Foxes

[elderado]

I have just had a fox come into my garden and kill 3 of my chickens,what would be the most humane way of getting rid of it or trap it.

[Romeo]

I know someone who trained their chickens to roost in a tree. Foxes can't climb trees, so the fox left the chickens alone. I suppose another idea might be to build a chicken coop on poles, too high for a fox to climb or jump, but low enough for a chicken to flutter up to.

[jules77]

Foxes will only kill chickens if they can and it's your duty to ensure your chickens are safe. Foxes don't carry keys or wire cutters, if they can't get in, they can't cause any problems. A fox, given the opportunity will kill more than it will eat in one sitting, this is not killing for pleasure, it's common sense. Kill when it's available, no different to us going shopping, rarely do we shop for the day, we shop for the week and store the rest!
I personally think it is cruel to kill a fox who could have cubs which would starve to death, but thats me, I wouldnt kill anything. Keep the chickens in a secure area, both day and night, and you shouldnt have a problem. It is illegal to catch a fox and relocate it to another area due to mange, and it wouldnt survive anyway, as the other foxes are territorial and would kill it.

[Thunderbird+]

I fully agree with the above posts and would advise on keeping your chickens more secure from foxes rather than trying to kill or trap the fox.

[divegirl]

Ditto ^^^^^^ You can't just kill the fox for doing what comes naturally to it. Look at it as opportunity [sp] to re-vamp your run.

[cruella]

Hi elderado
Best thing to do is to call the Environmental Health Dept.
Urban foxes are fairly common now as most of their territory has been taken by humans.
The will probably keep a check on the area and if they manage to catch it, they will return it back to its natural habitat.

[jules77]

Environmental Health will set a tray and kill it. Foxes are very adaptable animals, the countryside is no more its "proper", habitat than any other; urban areas are just one more habitat., and they "belong" there just as much as anywhere else. As I said before you cannot move a wild animal to a new area, release it, and hope it will instantly settle down and live happily ever after. Releasing foxes in a new area just doesnt work . It is unlikely that there will be a vacant territory and the animal will be attacked by other foxes and will wander around looking for somewhere to live. Since it does not know the area, it will not know the danger spots or best feeding sites. Invariably it will die fairly soon, and it would have been far more humane to have killed the fox rather than dump it in a strange area.

[jules77]

mean to say set a 'trap' !

[fairkatrina]

Exactly right, my cousin is head of the crofting comission in a district of the highlands and they have a huge problem with people releasing urban foxes from Inverness etc, as they cannot cope with life in the country, having adapted to living in cities. As a result they scavenge from bins rather than hunt, and when they do hunt they take livestock rather than rabbits etc because they are easier to catch. Also, foxes are very malicious creatures, someone shot a vixen and before the dog was tracked and killed a fortnight later it had killed nearly a hundred lambs - far more than the two of them would ever have taken.

Basically, don't try and take the law into your own hands because you never know if it's not got a partner somewhere who will make you VERY sorry, and don't even think about "rehoming" it because it just doesn't work. The best thing you can do is make a safer coop.

[feebee102]

I live rurally and we do have a problem with foxes.Touch wood I have only had two chickens taken in five years.This was only because I had a hundred free range chickens as well as ducks,geese and turkeys.and I failed to count them all in one night.The silly chickens had hidden from me but the fox found them during the night.Saying that I had one chicken go missing only to turn up three weeks later with her brood of seven chicks.She had obviously hidden herself well away from any foxes.
Foxes only tend to prey on domesticated fowl when they have young to feed and local wildlife is scarce.
I have had neighbours who have stood feeding there chickens and a fox has jumped over the hedge,grabbed a chicken and jumped back over again.
I have five dogs who have the run of my land and I don't know if the smell of their doggy deposits puts the foxes off.

[King Normie]

A live trap (like Hav-A-Hart) and removal or a shotgun blast or get rid of the chickens. As long as the chickens are available, another fox will soon take the place of the removed fox.

[Noweia]

You can trap or shoot the fox, but removing it from it's territory will leave the area open for another one to move in, then you'll have the same problem over again.

Best keep your chickens in a fox-proof area.

[pigbin]

dont forget it is survival of the fitist

[sherlockian]

As the others have said... the most humane way to get rid of it would be not to provide it with a pantry in your garden - it will then look elsewhere for food! But while your shelves are stacked with fat juicy chickens it will be a loyal customer!