F***ing Foxs... Darn kid!

Kid didnt latch the gate to young boy pen... All gone but one .. Can only find the feathers of 3 to 4 of them and there was 9. the only one to live managed to jump imto the hens pen so he is fine. We seen the fox!!

I need to no how they hunt? Do they take all? Kill all? Ive looked through the whole property and cant find the feathers or bodies of the others? Should i quit looking for them? Or are they possibly out there? Has anyone had problems with foxes and what are there patterns? will it be back tonight? Im going to stay up all night with the chickens and im gonna shot it.. So mad at the kid i could just GRRRRR... but i see her crying and realize that the loss of her boys is punishment enough.. Shes been out looking since 6 this morning.

Just really lost dont no what to do.. our first losses since we started 2 years ago. Any advise would be great. Thanks Jody

I'm so sorry. You can be sure they will be back, so you are right to wait for them. They are quick, so be prepared.
My mom shot a fox last year. She doesn't have chickens herself, but was babysitting some extra roosters for me. A fox started coming around and taking them one at a time.
She really liked those roosters and was determined to get the fox.
Sure enough he came back - right in the middle of the day and she was ready! I just have to smile when I picture her, sweet little plump grandmother with the smoking rifle barrel! She actually felt sad, because foxes are beautiful animals, but it had to be done.
I wish you success Jody!

Your right it came back 30 min ago and had one of the chicks in the mouth and was trying to bury it.. Got two shots off at it... i think i missed i was shaking so bad like it was WRONG to be shoting it. Daughter is out hiding in bush it will come back cause he droped the chick.. Looks like just a pup fox.. I hope daughter is better shot than her mamma.. Not to mention daughter is very angry i dont think she will leave till its dead. Oh my i just feel so sick!

SoSweetJoJo, predators are my number one problem too. But I live in the bush, and I expect to lose some birds. That is just the way it is.

I try to have a philosophy about it. I am a mother raising a family. So is the fox, or coyote or hawk or bear. I make it my job to keep my birds well fenced, and by this I mean WELL FENCED, not some flimsy little bit of chicken wire strung on trees and branches. If that is all I can provide by way of fencing, then the loss of my birds is my own fault and I do not shoot predators when my poor fencing is the problem.

If I have let the birds out to free range and a few get nabbed by passing predators, I consider that fair game in the scheme of things. Upsetting and disappointing, but I will not kill an animal just because they are doing what they do; surviving. If I lose some birds to a coyote, then I keep them locked up for a long time, in their yard, coyotes cannot get in my hen yard. Neither can flying predators. So I just make sure mom coyote is locked OUT of her food source and she eventually goes away.

HOWEVER...there is a line where I will take up arms. When I have animals make a concentrated and extreme effort to break into pens that are secure...if they keep it up, those animals are going to get it. So far raccoons and bears have been my biggest problem. But if your pens are NOT secure, the problem is your structures, NOT the animals. If you have chickens, you HAVE to expect losses to predators and you have to build them OUT of your hen facilities as strongly as you can. I have yet to design any sort of pen or building that will keep a bear out.

I refuse to start blasting every animal that moves around my hen house. Keeping hens places on me a certain responsibility to make sure I have adequately fenced and housed so that I am not the cause of dead wildlife. But for wildlife that spends too much time breaking in, digging under or ripping the doors off buildings,...yup, time to deal with it.

Sorry about the loss, I know that sick feeling.

Nicely said Uno! I agree - that is generally my approach, however furious I am when I discover the loss - and my oversight.

I had my extra roosters - two very handsome buckeye mature boys in a pen in the barn - five foot high, small gauge heavy wire panels, sitting on concrete floor. Barn always closed at night but in the last week it has become very hot and buggy and the ponies are really packing on the pounds so I brought them up to the barnyard, put fly masks on them and gave them grass hay (diet feed). I left the sliding door open to the barn so they could come and go knowing that any coyote or fox would get trampled to bits by bored naughty ponies who try to kill small dogs too.

But ponies, being naughty, figured out how to escape barnyard and run off in the middle of the night two nights ago, rudely leaving sliding barn door open. Fox was in right away, jumped (must have) 5 foot panels, huge battle must have resulted, everything in pen torn apart, upset, etc, massacred one handsome rooster right there but did not eat it and jumped back out (must have) with bigger rooster which it tore to bits outside sliding door (a message to me?) - just a big explosion of feathers left (but, for you Buckeye owners, NO SMUT) and nasty mangled corpse of bigger rooster in barn pen.

So lesson learned. If they aren't in the main chicken or turkey pens which are predator proof (apart I think from a grizzly!) - they are fair game. Predators are ALWAYS checking for an opportunity!

They only free range when I'm right there. And even then it is amazing how one or two just never do come home...

Good point uno!!I totally agree... But as i see my situation is we have never had problems with the wildlife and this was all my daughters fault for not locking gate however this fox now knows where he can get a meal and this is why ive decided to shot it. I know its hard to see someone kill an animal because of a humans mistake.. I dont feel good about it but its better then lettin it live and show other where to go for dinner. Shootin this one might save the others from gettin shot. I dont no maybe im wrong but i sure know that i do feel HORRIBLE over the whole thing.

around here if they Kill something they are shot also
You are doing the right thing if they know it is a easy kill they will be back over and over again.
They do not have to come in a homestead to eat your poultry there are wild prey they can eat

Yes I have to agree with Uno that we all have a responsibility to make it as difficult as possible for wild animals to help themselves to our livestock. I think I pretty much have the chickens looked after in that regard.
However...I have yet to find a completely coyote-proof system to contain my miniature goats, but allow them to have enough pasture to graze safely. The guardian dog helps a great deal, but we also train the coyotes to stay away.

Since I'm a deadly shot at a paper target, but quite poor when it comes to taking a shot at a moving animal, they have plenty of warning.
We are surrounded by acres and acres of natual land that is set aside for wildlife by Ducks Unlimited, Buck for Wildlife and government owned lakeshore. The foxes and coyotes have all the natural hunting grounds they could ever want.
So for those few that will not take the hint to stay away, I help Mother Nature breed for natural hunting ability by 'culling' those that prefer a diet of domestic goat and chicken.

Yup, there is a delicate balance between the practical acknowledgment that you will lose some, and the point where you put your foot down and say, enough is enough.

My biggest losses at one time seem to be when a mother coyote, teaching her young to hunt, comes across my ranging chickens. I recently lost 8 out of 12 hens that way. I have a grand total of 4 hens left! The young coyotes seem pretty good at killing them, but not so good at taking them away. When mom coyote on her own comes hunting, she usually nabs one and disappears with it.

Raccoons on the other hand...wretched little horror shows! It's like some ghoulish Hollywood movie scene where I try to determine how many whole chickens the 19 body parts used to make up. I think raccoons kill for fun. Take one, eat it, get out of my way, I can tolerate some of that. Mass destruction of property or more than you can eat, Annie, get your gun!

Uno has the same philosophy as I do. Good fences make good neighbors. Even if those neighbors are foxes, coyotes, and this year, the dreaded ravens.

I have lost a few to foxes and have had to reinforce my borders. I am sure they came back to check, they are foxy, after all, but when they returned the breach was mended and the fox was thwarted. I find if their actions do not yield results, they don't waste too much more time and go back to the voles and mice that the are more than welcome to eat.

I am having problems with a fox as well. I think it is actually momma and her babies too now. I also hate to kill and never have. (well a skunk, once, but I just caught it). Also being on only 5 acres, I am reluctant to use the 22. I don't need to hurt someone.y husband just bought me a crossbough that I have learned to use quite well. I also have good fencing. We lost quite a few 2 weeks ago and even though we keep seeing the fox (es), they haven't killed anymore. My son hit one in the rear end with his slingshot and a rock. We run out screaming like crazy people every time we see them. I have the dogs on rotation to guard. So far so good. But I am getting tired and the rotten thing keeps showing up at 4 am every morning. I am running out of patience. The neighbors are going to start wondering at the crazy woman running down the road screaming in her pj's at 4 every morning ( who am I kidding, they l know me lol). I think it is time to put an end to it. Sad, but necessary.

We have a yote prowling around right now, came in after my pup. Was 50 feet away from the house and I was dead asleep, woke up to Bella scratching and screaming at the door like I've never heard before. By the time our mastiff got out he was far enough away the old boy couldn't see him. He's been back every evening since and my birds are free ranging right now because it's so hot. I expect I'll find one or most nabbed one day when I get home, but I think Bull barking has been helpful at keeping him at bay.

Anyway, I would shoot that yote. I've really decided there's the line to my property that, once it's caught, any predator is fair game. The carcass will be used in its entirety, made into food for the cats/dogs and I'll tan the hides and carve the skulls. If it's not the chickens I have to protect, it'll be the pastured cows and goats.

Sweetened, have a look at the puppy pictures, sounds like you need one.