Warding off Foxes...?

[GGBEAR]

Mine are confined, but happen to jump out once in a while....What do you mean "more predators to worry about"? Thank you!

What i mean is here in the UK we only really have foxes over where you live tu have coyotes raccoons hawks etc

 

[VolailleAmant]

What i mean is here in the UK we only really have foxes over where you live tu have coyotes raccoons hawks etc

Wow! You live in England? That is neat! What is the weather like there?

 

[itsasmallfarm]

I do not free range, well, yeah...I do Only my Silkies do because they get picked on by the hens and their crests begin to lose feathers... I have a guardian dog that has been sleeping near the chicken coop. I am depending on her! Thank you!

nice, my friends have two guardian dogs and they have yet to have a predator problem in the (maybe 5 years they have had chickens), but a large dog should help with the foxes (not sure about coyotes though)

but also nice i really like silkies, we have two at the moment (both hens)

 

[itsasmallfarm]

What i mean is here in the UK we only really have foxes over where you live tu have coyotes raccoons hawks etc

you guys are lucky over there here in Canada we have a ton of chicken loving predators, the ones am most worried about are wild hogs, they can just rip through hardware cloth like nothing i have heard.

 

[GGBEAR]

Wow! You live in England? That is neat! What is the weather like there?

temperamental at the best of times over this last week its ranged from baking hit at 29/30 degrees to torrential rain continuous over 3/4 days and temperature plummeting
oh how lovely it is to live in England
oh and all that the TV has been going on about the past few days is voting

 

[VolailleAmant]

temperamental at the best of times over this last week its ranged from baking hit at 29/30 degrees to torrential rain continuous over 3/4 days and temperature plummeting
oh how lovely it is to live in England
oh and all that the TV has been going on about the past few days is voting

That sounds cold, it has been upper 80's in Michigan. We had our vote last November, last year was a very...Umm, interesting.....year in politics

 

[jeria]

I see the pretty red foxes in the woods behind my house any time of the day. I believe their den is in the creek wall behind my house--too much poison oak down there for me to explore! I love to watch them run and jump but agreed they are not nice to chickens. With my dogs I've never seen them on my side of the fence, though a concern in building my coop and run. I won't be free ranging either unless I'm in the yard--too many predators.

 

[annaBsChick]

These guys provide a great wealth of information on that - http://www.poultrydvm.com/predator/fox

 

[Jessie22]

Hi!
Last night, I forgot to put my male and female month old Buff Silkies into the chicken coop. I did not think twice about it since they have been free ranging for a week! The reason only the Silkies were free ranging is: They were getting picked on by the hens and their crests were looking like crap. Anyhow, this morning when I went to do chicken chores, I found buff-coloured feathers all over and blood on the rocks that sit next to the pen....NOOO! I can't find my little rooster. I consulted my handy-dandy chicken book and found out that it matched the fox-attacks description to a "T"! Now, based on your own experience, what is the best way to keep the foxes away? Besides putting them in the coop at night, I am planning on doing it! Thank you!
-VA

I love Silkies too. I have 2 roosters and 4 hens. Only 1 rooster gets to mate. My hens just started to lay. I put them in the coop every night because I have guineas and 1 was setting on 38 eggs and I saw her in the yard early, well I believe a opossum got into her nest and chewed up the eggs and left chewed up shells and a mess of her nest. My other guineas had a nest in a wooded circle in the yard, well I heard her screaming at 10:30 at night and she made it up to our outside door and I ran out and there was the red fox getting ready to finish her off, I hollered at the top of my voice and the fox ran away. I thought she was dead but I saw her breathing and put her in a box, dark quite room for 2 days. She is fine now but sure looks pitiful missing more than half her feathers. I am going to buy a trap and catch this fox and he will meet his demise. In North Carolina you are suppose to call the Wildlife Officer before you trap any wildlife, also hawks and owls you can not shoot them either, its a big fine and possible jail time but I am sorry they have to go if I see them. I am not going to call. Buy a trap, bait it and catch whatever got your buffs. So sorry for your loss. Catch those predators, what ever got your buffs, it will be back for more because there is a food sourse available.

 

[jeria]

From what I understand it is a federal law that is against intentionally killing any bird of prey. Here in the city you have to have a license to trap much besides small rodents--mice, rats, moles.