Is there a way to deter foxes?

[susan1981]

I have one chicken and when I'm at home, I like to let her roam the garden. I often work from home and I have my headphones on, so can't really hear anything going on around me. I haven't really worried up until the last few days because we don't generally have many foxes where I live, especially not during the day, but there's clearly a new fox on the block!

The other day, I was working with my headphones on (I need them on for my work), and my husband ran outside because he could hear the chicken making a lot of noise. There was a fox up the other end of the garden.

Often, if I'm just popping out for 5 minutes to do the school run or whatever, I'll leave her in the garden hoping she'll be fine. Luckily I didn't do that this morning when I did the school run because when I came home, there was a fox in the garden.

I don't know what it is with my garden, but it's a bit of a hotspot for every cat in the neighbourhood. I have 3 of my own, and we have a few others that are often in my garden as well so I thought maybe that stopped the foxes coming in.

I just had the chicken running around the garden now while I'm inside working and I noticed she looked very alert, and I could see the fox through the fence in my neighbour's garden. So any advice on how I can deter them, or is there nothing I can do really? Also, do chickens have a good sense of smell or of foxes? We've had a number of chickens, this will be our last one, and sometimes they start making their clucking noises really loudly, I'll go outside to see what's going on and they'll be a fox in my neighbour's garden but there's a wall there so there's no way the chicken could see it.

 

[CCUK]

I think the only way you can solve this is to have a fox proof fence around your garden. Have got a secure run she could go in when you are working? You could always trap the Fox and kill it but more than likely another will come. Foxes are horrible animals and kill for fun. I would be more inclined to make a secure run for her and only let her out when your with her. That being said a fox can also do a stealth attack when your there and get her, so a decent fence would also be a good idea.

 

[susan1981]

I could never kill a fox. I really don't like them, they've had enough of my animals over the time, but I couldn't kill one. It's difficult because we have cats and obviously they like to come and go (we have a cat flap). I'm sure I've heard that men's pee or dog poo can help deter them. No idea how true that is.

We had a fox do a "stealth attack" on one of our previous chickens actaully. Well, we were indoors, but the back door was open and we heard a load of squawking. Luckily we got there just in time, although I thought our chicken was dead as she was all cowered down, perhaps playing dead (if they do that), although that chicken was never the same after that.

They just drive me nuts. I wondered if leaving a radio on in the garden while I'm inside might deter them? Our chicken is older now, so I don't really want to spend a fortune.

 

[centrarchid]

Radios and scents do not appear to work. Dog or properly placed hotwire is effective and can be used in urban settings and does not provide a mortal risk for children,

 

[birdlover97]

I read somewhere that dog scent can deter foxes. If you have dogs or you friends have dogs, try letting them around the area the chickens are in and let them urinate. The smell could put the foxes off from visiting

 

[Trish1974]

An electric fence is only sure shot of deterrence. Fox are extremely smart and crafty, can jump high, squeeze through fence openings, dig under barrier fences and this time of year they are feeding kits and are desperate. I wouldn't even trust pee scents.

 

[MilesFluffybutt]

Susan, please consider hiring a company to humanely remove and relocate the fox. If you let me know where you live, I can come up with some recommendations. It shouldn't be too much to trap it and your neighbors might be willing to help with the bill.

Foxes are incredible creatures, ecologically important and widely misunderstood. They consume thousands of rodents each year, which are carriers of Lyme disease and Hantavirus. So again, please consider a humane way to deal with this conflict.

 

[EggMan207]

Try rags dipped in bleach, that are hidden out of sight. They would need to be re-dipped frequently, but it might work. Trapping is difficult, because fox are smart animals. It also might be illegal. In Maine, you can shoot one if it is attacking livestock. I am always worried about fox attacks... They can wipe out your flock in a hurry.

 

[susan1981]

I don't know what the laws are on killing foxes here, I'm in the UK. I know fox hunting is banned, so I guess it wouldn't be legal. I couldn't do it anyway. I mean cats kill animals for fun but I love cats! Maybe I'll try the bleach thing. We don't have a proper chicken run for her. She has the run bit of her chicken cage but it's not very big. And now that she's on her own, our other chicken died a few months back, I just feel like she needs to be out as much as possible. I'll just have to keep a close eye on her. At the moment, she's running around in the garden with the radio on. After my last post, I did google it and some things that came up did suggest that it can work.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

pretty sure coyote or wolf urine would scare them off.

it seems where ever the wolfs move in the coyotes move out and then the same with coyotes and foxes, my grandparents own a chunk of land that used to be full with foxes back 20 years ago, now there is just coyotes after they moved in. heard they scare and kill foxes.

or you could just shoot/trap the fox (in season of course with the right permits)