husband is going to attempt to electrify the top of the fence. We have tried traps but they are too smart for that so that does not work. We called animal control and wildlife people before but they never came out and never returned my phone calls. I will have to try again though. Also about the pups my one great neighbor said that she has heard the people around her mentioning seeing the family all together so I am pretty sure that it does have one somewhere and is probably feeding it which would explain the very large meal that was taken yesterday. Maybe I just need to post a sign that states "Not a drive-thru, try McDonald's"

Thanks.

 

[justusnak]

Quote:

or a sign that say....NOT KFC. LOL

 

[ausash]

Well the fox came back yesterday for more take-out but I was home and scared it away. Today I had to go to work and could not be home. Well I came home to discover that I have my momma and her five babies left because they were in a seperate run area that the fox could not get to but that the fox had taken off with two of my other chickens and I now only have one left. I did discover that the fox "buried" one of the chickens (my favorite) under some leaves in the chicken run area for later snacking. I have spoken with fish and wildlife and because of where I live I can legally shoot or trap and euthanize this fox because it has become a nuisance. So tonight my husband will set up the trap for the fox and we will see if we can trap it. Wish us luck, then after that my husband is going to set me up an electric fence so that this won't happen again.