Free range flock and fox

[featherpickingfool]

Lots of information in this thread. I saw young fox a block away from my house last week. It didn't look healthy. I didn't know they hunted mid afternoon. Earlier this summer, I put wireless cameras around my backyard. I have learned a lot by watching what is coming around and when. Has anyone used electric fence? I still need to pick up fence post for electric fence project.

 

[Shadrach]

I very much doubt locking the chickens up for a week is going to solve the problem.
Foxes like many predators have a range which they patrol looking for food. The range is much smaller than some people seem to think. So, the bad news is you have a fox living close by and if that is the case, he/she could show up anytime; this week, next month, anytime.
If it's a male, he may move on. If it's a vixen and she has cubs to feed now, or later, things are likely to get a lot worse and you'll have a vixen trying to teach her cubs how to hunt.
Foxes hunting in daytime is a relatively new thing. Naturally they are dusk till dawn hunters and many people in more rural areas don't get fox problems because their chickens have gone to roost by the time the fox goes hunting.
You need to deal with the fox unfortunately. Hoping that adjusting the chicken keeping will throw the fox isn't realistic. How you deal with the fox is for you to decide and not something I would offer advice about, but the fox needs to go or you'll keep losing chickens.

 

[chicknmania]

I very much doubt locking the chickens up for a week is going to solve the problem.
Foxes like many predators have a range which they patrol looking for food. The range is much smaller than some people seem to think. So, the bad news is you have a fox living close by and if that is the case, he/she could show up anytime; this week, next month, anytime.
If it's a male, he may move on. If it's a vixen and she has cubs to feed now, or later, things are likely to get a lot worse and you'll have a vixen trying to teach her cubs how to hunt.
Foxes hunting in daytime is a relatively new thing. Naturally they are dusk till dawn hunters and many people in more rural areas don't get fox problems because their chickens have gone to roost by the time the fox goes hunting.
You need to deal with the fox unfortunately. Hoping that adjusting the chicken keeping will throw the fox isn't realistic. How you deal with the fox is for you to decide and not something I would offer advice about, but the fox needs to go or you'll keep losing chickens.

.i hate to disagree but that is incorrect. And ifyou read the whole thread you would see that. Yes fox range is 1/2 to one square mile. Weve had fox attacks before. Weve had chickens going on 18 years. Ive kept records since 2009. Lööking back on those records we have had 3 documented fox attacks...none long lasting. One was a vixen with kits. Before that i recall one other fox attack..again not long lasting. None came back daily like this one has. Foxes dont live forever. Wildlife needs a bresk. Thetefore my last recourse is to kill one. And fox are not easy to trap.

 

[Shadrach]

.i hate to disagree but that is incorrect. And ifyou read the whole thread you would see that. Yes fox range is 1/2 to one square mile. Weve had fox attacks before. Weve had chickens going on 18 years. Ive kept records since 2009. Lööking back on those records we have had 3 documented fox attacks...none long lasting. One was a vixen with kits. Before that i recall one other fox attack..again not long lasting. None came back daily like this one has. Foxes dont live forever. Wildlife needs a bresk. Thetefore my last recourse is to kill one. And fox are not easy to trap.

I'm not sure what it is you disagree with but I'm delighted I'm wrong if it means no more of your chickens will die.
There is a fox living 30 metred from the chicken crew I currently look after. She's a vixen and her, or her offspring, have been living here for many years. She gets a goose every now and then and once when the run gate was replaced but the wire overhang wasn't she got 7 or 8 chickens in one night.
As far as I can tell she goes by the chicken run nightly hoping someone has made an error and left an opening for her. Fortunately she's a dusk till dawn hunter. I see her quite often as I leave the chickens for the night.

 

[chicknmania]

I'm not sure what it is you disagree with but I'm delighted I'm wrong if it means no more of your chickens will die.
There is a fox living 30 metred from the chicken crew I currently look after. She's a vixen and her, or her offspring, have been living here for many years. She gets a goose every now and then and once when the run gate was replaced but the wire overhang wasn't she got 7 or 8 chickens in one night.
As far as I can tell she goes by the chicken run nightly hoping someone has made an error and left an opening for her. Fortunately she's a dusk till dawn hunter. I see her quite often as I leave the chickens for the night.

I'm glad you leave her be! Really, foxes hunt when they're hungry...day, night, or anytime. Other predators do as well..we've had raccoons, mink, possums, and even an owl, all come during daylight hours. Foxes may show up more during the day in the past decade or two, because they have learned that humans can be good protection for them, and since coyotes kill foxes over territorial rights, humans are a big plus. When we had the vixen with her kits, she was living under one of our neighbor's houses, a few doors down. No one living in the area wanted to hurt her or her kits, but everyone that had chickens was worried. For about three or four weeks, she would bring her kits around and they would get one chicken that was free ranging. Just one. Every week or ten days. After that she and her family disappeared. We were thinking she was teaching her babies to hunt. We attempted a lot of different deterrent methods during that time, and maybe that had something to do with them leaving, idk.
Anyway, I hope this one is gone. I appreciate everyone's input and thoughts and heard some interesting stories! We are so appreciative of the wildlife that is left here...we are unwillingly living in what will be one of the fastest growing areas in the country in the coming years...much to the dismay of the majority of the population living here, as the growth plans came as a complete surprise to almost all current residents. So most people living here are willing to do anything to try to protect what wildlife we have left, if at all possible as we have previously always been a mostly farm and woodlands community, and that is rapidly changing and being destroyed.
Sadly, because of shrinking habitat, it is making wildlife not only bolder, but also more desperate for food and shelter, and less afraid of people...because what choice do they have? It makes me sad to hear people saying that they kill every predator they perceive to be a threat, when there can be other preventative options, such as what you described, depending on individual circumstances. .
Not that I'm totally opposed to eliminating a predator that becomes a major problem. If this one comes back and kills another of our birds, I will resort to trying to trap it, or at least try to figure out how we can make electric fencing work in our setup. Our flock is secure at night, at least they have been to date.

 

[The head hen]

We had 18 birds until yesterday, when a.fox got one of our birds. The only good this is that the fox got interrupted in the process and did not get out of the fenced yard with the bird. We.on only letting them out to free.range while we are.out in the yard.

We.have had birds.for a little over 12 months, and they have free.ranged all along. It wasn't until just this week that this fox problem emerged. The biggest change is that there is no longer a dog around, since.we.lost our lab a few.mo ths.back.

I think it.is time for a new.dog (s) to patrol the yard and mark the perimeter.

 

[featherpickingfool]

We had 18 birds until yesterday, when a.fox got one of our birds. The only good this is that the fox got interrupted in the process and did not get out of the fenced yard with the bird. We.on only letting them out to free.range while we are.out in the yard.

We.have had birds.for a little over 12 months, and they have free.ranged all along. It wasn't until just this week that this fox problem emerged. The biggest change is that there is no longer a dog around, since.we.lost our lab a few.mo ths.back.

I think it.is time for a new.dog (s) to patrol the yard and mark the perimeter.

sorry for your loss. My dog, an aussie saved the birds from a hawk attack last year. A good dog is a must in a good life.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Keeping predators from continued kills until they move on certainly works. However if you've provided enough food and it's in season for raising young then they've created a den nearby and won't move on. The idea is to stop the free and easy meals before the predator takes up residence.

 

[The head hen]

sorry for your loss. My dog, an aussie saved the birds from a hawk attack last year. A good dog is a must in a good life.

Thanks! Actually going to look at a 7 month aussie/gr. Pyrenees mix tomorrow! Our labs were amazing dogs (litter mates) and miss them terribly. The one that lived the longest (13.5 yrs.) tried to chase the chickens a bit, more out of fun, but couldn't keep up with them. He gave up quickly and never bothered them. But he patrolled the yard until his last day!

 

[AGeese]

I'm just wondering why there's no dog in the picture, you're home all day, love animals and free range.