Woodland free range hens and ducks getting picked off by fox

[cmom]

These are my pens and coops. They are totally covered with heavy duty netting, concrete under the gates and electric wires around the coops and pens. I planted the trees in the pens years ago. Since my land is mostly open pasture there is no shade and the birds actually prefer to be in their pens where there is shade. We built rain/shade tables which are in all of the pens.

 

[cmom]

This is a chick/grow-out coop. It also has netting covering it, concrete under the gates and electric wires around the coop and pens. The coyote and fox know the electric wires are there. I love my game cameras...

 

[cmom]

Very interesting that you could get him to go into the trap, I figure most foxes will be hip to the game and avoid it, but if the bait is good enough I guess not. Sure does look small, my red foxes here are nearly twice the size in western PA.
My wife and I were talking about building a decent size enclosure/run:
This will only be a part time thing when we are not home or on vacation as we still intend to free range them when one of us is home.

You will loose birds at one time or another even when you're home. Predators are sneaky and lurk looking for an opportunity and usually find one. I caught the fox in the live trap because I baited it for a few days and let it take the bait and had a camera to monitor them. This particular fox was showing up during the day. Here they usually roam at night. This is one I have been seeing lately on my cameras.

 

[Vicktoria Giuergia]

As the title suggests I’m having some fox issues. This has been going on for months with no resolution. I’ve attempted to lure and shoot (nearly successful but must have missed), hired a trapper who caught numerous raccoons which we disposed of but no fox.

Let me say my lowest priority is to build a run for them. They are here in part for pest control which they do well. They have a coop they remain in at night which is quite secure and someone is home most of the time but we have always lost one when both of us are gone at the same time. Today after over a month of no activity it caught my newly laying Easter egger. I am quite angry.

I am beyond caring to attempt non lethal ways and would have no way of doing so. I’m wondering how others who live in rural areas deal with these kinds of pests? I’m open to all suggestions. Several months ago it nearly dragged off my cat who is a tough bastard and was able to get free and up a tree. I appreciate any constructive feedback to help me resolve this problem.

That's one of the drawbacks of living in a country setting. We've had Mountain Lions, bears & coyotes. They go where ever there is food. They've destroyed many a coop, children's dreams & parent's ideas. They come & when they destroy, they disappear. I have a shotgun handy in case they get too friendly w/me or any of my critters. I've never had to use it (thank goodness!) Although the Mountain Lion did go after one of my horses. She ran, got stuck between a Mansanita & an Oak tree, had a heart attack & had to be put down. The Mountain Lion was huge. Paws bigger than a grown man's hand's. It was a beautiful animal. Sometimes you just can't live w/nature!!! You have to take matters into your own hands. GOOD LUCK!!!!!! Best wishes are w/you!

 

[McChooky]

My neighbor doesn't have a secure run for his chickens but he does set traps. The only way he manages to keep a flock is by incubating his own eggs and hatching chicks.Good luck!

 

[50-45-1]

I also have a free range flock.
My deturents are 3 guardian dogs and a small flock of guineas. I dont have any real close neighbors tho or guineas could cause problems because they are noisy.
I have 7 game cameras and have lots of native preditor pictures except the cougar. Hes been sighted and tracks found but has not walked In Front of my camera yet.
The guineas are great alarm makers and will sight a preditor before anything else sees it, (including me).
The dogs patrol the yard and barn area and are off like a shot when the guineas make alarm or when they catch scent of a preditor.
Nothing is 100 persent for protecting your chickens except total confinement.
I lost about 5 chickens last year, which actually is pretty good.
I've lost plenty of roosters during my chicken raising years. A brave rooster is usually a dead rooster when it comes to fox and coyote.
Again, there real job is to alarm in time to usher everyone to safety. And I loose guineas too, and they are pretty smart and savvy.
Good luck!

 

[Dinoroar]

Guard dogs have pretty much solved my fox problems. They’re still young so I can’t actually leave them unsupervised with the chickens but just them being in their pen near where the birds roost and hang out has gotten rid of the constant picking off of birds. The fox we had here was gorgeous! But I sure got tired of loosing so many birds.

 

[McChooky]

I also have a free range flock.
My deturents are 3 guardian dogs a a small flock of guineas. I dont have any real close neighbors tho or guineas could cause problems because they are noisy.
I have 7 game cameras and have lots of native preditor pictures except the cougar. Hes been sighted and tracks found but has not walked I. Front of my camera yet.
The guineas are great alarm makers and will sight a preditor before anything else sees it, (including me).
The dogs patrol the yard and barn area and are off like a shot when the guineas make alarm or when they catch scent of a preditor.
Nothing is 100 persent for protecting your chickens except total confinement.
I lost about 5 chickens last year, which actually is pretty good.
I've lost plenty of roosters during my chicken raising years. A brave rooster is usually a dead rooster when it comes to fox and coyote.
Again, there real job is to alarm in time to usher everyone to safety. And I loose guineas too, and they are pretty smart and savvy.
Good luck!

The downside to keeping them contained is you can only keep so many before they become stressed and fight. I built a 8 x 16 run last year and I'm already adding another run so I can add more chickens. Free ranging is a whole different ball game. Unlimited space no fighting.