Help fox getting our chickens!

[Bluecat]

For those of you that keep chickens how do you keep them safe from foxes?
we live in the country and keep chickens.they are surrounded by a tall chicken wire fence which is dug into the ground. we have a chicken house that they go in a night.yesterday the fox dug under the fence and took 2 chickens during the day.then he came back at night when they were in there house (we had fixed the hole in the ground and fence)and managed to slide out the slider which is used to clean out the house and pull another hen out!
how can we stop this happening?would a fox scarer help?or an electric fence or would he dig under it?please help

 

[*hic*]

How did he get back in the second time if you'd fixed the hole?

How deep is your fence dug in? Ours is 18 inches but we haven't had one try to go under. Can you run two strands of electric fencing round the outside of the fence, one at around 4 inches from the ground and the other at around 18 inches?

 

[Gilbey]

You bury your wire but bend it so it's facing outwards. The fox is too stupid to dig a distance away, so he digs next to the pen and burrows inwards. You probably need at least 18" on the bend. Failing that a friendly farmer with patience and a shotgun Hope this helps, they are a nightmare.

 

[BentleyBelly]

We have put paving slabs all the way round our house and run so that the fox cannot dig under. Electric fencing is good too but they would prob dig under it. We have actually had more trouble with next doors cat than the foxes!

 

[BentleyBelly]

You bury your wire but bend it so it's facing outwards. The fox is too stupid to dig a distance away, so he digs next to the pen and burrows inwards. You probably need at least 18" on the bend. Failing that a friendly farmer with patience and a shotgun Hope this helps, they are a nightmare.

Yes, they are not too bright, they will dig down but not across so you need something to stop them digging right next to the edge of the run/house.

 

[Tinsel Trouble]

Suggest that you bury your fence in an L-shape and put up a low electric fence at nose height to zap Charlie when he gets too close.

a warden I know rigged up a trap with a piece of string that attached to a shot gun that was hanging out of his bedroom window- he shot 6 foxes in 2 weeks when they were after his flock! He is a bit feral though!!

 

[tls]

The guy i had my chooks from used to hang human hair in old tights around the chicken pens to deter the foxes. I also put paving slabs round the edge of the pen. My jack russells go out regularly on chicken patrol, i have heard that the smell of domestic dogs can also deter foxes!

 

[Ranyhyn]

Our chickens roam freely during the day, however living on the farm means the dogs and I are back and fore quite frequently - so I do believe we deter him.
Or believe-d....
Last week while on horse feeding duties the 3 dogs went beserk, with one going under the gate hot tailing it after a fox. Roly chased the fox right out of our land onto next doors' while we watched him trot away into the nearby woods. We were quite happy with that until I look back to see the same fox coming back across the field we just chased him out of!!! With that, all the dogs took off after him. He did just enough to get out of the way, no more.

And he's been seen since

 

[Harrie123]

A fox got my chicken at the weekend, she was in her hen house (at night) and it pushed the bottom out of the laying box (the bit that sticks out, if that makes sense) and got her out that way! So a warning to everyone! Make sure that part of your chicken run is well secure and has good quality hard wood in it! Fox must have been pretty desperate, I have seen an awful lot of foxes in out area lately.

 

[Tnavas]

Bring back hunting!

We used to have an electrix fence about 6 inches from the ground to keep the foxes out of the pheasant runs, you need to keep it clear of all grass and weeds to stop it shorting out.

 

[Dolcé]

We had one get through our (working) 10000v electric pen a couple of weeks ago, killed and took 4 cockerels in the space of 4 hours but left the geese alone. Fortunately I had moved the hens because I caught the geese attacking one of them. We have loads of foxes and our have been safe for 18 months, this one has gone against all the usual behaviours and simply popped through the wires in the fence. It must have made 4 trips as they were all big birds, all were able to fly but didn't make it to the top of the coop, I think 2 must have fought because there were 6 piles of feathers, 2 each from the 2 biggest birds. It is heartbreaking, all were pets and had been raised from day olds, living in the house for several months. The only consolation is that they were around 6 years old so had a lot longer than most cockerels would and had a happy life. I wondered if it is a new one into the territory but cannot understand how it went through the fence twice let alone 4 times given the shock the fence gives off.

 

[jinglejoys]

But foxes are sweety weety things that inly eat blackberrys and earthworms and sit out on sunny banks playing for the TV cameras!!!!!
Agree with tthe tall wire loose not tight with an outward bend top and bottom and an electric wire nise height

 

[ElleSkywalker]

Gross but works, wee around the chicken run, also get your dogs (if u have them) to pee & poop round it too

 

[horsestar]

We had four of ours taken on Saturday approx 4pm whilst we were out and about! They sit so quiet watching until the right moment. We have wire around dug in but he still got them and left lots of feathers. The others must have gone in their shed as they were fine and kept quiet but i so think they are hard faced and in all this weather they will do anything for a feed. My husband and his shot gun are quite useful! once foxy has been he knows there's a free meal. 

 

[wench]

Get a large cage trap. Keep on leaving bait in it and around it. Eventually he will go it in and you can shoot it.

 

[Phoebe]

I lost all mine in one night. It literally ripped the side of my shed out and took the 4 hens and gutted my cockerel and left him for me. I was so upset. I haven't had the heart to keep any since. Once they've been once they will keep coming back sadly

 

[Lynette]

Phoebe that sounds more like a badger then a fox. Still tragic I know

Yes Mr Reynard can be very clever

 

[Puzzles]

I have 2 chickens at uni with me in central Birmingham where foxes are everywhere - i simply can't afford to let them out ever, so they just have their pen and a good-sized run attached which is moved regularly so they can scratch up new grass, grit and bugs. I place lots of sharp lumps of brick, rock and stones over an area of about a metre around the pen as I find that the foxes usually can't be bothered to dig that far away from it. i know it sounds gross but I also put dog wee and human wee regularly in places around the pen as this seems to intimidate the foxes & they usually leave well alone!
You might also find it helpful to set up a bright automatic light (though I haven't tried this) as it might frighten foxes away and deter them from coming back.
It's always an on-going battle, but good luck!

 

[Ranyhyn]

Pheobe, take a little heart that last July he cleared us out of 5 chickens, he hasn't got our replacement two yet, fingers crossed he wont!

 

[Bluecat]

thanks everyone.my hubby is a farmer and wants to catch him in trap and shoot it.im a real softy and am not too keen on this.but he has taken half of our chickens now and i fear he will be back today/tonight for the rest.he didnt touch them for a year.so i guess must be hungry.we have bent the fence outwards and it had brambles and grass which had grown over it but he had dug down twice.ive put them in their other run and house today as too worried to let them out.he had clerverly managed to pull out the shelf that you clear the poo out from and pulled a chicken through that small gap!!

 

[Puzzles]

Would it be possible to put electric fencing (like you put in the horses' field) at a low level around the pen? It's worse when the fox has already succeeded as they will always keep coming back. But there are definitely ways around it aside from shooting the fox - after all, if anything there will always be more foxes!

 

[Bluecat]

thats what we are hoping to do but ot sure its going to be enough

 

[g3mm4]

I have a metre high electric fence (poultry netting) round my hens (2 pens) and so far have been lucky - have found Mr Fox sitting between the two runs, and 2,5 brace were sent packing by the hounds in the autumn from the maize field which backs on to one run. The fences are mains powered and goes between 3,000 and 9k volts depending on weather conditions etc. Once I heard a fox yelping along the road having touched the fence (we could see his paw marks in the mud).

The guinea fowl and geese do let us know when the foxes are about.

 

[Ibblebibble]

foxes are getting bolder and smarter we lost 15 chickens last year when the little sod chewed through the chicken wire and massacred the whole lot, that was the 2nd time in 2 years, first time he went under the wire friend of ours left one of the carcasses out for 3 nights and sat with his rifle waiting for the bugger, got him on the 3rd night and brought me home his tail lol!! it is getting harder and harder to keep them away i think

 

[Enfys]

Our pen is actually a dog run, one of those ones with the rigid panels, it just has sleepers around the outside and netting across the top - otherwise the hawks come in and get anything that's in there.

Housing is a stock trailer...I defy anything to get in that, but I did look out this morning and see a fox sitting on the feed bin beside. He nipped off pretty sharpish once the dogs were let out into their compound - poor beggar, he is looking pretty skinny, not much food about at the moment and he has to compete with the coyotes for what there is. This time of year they all start coming onto the yards, I always just hope that my cats stay out of their way, I am pretty sure I lose a couple every year to foxes or coyotes.

 

[Jericho]

This has worked for us - so far.... most are suggestions already kindly given by HHOers. High wire, paving slabs round base, wire dug into the ground to about 18inches and curled outwards under the ground and slabs. Ours are out during the day and the cockeral actually does a good job of defending them - he even goes for the dog and horses if he thinks his girls are under threat!!

Get a human male to wee around edges, get dogs to regularly patrol. Security light works well to start with but fades off.

Unfortunately once they know where they can get a free meal then they are likely to keep coming back. Can you move the coop at all?

I like to see the foxes in the wild but they are right little b***ers when it comes to chickens!

 

[Bluecat]

thanks everyone.we are on fox watch tonight lol

 

[Ibblebibble]

thanks everyone.we are on fox watch tonight lol

happy hunting

 

[Luci07]

thanks everyone.my hubby is a farmer and wants to catch him in trap and shoot it.im a real softy and am not too keen on this.but he has taken half of our chickens now and i fear he will be back today/tonight for the rest.he didnt touch them for a year.so i guess must be hungry!!

I was always told that foxes are the only animal like a human and will kill for pleasure,so they will kill an large number of chooks and leave the bodies. They wiped out all of ours when I was a child causing much heartache.

 

[horsestar]

Yep they kill most and take what they want! I incubated 14 eggs and hatched them and once big enough kept them in a big run caged all round until they were big enough to join the free rangers. Mr foxy came one afternoon, dug a hole underneath and killed all except one who we mow call lucky! But foxy only took three away with him and left the rest dead. So horrid. The older hens who have been previously traumatised by him won't go in the hen house voluntarily now, instead they perch on top or in the tree and we have to knock them out and round them up to get them in! They would rather roost high up than go in thinking they might get killed! Poor things never forget!