Should I trap the fox?

Should I be proactive and trap the fox? (and kill it...)

Should I assume that my run/coop is fine and that the predator will never figure out how to get in? And therefore I would not trap (and kill) the fox? Once I trap and kill it there will probably be more foxes - I live in a semi-wooded area next to a small creek.

We have a predator which I'm pretty sure is a fox that keeps getting into our fenced back yard. It has been leaving scat regularly along our berm (like there's ten large piles back there, one after the other, filled with beautyberry seeds and insect parts mainly). The berm is about 25 feet from our open air coop/run. My son has gotten up before dawn to watch the rooster crow and the hens wake up, and has seen a fox in that area. Also I know we have racoons, but I don't think it's a racoon because of the diameter and amount of scat, and the digging that the predator is doing.

We have an open air coop/run (basically a greenhouse frame with hardware cloth over the entire thing with a 3 ft hardware cloth apron, covered by a translucent tarp) and keep finding spots where something has dug a roughly 4-5" diameter area and uncovered the hardware cloth. We'd go out in the morning, and a spot of mulch would be disturbed. Chickens have been out in the run for about 2 months now.

17 chickens are depending on me for their welfare. They do not free range due to predators and bird flu, and are very much pets. The metal shed coop that will connect to their converted greenhouse run is not put together yet, so they're living in their run. How worried should I be about the fox?

Your description of scat is indicative of raccoon or possibly skunk, not fox. That doesn't mean you don't have a fox too. Only you can say if your coop is predator proof. Based on personal experience, the only fully predator proof enclosure is chain link fence over, under, beside, and apron. Even then, a bear might come along and you can guess the rest.

Raccoons rarely forage during the day. Foxes on the other hand prefer to forage during the day, particularly around 10:00 a.m. in the morning and just before dusk in the evening. Skunks are mostly nocturnal, but rarely bother chickens. If you are a beekeeper, skunks are definitely a problem as they will eat bees for hours sitting at the front of a hive scraping on the landing board to get them stirred up.

Put out a trap or two and kill whatever gets caught. Make sure the bait is attached to the back wall. You are unlikely to trap a fox, they are just too clever. Or maybe not so clever. They will generally not go into a tunnel that they can't turn around i. They will not walk backwards out, they will only turn around. So, you might be able to trap one, but not in a conventional trap.

DarJones said:

Your description of scat is indicative of raccoon or possibly skunk, not fox. That doesn't mean you don't have a fox too. Only you can say if your coop is predator proof. Based on personal experience, the only fully predator proof enclosure is chain link fence over, under, beside, and apron. Even then, a bear might come along and you can guess the rest.

Raccoons rarely forage during the day. Foxes on the other hand prefer to forage during the day, particularly around 10:00 a.m. in the morning and just before dusk in the evening. Skunks are mostly nocturnal, but rarely bother chickens. If you are a beekeeper, skunks are definitely a problem as they will eat bees for hours sitting at the front of a hive scraping on the landing board to get them stirred up.

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Thanks for the information!!! That's super good to know. Looking back, I wish I'd put hardware cloth over chain link when I built the run, for extra strength. My next run will be chain-link based. Luckily, bears and mountain lions I won't need to worry about, but large dogs are a concern.

Penpal said:

Put out a trap or two and kill whatever gets caught. Make sure the bait is attached to the back wall. You are unlikely to trap a fox, they are just too clever. Or maybe not so clever. They will generally not go into a tunnel that they can't turn around i. They will not walk backwards out, they will only turn around. So, you might be able to trap one, but not in a conventional trap.

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Thank you! Looks like I need to investigate more about different styles of traps. The constant digging around the run worries me.

I would suggest a strand or two of electric fence around your run, a couple of inches off the ground, so whatever is digging will come in contact with it. It’s a great deterrent and you don’t have to worry about killing and disposing of a predator.

bobbi-j said:

I would suggest a strand or two of electric fence around your run, a couple of inches off the ground, so whatever is digging will come in contact with it. It’s a great deterrent and you don’t have to worry about killing and disposing of a predator.

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That's a good idea. But I have small children who like to feed the chickens grass through the hardware cloth coop "walls", I worry about them encountering the electric fence. They're not all old enough to understand they shouldn't touch it. I'll keep that idea in the back of my mind though. Thank you.

FunClucks said:

That's a good idea. But I have small children who like to feed the chickens grass through the hardware cloth coop "walls", I worry about them encountering the electric fence. They're not all old enough to understand they shouldn't touch it. I'll keep that idea in the back of my mind though. Thank you.

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You can always unplug when they’re outside. That’s what I did when my boys were growing up (with electric fence for the horses) and what I do when my grandkids are here. Even when it’s unplugged, I tell them to be careful of the fence because it will zap them if they touch it.