Hens and Foxes

arctictree

All,

We have been keeping a few hens free range for the last few years but are having terrible trouble recently with Foxes.

Does anyone know of any ideas on how to keep the fox away? We could keep the hens penned up all day but we really want to have them free range. Dont really want to go down the electric fence route. Any ideas?

Any response appreciated!!

A

wexford12

Hi iv been looking at getting some hens myself i was watching river cottage and what the guy did on that was to pee on each couner of the field its gives the sent of humans which the fox doesnt like oh he used a jug didnt go out himself each time or i belive human hair in bunches when u get the hair cut save it and put in old tights god this sounds really weird but it worked lol
could u tell me if you made a chicken coop or bought one thanks

arctictree

Thanks for the response wexford12, I might try the pee thing - seems easy enough to do.

I have my chicken pen bolted onto the back of a standard 8x6 shed. Have a hole in it so they can go out and in when they please. I normally let them out of the pen during the day, but as I said this has caused problems with the foxes.

I've attached a pic of the shed (taken during some adverse weather conditions!) so you'll get the idea.

A

scorphonic

You may disagree, but why not ask the guys in the shooting forum in boards.ie

Fox are a major problem in wildlife reserves so these guys will know of a way. Maybe trap the fox in a fox trap and release it away from the hens...the fox will be clever enough not to go back to the hens after that.

In my gun club we rear pheasants to increase the numbers in the area (not everything is about shooting!! ) When we are making the pens we put sheet metal around the perimeter of the pen with some of the metal planted into the ground. This helps to deter the fox because he cant see all the birds and if he digs there is a possibility that the fox will hit the sheet metal. Just a thought!

Hope you two can sort it out.

arctictree

Thanks for the suggestion, scorphonic. Yeah, been down that road.

Dont know much about fox behaviour etc but we found that if we get rid
of one, another one nearly always takes its place.

One thing we have noticed though is that fox attacks normally occur in rapid sucession once they've started - the fox probably remembers how to get an easy meal. But if we dont keep hens for a few months and then get new ones, they usually survive without attack for about 6 months.

I wonder would keeping a dog out at night help??

Hmmm, maybe we'll just have to put up with it!

A

scorphonic

<EDIT>
As per the charter, discussing ways to inflict pain or cruelty to animals no matter the circumstances, will not be tolerated on this forum. User :Scorphonic Banned for 1 week.
PM me when your time is up.
</EDIT>

FnF

old boy

anti fox fencing is your only man, 50 meters approx 100 lids that inc. stakes, connect to a electric fence, the fox can sense it and will not go near it,

artieanna

we had the same problem few years back a fox came in and killed all our hens (7) a neighbour passing chased him off, with one in his mouth (in the daytime too:mad:) ...

what we did was fence a large area (chicken run) with 8ft chicken wire 1ft is buried in the ground so fox can't dig (get in in farmers co-op) and it sorted it, technically hens are out in green area where they can dig and pick to their hearts content. Its the only foolproof solution as foxes are cute and hungry, I'm not being smart but, other ways cant guarantee hens safety.... you can always let hens out totally for hour if you out an about.

doctor evil

You might want to bury the wire deeper than one foot, foxes are crafty buggers if they dig down and discoer a way in the fence will be useless.

How about outside the fencing you put up electric fencing about 4four inches from the ground but not too close to the fencing.

arctictree

OK - Its been 2 months since the last attack and no sign of the fox again.

I wonder how long this will last? I figured that the fencing is too expensive as we only have 4 hens and they only cost about 7 euro each.

I'll repost here on the next attack!

A

Ding Dong

Hi,

I live up the Wicklow mountains near Roundwood and I'm looking at starting with a few chickens, but have you experienced problems with rats? Im a bit worried that the checkens will attract them.