Foxes removal

[pargyle]

I have a fox lives under my workshop in the garden .. dug itself a hole under the concrete floor .. we have hens about 20 foot away but ... they are in a secure run and an equally secure tractor that we move around the garden .. fox proof mesh on all of it, including the roof. The fox had a nibble at one point but clearly realised there was no way it could get in and it has given up .. we see it regularly in the garden (no - we don't feed it ! But I rather think some people do because it's in tip top condition) and occasionally watch the antics as our old labrador chases it round .. the fox is far too nimble to get caught - seems to treat it like a game !

So .. if you are not going to kill it or trap it and remove it then you only alternative is hen Fort Knox ...it will get fed up - they learn fairly quickly - but free range hens are definitely only going to be fox food I'm afraid.

I know someone who has a flock of 100 or so free range hens and she has two Alpacas that guard them ... they haven't lost a hen since they got the Alpacas.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Alpacas are great for fox deterring.
We had a problem fox go to ground in a little gully near a mountainside cottage years ago which we had to 'deal' with, we put a terrier with a locator down after it then scanned the area, the warren stretched back about twenty feet and we first located them slap bang in the middle of a 50'x50' chicken run - there seemed to be more than one tunnel there which eventually stretched further and went underneath the concrete floor of a new built barn.
The owners had never really had a fox problem - and we reckon the warren had been there for some years.
As one of the young lads with us said - it's like renting a flat above a McDonalds!

 

[taurus]

We had a problem with foxes getting under the floor of a medieval church - the stink was horrendous. A local farmer put us onto a good way to get rid of them, he told us to scatter urinal blocks liberally around the area.

It worked a treat - they upped and left immediately. You want the type of block they use in pubs.

 

[REDWOOD]

The Reason why the fox is trying to get into your chicken coop is because they are all inside, leave one out for it each night and you will have no problem with foxes then. You could feed it each day with scraps or tripe until it has a full belly.
Just two humane alternatives to think about.

What.............I heard that people feed birds, same thing !

 

[Shoot]

Ask a local game keeper to come and dispatch it for you in a quick & humane manner...

 

[Torq]

We've lost hens to dogs, foxes, and traveller children (a few years later one of them was murdered with a slashhook in an argument over a case of stolen booze) but all of them are amateurs in comparison to when a pine marten calls. It's happened to us twice and both times it's been carnage with 90% mortality in each visit. And unfortunately this serial killer is a protected species.

 

[Brian Bush]

Sadly once they get the taste very little will stop them. Shooting is most humane way (as long as you are a good shot) but very tricky in urban areas. You could get a trap and then arrange for somebody to dispose of it (release live in to countryside if you're squeamish)

I do not think it is legal to move a fox to another location. We don't want urban foxes who are tolerant of humans in the countryside anyway. Shoot it!!!!

 

[Swarm]

And unfortunately this serial killer is a protected species.

LOL What a statement

 

[Erichalfbee]

all of them are amateurs in comparison to when a pine marten calls. It's happened to us twice and both times it's been carnage with 90% mortality in each visit. And unfortunately this serial killer is a protected species.

Huh!
I think you should protect your hens sufficiently.
It's not everybody's right to keep free range hens. If your hens are predated by anything then you have to secure them or buy your eggs from the supermarket.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I do not think it is legal to move a fox to another location.

Unfortunately it is BB (good initials!! ) checked on that a few years ago when the SPCA (I don't dignify them with the Royal warrant) insisted on restocking a nearby area after we'd hunted charlie down to reasonable levels

 

[dpearce4]

Huh!
I think you should protect your hens sufficiently.
It's not everybody's right to keep free range hens. If your hens are predated by anything then you have to secure them or buy your eggs from the supermarket.

they are proctected in a wood and metal run. he is busily over time breaking the wood up.

Hadnt thought about a game keeper. I know just the guy.

Maybe end this thread before it gets to out of control.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

they are proctected in a wood and metal run. he is busily over time breaking the wood up.

still safer to lock them in overnight, foxes don't seem too bothered then, saying that, just heard Friday that SWMBO's great aunt lost all her hens last week - shut up in a run that was well protected with properly fixed galvanised sheets, the fox found one little weakish corner and eventually prized a sheet loose and got in. Theyare more determined at this time of year as i bet a few vixens have already got litters.

 

[dpearce4]

still safer to lock them in overnight, foxes don't seem too bothered then, saying that, just heard Friday that SWMBO's great aunt lost all her hens last week - shut up in a run that was well protected with properly fixed galvanised sheets, the fox found one little weakish cirner and eventually prized a sheet loose and got in. Theyare more determined at this time of year as i bet a few vixens have already got litters.

the house is inside the run and that is locked at night when te birds roost using an automatic time/light sensor switch.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

the house is inside the run and that is locked at night when te birds roost using an automatic time/light sensor switch.

Wouldn't work with our chicks - two of the b*ggers are like we were as kids - won't go in until it's pitch dark!

The local primary school has chickens (it's an effort to convince the parents that not everything begins it's life in tesco) the chair of the governors - and that's not be being PC - it's just that he has about the same IQ as a small sofa - managed to get a stupidly large amount of grant money from somewhere to help the project and spent thousands on the chicken shed and run including automatic pophole opener/closers. it lasted a week before someone took a fancy to the closers and they vanished - probably been and gone on fleabay by now.

 

[MartinL]

Some people in the village keep hens on their allotment.

They have some sort of electric perimeter fence, it would appear to have been proof against all the local scavengers (including children) for 3 years or so now!

 

[Erichalfbee]

they are proctected in a wood and metal run. he is busily over time breaking the wood up.

Hadnt thought about a game keeper. I know just the guy.

Maybe end this thread before it gets to out of control.

I was talking to Torq about Pine Martens.

 

[dpearce4]

I was talking to Torq about Pine Martens.

doh lol

 

[Torq]

Huh!
I think you should protect your hens sufficiently.

Obviously I hadn't but then again these events listed took place over a 35yr period not the space of a few days.

The fox took a hen that had decided to roost outside the pen.

The traveller kid took the hens in broad daylight when no one was around, he brought them to school the next day and killed them in the playground.

After the dog attack the hens ceased to be free range, about 10 years ago, and have never been let out of the run since.

Pine martens are not and never have been native to our area, there is no forestry of any kind nearby just scrubland, the reason they arrived is that they were displaced from their territory due to a massive increase in population and had to find new homes. They are persistent, found a weakness in the fence and slaughtered. The are also the reason that the local pheasant population has been almost wiped out.

Would you say the same to a farmer who has lost sheep due to attack by domestic dogs? "It's your own fault you didn't protect your flock sufficiently"

It's not everybody's right to keep free range hens.

That's like saying "It's not everybody's right to keep bees" Where does "right to keep" come from??

If your hens are predated by anything.

Of course they are predated! Everything is predated by something, but you can only do so much to protect against the threat, there is always the unexpected and you can't protect against it. If you could there would be no such thing as insurance.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Would you say the same to a farmer who has lost sheep due to attack by domestic dogs? "It's your own fault you didn't protect your flock sufficiently"
Of course not.
The analogy is not appropriate

 

[Torq]

Would you say the same to a farmer who has lost sheep due to attack by domestic dogs? "It's your own fault you didn't protect your flock sufficiently"
Of course not.
The analogy is not appropriate

I was going to ask you to explain why it, in your opinion, is not appropriate but I just can't be bothered. I haven't spent much time on this forum for the past couple of months and now I remember why.