Fox in the daylight

[jreardon1918]

I’m in the US, but lost a chick and had a hen severely injured by a fox several hours after sunrise. Foxes are very active around sunset and sunrise, but that’s not always the “rule.” Anything that disrupts their routine will also cause them to be more active later in the morning. For example, if it stormed overnight, I never let my hens out unsupervised the next day.

Foxes are very smart so deterring them is a constant battle. The ones around here have figured out how far my dog is willing to chase them into our pasture- once they reach that line, they’ll completely ignore the dog and resume hunting.

We started chasing them out of our pasture with a drone. After about a week, they stopped coming around. I don’t consider it a long term solution though- they’ll be back!

All to say, you’re best bet is to have a predator proof run, or only let them have supervised “recess.”

I just heard the girls making an unusual amount of noise. There was a fox walking the perimeter of the run and coop. That happened at 10AM. Interesting that we got our first snow last night. The coop camera is now on. The Fox did not penetrate the run/coop.

 

[Captain13]

I agree that any sudden environmental change will cause a behavioral change in a fox in the short term. We have a big storm moving in from Alabama tonight and I have seen my fox buddy two times today in the field just walking around slowly, looking almost confused. This is not a good sign. Foxes are usually very alert. Either this big storm is affecting him or he’s sick.

 

[Psychofeatherlover]

Foxes are sneaky, they will watch and learn your habits. If they can't get em at night, they will wait till daytime and come then. Keep your feather babies up and keep a close eye out. They say the foxes will learn if the deterrents are harmful to them or not. And like I said, they watch and learn your habits. They apparently are very patient. I've noticed we have a whole lotta more problems when it's cold and there's nothing in the wild to eat. That's when they want chicken and duck.

 

[J n J Chickens]

They will come out in the mornings and afternoons so it’s not unusual. I have one I’m watching now that crosses my field every morning between 8 and 9. I’ve attached a pic of him walking the fence line during the morning. That was about 9 am. This was just before our first freeze a few weeks ago so the trees still had leaves.

I have trail cams that I get pics sent to my phone for hunting in the timber around me. I get pics of foxes about every day for a year. I put one behind the coop about 60’ and it’s been there the last few months. I’ve got pics of a particular cat and possum, rabbit ect. This morning I got a fox pic close to the coop. Of course I’m nervous now. We have two dogs who usually keep the area clear.

 

[Goosey Girl]

In eastern PA, I often see a fox in the afternoon sunning himself on the gravel driveway. Fortunately, my flock of geese, ducks, and chickens have their own areas bordered by electric poultry netting. My dumb birds just stand around watching the fox scratch his fleas!