Posts Tagged Foxes

The fox trap worked. He was happily devouring the dead duck until he saw me with my camera.

Well, I am happy but also sad. The fox did come back and I am pleased that this time he didn’t get to take any of my birds…  he came back into my end run and got caught by my humane trap. I had the sad job of dispatching him which is never a nice thing to have to do but this fox has been a particular problem and was a regular visitor.

It has taken a month for him to go in there which I am told is about right. They have to get used to the trap being there and the trap also needed to lose some of its ‘new’ smell.

I have had many years without a fox problem however this fox was getting into my runs so I a hope this was a one off and others will learn that the fence is now electrified and will keep out.

I believe in “live and let live” and the majority of the foxes in our neighbourhood keep their distance. There is a plentiful supply of rabbits and pheasants around the fields and in the woods for the foxes to eat and we have a big dog, our neighbours have a dog and my birds are locked up in their houses every night without fail. Unfortunately, over the last year, for the first time in 8 years of living here, there is a fox that hasn’t been obeying the rules of engagement and has decided he can drop by for a free Chicken ‘ready-meal’. This fox is rather clever because he will come just before the birds are locked up and will come across our neighbours garden, over two fences and then across our own garden to get to my birds. I have spotted him walking up the white line of the main road to get here, choosing his time when there is a break in the traffic and our dogs are inside.

His last visit, is the second time I have lost birds to him – 2 of my best ducks. This is only the second time in 8 years of living at this house that I have lost birds to a fox. The same fox.

Well Mr. Fox I hope has had his last meal.

I have ordered another electric fence, this time a rather powerful one that can electrify most of the perimeter of my enclosures but my problem is the way he is coming in through the garden is the one place where I cannot protect. The wife would never allow me for one and the children wouldn’t appreciate an electric fence on one side of the garden where they play!

After a few sleepless nights, I think I have come up with a solution. I shall have a ‘protected area’ further up the field that doesn’t border the garden with one fence and a semi-protected area nearer to the garden which will be protected on 3 sides with a flashing light to deter the fox near the unprotected garden fence. At high risk times, we will keep the birds in the protected area and at other times when we are around, they can be let out into the semi-protected area.

I will have to catch this particular fox mind you because now that he knows a way in and has had two successful kills, I know for sure he will be back.

The fox trap is set.

The saddest thing I find is he is killing but not taking the bodies. These two had been carried over the fence to the neighbours garden and lined up, heads ripped off and then left. Such a shame.

I cannot shoot the fox on the road, in the neighbour’s garden or even in my own garden safely so I have set a large fox trap. This will catch him without hurting him. It is a humane trap, imagine a large dog crate with a door that swings down when triggered, trapping the fox inside. The bait…. well he left two dead ducks so I have used one of the bodies for him inside the trap.

Mr. Fox looking for dinner.

Hopefully not “…Dinner time”. But then again seeing how foxes will break in and kill every bird, without taking a single bird to eat does make me wonder why nature behaves in such an irrational way.

Anyone who keeps chickens will of course fear a visit from Mr. Fox. I always used to think that my birds were most at risk during the cold winter months but now I really believe the summer months are more dangerous.

Looking through our poultry forum, nearly every week I see a post from someone who has had a fox get into their chicken run and kill their chickens. A popular ‘problem’ is chickens being safely locked up at night by VSB automatic door closers (without the additional timer module) but has opened up in the early hours around 4.30am at first light, letting the chickens out whilst the fox is still around. I have 3 of these automatic door closers now and every one has the additional timer module. An extra £30 to £40 but so worth while when you risk losing all of your birds in one go like this.

The second problem with this time of year is that foxes are feeding cubs and teaching them how to hunt on their own. Last year at 9am one morning I watched 2 young foxes walk up to one of my chicken runs casually without the fear that normally accompanies older foxes. They were hungry, learning how to hunt and looking for an easy meal. Thankfully, they didn’t get it.

Rest In Peace Quackers - These were the Abacot Ducks that the fox killed.

I wasn’t so lucky this year. A few weeks ago, I had 4 Abacot Ranger ducks in a run that had a 6ft high fence around it and an electric wire. It had been a very wet night and a tuft of wet grass had touched the electric fence, shorting it out. A fox got into the run around 5am (I know this because the bodies were still warm at 6am when I discovered them) and ripped the heads off the ducks, burrying the bodies in the run and leaving without taking anything.

Foxes always come back so I now house all of my birds at night to make sure this doesn’t happen again. It is the first time I have lost birds although I can still remember discovering my parents dead chickens when I was 7 years old after a visit from Mr. Fox.

After several late  nights looking for the fox, I failed to find him, then just as I was about to go to bed one night, I went to draw the curtains on the front of the house to see a fox walking along the white line of the main road. He was coming into the garden the one way I didn’t expect… via road.

They say as cunning as a fox don’t they…?

There are some ideas on how to keep your chickens safe from foxes in the poultrykeeper pests and predators section.