Stressing over fox problems. Almost ready to sell my flock... :(

LestersFlat · Jun 28, 2022

ChickensComeHome2Roost said:
A picture of your set up would help a lot!

Hard to give you a good picture of the setup. We use an old milking barn, the yellow shed, as the coop. The chickens have been free range for 11 years, so we never put a fence around it, and the coop is secure enough to keep out everything but rats. It is in an open area, but the weeds, mostly blackberry brambles have grown up around the shed. There are regularly mowed paths front and back. State highway about 100 ft in one direction, our house about 1,000 ft in the opposite direction. Open fields and a creek surround our property.

The first photo is where I have been working on fencing them in. I have to cut thru all the blackberries here, and on the opposite side. The bulk of the fencing was in a more open/mowed area and was much easier work.

LestersFlat · Jun 28, 2022

ChickensComeHome2Roost said:
I agree! They'll keep coming back until you have none left. Whats worse is they teach their young to hunt your chickens too. You aren't only dealing with the original predators you've got every generation of offspring teaching their offspring to hunt your chickens.Sooner or later you're going to have to trap & kill predators or make a predator proof coop & run .
A chicken tractor with an electric fence would be ideal.Theres no poop to clean since you move it regularly. (retractable wheels make them move easily) I prefer the ones that Raise & lower the wheels with a lever.

I attached photos of our current situation. I am trying to put a predator-proof fence around the chickens and coop, but that gets back to the original post where I have chickens jumping over and groundhogs tunneling under because now they are trapped inside. I left one opening at the bottom for the groundhogs to continue to use as an escape, hoping the fox doesn't find it. I put the live trap right outside that hole hoping to capture the groundhog(s) and find them a new home. Instead, this morning, I caught a skunk. Arrrgh!

I don't expect to catch the fox in the live trap after more reading about it. It has not, as far as I can tell, come around for the last week or so, but I think that is only because I am down to having just the rooster and 1 hen inside the fence. They have finally settled down (I think) to staying in there. If I finally fix all of the fence top and bottom and it still doesn't work, I will try an electric fence outside the metal fence. But I need to get the groundhogs out before I go there...

I did just purchase the Eglu Cube I mentioned with a 13' run, not delivered yet. I intend to put the 8 young chickens I have in a crate in the garage in that and see how they do. It has skirting along the bottom that goes out about a foot, and a covered run. I can use it as a grow-out pen if I ever do solve this fox/predator problem.

But I am beginning to think there is no good solution other than shooting the fox, and that doesn't help me much as husband and I both work. Foxy was coming back all different times of day and night to the diner, so there is no easy way to find it to shoot it.

ChickensComeHome2Roost · Jun 28, 2022

I suspect you have a pair of foxes hunting with hungry kits that will be hunting on their own in 3 months. I would use the old run to catch the last 2 remnants of your original flock and re-home them since you haven't been able to keep the foxes or ground hog out..

ChickensComeHome2Roost · Jun 28, 2022

LestersFlat said:
I have read a good number of posts on here regarding foxes and other predators, but I could still use some advice. We have have had free-ranging chickens here in upstate NY for about 10 years. We have lost some to predators over time, but nothing like this. I love that we have a variety of wildlife around here, and have accepted that they need to eat and feed their young as well. I have every predator you can think of, including cougars, coyotes, bears, hawks and eagles. I don't want to shoot everything that eats my chickens, because, as pointed out in your forums, more predators will just take their place.

I am pretty sure this gray fox has kits it is feeding, and we were losing almost 1 chicken every day for the past few weeks.

I gave away 4 of my laying hens to a friend hoping I can get them back if I solve the problem. I have the rooster, 1 hen I couldn't catch to give the friend, and 1 broody hen in a secure crate in the very secure coop sitting on eggs with 2 just hatched. Before I knew there was a problem, I purchased 8 chicks who are now ready to come outside. They are in a crate that they are getting too big for in the closed up garage.

Since I fenced in the chickens around the coop (before I gave the 4 away) I lost one when the fox dug under in the middle of the day. They were trapped inside, and it apparently came and went as needed. As I was working on fencing around the bottom to prevent fox from digging under, I discovered we have a family of groundhogs inside the fence who are helping with the digging. Also working on the bottom, I watched the rooster fly/jump over the top of the 4' wire fence where I had attached some netting and chicken wire another 2' above.

So, multiple problems here, and I have not come up with a single solution.

I did try a live trap, but so far no capture.

I won't use a leg trap because I am afraid my dogs will find it before the fox.

Husband tried shooting at it, but no luck, and it came back hours later.

I am tempted to let the remaining roo and hen go back to free ranging, figuring fox will have to find them rather than having them trapped in the Chicken Diner, but I still have the problem of what to do with the remaining growing flock.

Has anyone tried an Eglu Cube with walk-in run?
omlet.us/shop/chicken_keeping

Some of Eglu's forums seem to suggest that raccoons might be able to get in the Cube.

I am also considering buying just their large walk-in run, which has a skirt around the bottom that seems fairly secure. If I raise the young-uns in an enclosed space, they won't know what they are missing out on the range. Either way, it will be an improvement over the garage crate.

And then what do I do with Broody Mama and the 2 or more chicks?

I am really struggling with this, and seriously thinking it is time to give up chicken keeping. I am 66YO, and getting too old to be fixing fences for the rest of the summer only to have Foxy defeat me at every turn.

Any ideas and comments will be appreciated.

You could make a secure run using garden stakes and chicken wire with an electric fence around it(not poultry fence).The Omelet would work until you got a fence up.Chickens need 4 square foot in the coop and 10 sq foot minimum per bird in the run.It would have to be difficult to try & downsize your flock in order to save them & try to raise these chicks at the same time while a fox is just waiting to decimate them all.You have my sincere sympathy for your loss & hope you are able to build a good run so you can keep them all.

Penpal · Jun 28, 2022

A fox will typically go to your place at the same time every day. If you have fox coming at different hours, that's how many fox there are.

bobbi-j · Monday at 11:52 AM

Each of my coops has a covered 6’ high, 12’x18’ run attached. Made of 2x4” welded wire with 1/2” hardware cloth around the bottom 2’ with a strand of electric fence going around the coop, level with the top of the hardware cloth. I would secure my run and trap the groundhogs (we would then dispose of them). Electric fence of some sort is definitely your friend when it comes to protecting your chickens.

Stressing over fox problems. Almost ready to sell my flock... :(

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