Urgent!!! FOX TOOK A CHICKEN!

[Caileys_Chickens]

If you kill the fox, leave its skin there so the other animals know. My grandma does that with coyotes that threaten her flock, she just sticks the skin on the fence and they tend to leave them be.

 

[cmom]

I would shoot it, now that it knows the location of your chickens he will be back and murder your girls.

It was a very good feeling to shoot the coyote that was destroying my flock. That bastard was coming in broad daylight all hours of the day.

It will be tough for it to get to them now. I put more electric wire around the coop and pen and wired the gates shut. I have concrete under the gates as well as electric wire and heavy duty netting covering all of the pens. Somehow this time the fox unlatched a gate. I have the fox running off on video. Now I have two cameras by that coop. One pointing at the live trap and one towards the gates where I'll set the leg traps next to the gate it opened.

 

[Timothy Menezes]

Wonder if you could have the game camera's alert you immediately when the fox shows up. Maybe a motion sensor that set off alarm in the house.

Alternative idea that a friend recommended was spraying lion urine around the coop. Laughed my ass off when he told me that he sprayed lion piss all around outside his house. He claimed that nothing wanted to come around his place for about 6 months after the application. This was a few years ago but I think he bought that product at a hardware store.

 

[townchicks]

I'm sorry for your loss. That can be a real shock.
The way I see it, there are two ways to keep chickens (with some variations on each). One is free range, and know that you risk some losses at any time. The other is to build a secure run and keep the chickens in all the time. Neither is right or wrong, just individual tolerance levels. You do need to understand, however, that if you free range, you are taking risks. Yes, you can shoot or trap any animal that takes some of your birds. Usually, though that happens after you have had birds killed, just as in your case. Then you get rid of one, but there will be more. If you aren't willing to accept that risk, build a large secure run. It is possible to have healthy, happy chickens in a run, if they have enough room and enrichment.

 

[cmom]

My husband mentioned he may get me a WiFi game camera for Christmas so I can get alerts on my phone, if I don't beat him to it. I have several different cameras. YouTube is a good place to look, and blogs for enthusiasts who do reviews and post actual photos taken with the different cameras both day and nighttime pictures. I do video but have a program to convert the videos to frames.

 

[cmom]

I've tried urine and almost everything mentioned over the years. It was a fluke for the fox to get the gate open. He killed 2 birds. I'm taking my excess males to sell tomorrow and when I was catching them I was one White Leghorn male short so he was one of the birds killed. Another girl must have hidden some where. When I went out to the coop yesterday to do some repairs and other work she appeared out of nowhere and had some feathers missing on her back but otherwise ok.

 

[cmom]

The fox was back last night but didn't go near the chickens. I have that area covered well with some cameras. It was on one camera but not the ones near the coop. I did get it on video running along the fence on the night of the killing, but not video of it killing the birds.

 

[Timothy Menezes]

Well if you didn't see it breaking in, wonder if it was something like a raccoon with more nimble fingers?

 

[cmom]

The fox was the only critter I saw on camera there that night. There aren't many nights that I don't see the fox on at least one camera. I'm sure it was the fox. Whatever it was, I wired the gates shut so I don't think it will get in. I didn't sleep well last night. Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight.

 

[SongBaby33]

I had a fox take my Rhode rock she was beautiful