fox killing chickens

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

  • No ad networks!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • trailman

    Active Member
    Nov 15, 2011
    631
    Frederick
    Anyone looking to help me trap eradicate a fox thats been driving us nuts. We've lost over 70 birds to this thing and nothing had worked. It will hit our coops in the daytime. We've even set a large live box trap baited with a live chicken and no luck. Frederick area near mountain dale.
     

    Occam

    Not Even ONE Indictment
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 24, 2018
    20,230
    Montgomery County
    Maybe you need a farm dog. My sister was losing all kinds of chickens to predation, and finally adopted a big oaf of a Great Pyrenees. He's a giant white wookie, but she hasn't lost a single chicken since. Foxes, coyotes, weasels, feral cats - they all just stay away, now. Of course that GP eats more every month than a hundred chickens, but it's the principle of the thing!
     

    Speed3

    Ultimate Member
    Aug 19, 2011
    7,816
    MD
    Amonia should deter a fox....id sit out there with a rifle and pick them off if it's safe
     

    shooterhyde

    Active Member
    Sep 9, 2013
    197
    Just talked with someone yesterday that was having a problem with a fox and his hens. He added a guinea hen to his flock, he said the guinea would make a bunch of noise when the fox came around and would either scare it away or he would let his dog out to chase it away. Either way the fox stayed away after a while.
     

    newmuzzleloader

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 14, 2009
    4,764
    joppa
    You need to keep a gun handy. I lose a few here and there but have been lucky enough that I or family members have heard the "alarm" or been outside and spotted them before they grabbed a bird or three. 2 I've shot with chickens in their mouth, 2 have been females, 5 total since spring. And then there were 2 more hit by cars out by the house. This year has been the most foxes I've seen in the 8 or 9 yrs I've been raising chickens and letting them free range.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,675
    You need to keep a gun handy. I lose a few here and there but have been lucky enough that I or family members have heard the "alarm" or been outside and spotted them before they grabbed a bird or three. 2 I've shot with chickens in their mouth, 2 have been females, 5 total since spring. And then there were 2 more hit by cars out by the house. This year has been the most foxes I've seen in the 8 or 9 yrs I've been raising chickens and letting them free range.

    Yeah I took out one trying to dig it’s way in to my coop. Likely the same one that wiped out my neighbors 7 birds a couple of weeks earlier. That was around mid to late May. New one took out a duck and two new chickens at my neighbors about 2 weeks ago. So far it (or something else) has been cleaning out the live trap my neighbor has setup without triggering it (and it is a hair trigger on the trap).

    No losses since though. I know of at least 3 fox dens and seen a bunch in my neighborhood. Most I’ve seen by a lot. I suspect it’s a peak year and I’d bet populations will crash over the winter.
     

    44man

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 19, 2013
    10,129
    southern md
    Anyone looking to help me trap eradicate a fox thats been driving us nuts. We've lost over 70 birds to this thing and nothing had worked. It will hit our coops in the daytime. We've even set a large live box trap baited with a live chicken and no luck. Frederick area near mountain dale.

    Did you see that it was a fox?

    That’s a lotta birds for a fox

    We lost 48 birds a few springs ago but it was to two bull mink

    They killed the birds and ripped off their heads and only ate the blood
     

    newmuzzleloader

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Apr 14, 2009
    4,764
    joppa
    Did you see that it was a fox?

    That’s a lotta birds for a fox

    We lost 48 birds a few springs ago but it was to two bull mink

    They killed the birds and ripped off their heads and only ate the blood

    A buddy of mine, the one who got me into raising chickens, lost 70 birds in one season to mink. He no longer raises chickens, but I have to say his coop was not all that secure to begin with.
     

    trailman

    Active Member
    Nov 15, 2011
    631
    Frederick
    Ok yes its a fox, game cam
    it's smart enough to wait till we are not there.
    Live birds in traps are not working
    yes its a fox we've seen it.
    seen it jump the poultry fence tear into three or four at a time, scatter the flock and carry one off.
    We've waited with rifles, its random. Got a shot at it earlier this spring a miss and it was back two days later.
    Our dogs don't run free.

    Looking for someone that may better at trapping it than I
     

    44man

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Feb 19, 2013
    10,129
    southern md
    Ok yes its a fox, game cam
    it's smart enough to wait till we are not there.
    Live birds in traps are not working
    yes its a fox we've seen it.
    seen it jump the poultry fence tear into three or four at a time, scatter the flock and carry one off.
    We've waited with rifles, its random. Got a shot at it earlier this spring a miss and it was back two days later.
    Our dogs don't run free.

    Looking for someone that may better at trapping it than I

    Your too far for me , hopefully someone closer will help

    If it were me I would pen my girls up as tight as possible and good and secure and leave one opening in a second unsecured section of fence to entice the fox in and I would lay as many sets of foot traps as I could in that opening and inside the section of real fence and “fake” fence

    That ir I would layout every day and night using an electronic caller until I killed as many foxes as I could
     

    boothdoc

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 23, 2008
    5,133
    Frederick county
    I have my coop as part of my goat Barn and the opening goes out into the goat pen area. Works well.

    Except a red tail Hawk has gotten three of mine.
     

    foxtrapper

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 11, 2007
    4,533
    Havre de Grace
    Can't really help you except to say sit out and wait for it and shoot it. You can always make a big pen/run for your birds and have a pasture for them surrounded by electric fencing. Not much you can do other than hunt/trap them all season and shoot any out of season that are directly after your birds. I'd suggest trapping now, but you need a permit to do so ( it's free- you can find the info at the DNR website). You also need the right sized traps and staking methods, adjust them, and boil them clean. But if you are willing to do all that, I can give you some trapping tips. Send me a pm if interested in that.
     

    foxtrapper

    Ultimate Member
    Sep 11, 2007
    4,533
    Havre de Grace
    You need to keep a gun handy. I lose a few here and there but have been lucky enough that I or family members have heard the "alarm" or been outside and spotted them before they grabbed a bird or three. 2 I've shot with chickens in their mouth, 2 have been females, 5 total since spring. And then there were 2 more hit by cars out by the house. This year has been the most foxes I've seen in the 8 or 9 yrs I've been raising chickens and letting them free range.

    Harford county is ate up with red foxes. Even with all the coyotes. Too bad the hides are almost worthless on the open fur market. Will be even worst with the China trade stuff going on. China and Russia are the 2 biggest buyers of wild fur. Russia for raccoons, China for foxes and a variety of other critters. On the other hand, I still go after fox, and have several soft tanned ones available for sale lol.
     

    jtb81100

    Ultimate Member
    May 28, 2012
    2,234
    Western HoCo
    Ok yes its a fox, game cam
    it's smart enough to wait till we are not there.
    Live birds in traps are not working
    yes its a fox we've seen it.
    seen it jump the poultry fence tear into three or four at a time, scatter the flock and carry one off.
    We've waited with rifles, its random. Got a shot at it earlier this spring a miss and it was back two days later.
    Our dogs don't run free.

    Looking for someone that may better at trapping it than I

    Trapping/shooting aside, if the fox can jump the fence you need to make the fence taller or cover the run area. Even if you get this fox, you will continue to have issues if the pen is that easy to get into.
     

    madmantrapper

    Ultimate Member
    Feb 6, 2009
    1,528
    Carroll County
    You can forget the cage trap, they are all but useless for fox.
    You need to get foot traps and make a few sets in the area.
    I don't know anyone in the Frederick area to help. Like foxtrapper I can give you pointers if needed.
     

    johnsopi

    Member
    Feb 8, 2018
    88
    Great Pyrenees is a great dogs and we'll keep the foxes away I have to there's no Foxes or coyotes or bears
     

    Blacksmith101

    Grumpy Old Man
    Jun 22, 2012
    22,154
    With your Cage trap try latching it open then putting different baits just inside. When you find a bait the fox likes, verify fox with game cam, move the bait deeper into the trap in stages and when the fox goes fully in then set the trap. Also get some leg hold traps but learn how to make sets for foxes because they can be very trap savvy.

    Here is an Idea:
    https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/i-caught-my-fox-updated-now-with-the-video.677983/
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,675
    Trapping/shooting aside, if the fox can jump the fence you need to make the fence taller or cover the run area. Even if you get this fox, you will continue to have issues if the pen is that easy to get into.

    Yup. Granted it sounds like OP has a lot of birds. I am down to 7 after getting rid of the few roosters I ended up with. My coop is off the ground and 4x4ft and 4-5ft tall (slanted roof). It is enclosed fully to the roof and buried 18” deep with the fencing running horizontal out a foot. Total fenced area is 4x10ft to the roof and a smaller 3ft tall 2.5x10ft area.

    There is a fenced 6.5x8ft “annex” that doesn’t have a roof or covering, but the fencing runs 6ft high to keep the birds from flying out or critters from coming in. Only buried a couple of inches. We let them in to the annex if we are around and chase them back in to the enclosed run if we are going to be gone for awhile. Always close it up at night.

    We free range them in the late afternoons if we will be around and mostly outside. I can have my 10/22 in hand in about 60 seconds if I need to (how I got the first one).

    Granted doing all of that for what sounds like hundred sof birds would be hard. But at least a taller fence if it can just hop the fence. Or cut down whatever it is using to jump over. And lock up the coops at night for raccoons (I don’t, but my run is pretty much entry proof without a LOT of effort)
     

    Users who are viewing this thread

    Latest posts

    Forum statistics

    Threads
    274,915
    Messages
    7,258,467
    Members
    33,348
    Latest member
    Eric_Hehl

    Latest threads

    Top Bottom