wow! broad daylight, just lost a 2 month old chick to a fox.

[Mojo Chick'n]

I have a hen with five chicks who run all over the yard - my husband just saw a fox take one of the chicks, didn't get to his gun fast enough, though. He said the hen came out of the wooded area over at the side year squawking like mad, with the fox right behind her, it got her chick, stood there a minute, deciding on whether to get her, too, then took off back into the woods.

I had a hen on the other side of the house (closer to the coops) who was almost gotten by something the other day - heard her screech and come running towards the house, ran down there, saw a white flash running off throught he brush - figured it was a stray cat. Probably was this fox again that time.

guess I need a live trap, and I need to lock the ducks and geese up safer at night til he's caught.

what is it this year with predators??!!??? they seem to be extra thick around here this year - never had this much trouble. Hawks, possum coons and now this fox all in the space of a summer. The coyotes are bad this year, too - although they don't come near the house cause I have a herd of donkeys. I have heard them a lot, and close, and others have had major problems with them.

sheesh, ya figure in daylight the worst predator is gonna be a hawk or something, not a fox. Hubby said it was a big one, too - as tall as my beagle mix dog. (he is about knee high).

meri

 

[Cetawin]

Sorry about the chick but thankfully you did not loose your hen. Fox are a PITA here too. Bold, brazen and strolling around during the day. I gave one a bloody nose one day with a phone book!

the danged thing was busy digging at my run...I threw a rock at him, yelled etc etc and all he did was look at me and return to digging. So, the phonebook had been delivered and was sitting there so I grabbed it ran up to him and tried to shoo him...he looked at me with this "Yeah what?" expression and I witch slapped him across the face and bloodied his nose.

He took off then.

I watched one last night wandering around my duck house trying to find a place to get in...I chased him off after watching him a few. So lock em up until you catch that critter.

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

yeah, I'm bummed about the chick, but glad it wasn't my best broody hen that he got. She has raised many clutches of babies for me, and I keep her around (cause she doesn't lay eggs hardly at all, really, just hatches other chicken's eggs) just because of that.

I may have to run into town to a friend's house (he builds live traps, good ones) and get me a trap today.

meri

 

[crtrlovr]

sorry about the loss of your chick

There's a coyote that's been hanging around here and has snatched 2 guineas -- one who was right beside her pen trying to get back in, and another was grabbed around 10:30 or 11:00 a.m. while I was on the riding mower cutting the grass.

She was there one minute and when I made the next pass I saw a pile of white feathers...

I thought surely they'd be OK free ranging in the yard in broad daylight. Not so... Our covered run, completed in Dec. was totally destroyed by our epic Jan. 09 ice storm, so it's rebuilding time.

 

[The Chicken People]

Last night was scary..We are hearing coyotes not to far away and I am so afraid they will get my chickens..can someone look at my page the last photo is my coop and do you think the wire will keep them out? Any suggestions are helpful!

 

[teach1rusl]

Mojo Chick'n :

what is it this year with predators??!!??? they seem to be extra thick around here this year - never had this much trouble. Hawks, possum coons and now this fox all in the space of a summer. The coyotes are bad this year, too - although they don't come near the house cause I have a herd of donkeys. I have heard them a lot, and close, and others have had major problems with them.

sheesh, ya figure in daylight the worst predator is gonna be a hawk or something, not a fox. Hubby said it was a big one, too - as tall as my beagle mix dog. (he is about knee high).

meri

I think they are simply becoming more bold... As we encroach on their territory more and more, they lose a lot of their natural food supply. Plus they just get used to seeing us around a lot more...so have lost a lot of their human fear factor. I feel kind of badly for them, but not so bad that I wouldn't shoot them if they're attacking my animals. I am sorry about what happened to you : (. That fox doesn't sound like it's going to go away...so you will have to take action.

And the person who smacked the fox on the nose w/the phone book...LOL!!! Maybe you need to hang a few phones books around the property...that little fella probably has a fear of phone books now and won't dare come near...lol.​

 

[Mojo Chick'n]

Quote:
nice little coop!! very cute.

I'd say it's as safe as you can make it, probably. if a coyote is determined to get in, not much is gonna keep him out. I guess our best defense is to make it hard enough to not be worth the effort so they go somewhere after easier meals.

the only thing I see that might be a problem is it has no bottom (mine don't either) and something could dig under, perhaps.

if that is a problem, maybe a run of hotwire around the bottom would deter anything getting close enough to dig?

I had a coon trying to dig into my coops this summer - he got a couple of younger chickens before I solved the problem (did not dig totally inside, just had a hole he could stick a leg into to rip off their heads - he killed them, but couldn't eat them cause he couldn't drag them out the hole.). I put cement all around the coops to deter the digging.

If it were me, I would probably dig a trench around the outside, fill it with cement, then run some cement up the sides a bit to make it more solid, and not just cement under the edges. Alternatively, you could dig the trench, then put wire under there to keep them from being able to dig in, then refill the trench to hide the wire.

meri

 

[patman75]

I think it sounds like you need to be packing some heat if you can hit a fox with a phone book.

A nice little .22 pistol would do the trick.

 

[Chickn chick 46]

Yes folks, there goes one more use for the yellow pages

I find throwing things like a baseball bat or a large stick works good at stopping any unwanted interest in the chickens, whether its the dog (I make sure my aim is off, I wouldn't want to hurt the dog just spook her a bit. She can be pretty determined) a hawk or fox.


Sorry about your chick. The critters have been more persistent this year, thats for sure.