Urgent!!! FOX TOOK A CHICKEN!

[chickengeorgeto]

So picture me, my first flock, I go out at around 5:30pm, suns already down. I’m out to close up the door to my chicken coop, I’m counting up my flock and I notice one Is missing. I look around trying to see if she some how got out and bam! A cluster trail of feathers with drops of blood along the way. Something took my baby, I’m assuming a fox because I saw one up the road last week. What do I do?!?!! How do I control this pest?!?! Please help!

In farming the word "CONTROL" is used when the Idea is to kill all the foxes and let the nature goddess Gia separate the innocent from the guilty. If you allow your chickens to walk around the environment un-accompanied then you will have loses. Free Ranging carries with it the idea that your chickens are living (pick one) the dream or the nightmare of being a chicken but you can't have one without having the other. That in a nut shell is why Conagra Brands, Inc or Tyson chickens don't free range their poultry.

 

[tigger19687]

Why is it people ask questions and then don't come back to find out the answers.

Do your Homework - SEARCH for the answer before you post. There is a Wealth of info on here but no one seems to want to do the work....

SECURE your pets/hens/etc

 

[cmom]

I too have lost birds to fox. I now have electric wire around my pens/runs and coops concrete under the gates and heavy duty netting covering all of the pens. I have several game cameras on my property and most nights I see a fox. Last night at my chick/grow-out coop
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Other visitors I see occasionally.
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I thought a fox had killed a couple of my birds recently but now I'm not so sure. The only predator I saw around that coop and pen that night was a fox on my camera. Lately I have been seeing a coyote around the same pen and coop. It was back last night and the apparently it tried the gate again but I had it wired shut so nothing was going through the gate but it tried to dig on one side of the pen but got zapped by the electric wire so it gave up. I'm sure it will be back. I put another good game camera up to get more views. It has been foggy lately at night. Now I'm thinking it was the coyote that killed the birds.

 

[RoosterML]

@cmom ok you need to first go buy a night vision scope. 2nd brew a nice pot of coffee and spend the night awake putting your new purchase to the test. WOW you have alot of stuff running around down there. Good luck, get the darn thing(s).

 

[cmom]

I have been thinking about it. I put another camera up today in another spot for another view so if it comes back hopefully I'll get some good pictures. I did bury some ½x½ hardware cloth. I dug a foot deep trench along the side of the pen that the coyote attempted to dig. The hardware cloth I had was a foot wide so I hog ringed the hardware cloth to the bottom of the fence wire, so it's now down a foot in the ground. I think the electric wire did it's job but this one is persistent probably because it was the predator that killed the birds recently and not the fox. The night of the kill, the only predator I got on the camera, was the fox.

 

[cmom]

I have a 410 and a 22. Will a scope fit both the rifle and the shotgun? I have to do some research.

 

[RoosterML]

I have a 410 and a 22. Will a scope fit both the rifle and the shotgun? I have to do some research.

I would think if you get the same scope mounts for each you could switch it back and forth. The only problem you might have at that point is once you have it sighted in for one it probably won't be on target for the other. I would use the 410 buy slugs site it in with the slugs. Anytime you want you could use regular bird shot with it and won't be an issue. Best of both worlds. Good luck

 

[cmom]

Thanks, I have slugs for the 410.