[Shropshirelass]

Flaming foxes after a 2nd raid in 1 week! despite putting the dogs around the pen after the 1st raid where we lost 5 hens (As if the foxes care that dogs us & cats are around!) we had a 2nd raid - I don't know how many we lost but I thought they killed my turkey stag & was devastated last night/ this morn after getting a breeding trio of a breed I was after for years & loosing a female suddenly (Not predator related) a few weeks ago to then think my boy had gone to leaving 1 girly & 1 bantam cock looking in a pretty poor state & also not knowing how many hens & bantams we had left - fortunately the geese & ducks were untouched along with my 3 bantam girls & other bantam cock (Thank god as I was also trying to build on this flock for years)

It's a shame I'm not allowed to swear but mr & mrs fox will be soon enjoying a taste of lead bullets by us!!!!  The damn things have been TWICE in one week! 1st got in the hen house 4 hens died of shock & I'm sure it took one that's before the snow! Now another came in broad daylight  it took a load more hens when they were free ranging & there were tracks all over the place & 1 of my poor little bantam cocks was so distraught the others pecked him to death!     

So the others are all now locked in the goose & turkey sheds until the fox problem has been resolved - BUT MR FOX THIS MEANS WAR!!!

Also does anyone know of any deterrents! Apart from bullets! - I know its nature but its so flaming annoying!!! xxx

[in the hills]

Sorry 


Had a frantic phone call this morning from a friend down the lane. She'd just caught foxy helping himself to her hens as they free ranged  . She chased him off but rang to warn me that he was heading our way. Had to leave my hens in their runs and construct a tiny run around a pen that doesn't have one. Not ideal.


She wasn't sure at that point how many he had killed but she found her favourite RIR cockerel sitting injured in the snow.    She couldn't get them back in as they were too spooked and some high in the trees.


Perhaps this hard weather is driving them to take some chances. 

[chrismahon]

We have rushed to construct an enclosure as this is THE time for predator strikes. You cannot assume that your presence, that of dogs, human wee, electric netting or much else makes your poultry safe Shropshirelass. Too many illegal urban fox releases and banned fox hunting have put an end to that.


Just work on the basis that they will all die unless YOU are proactive.

[Shropshirelass]

Mmmm well I know exactly what I'll be proactive with which will hopefully put a stop to it for a while!

[plumseverywhere]

I have a trap outside - at 5.30am I saw the fox inside it but...he'd not triggered the ruddy pedal and out he scooted complete with the bait (partridge heads from where I made roast partridges the other night). Will bait again but I think the snow is affecting my trap  having said that, when I gently touched the pedal with a broom handle - SNAP! shut. grrrrrr.

 

[Shropshirelass]

Oooh now thats an idea to see if I can borrow one - the only trouble knowing my luck would be that the cats set it off instead x

[edessex]

I'd put a vote in for a live-catch fox trap... If anything else gets caught you can release unharmed, if its a fox you can deal with it in whatever (humane) method that takes your fancy...

I've had a fox about, damaged mesh on two coops, but not got in yet...

[plumseverywhere]

Oooh now thats an idea to see if I can borrow one - the only trouble knowing my luck would be that the cats set it off instead x

Murphy got into it within the first day but soon got him out, he's not been back in  I expected the cat to get in and stuck but so far 
I think tomorrow will be the day the fox will be trapped....
There is a company that loans them, this one came via a friend who is a trapper/lamper and is desperate to catch this huuuuuuuge fox!

[tobytoby]

I spoke to our local game keeper about a couple of foxes that i had spotted, and he has shot a few since. He told me about a banned french (?) substance called Renardine (?). This stuff smells like super strong creosote/tar, which stings your nose. I happened to come across some and i have noticed that when i put 4 scent markers out to form a square around my hen house, there was fox poo around the perimeter, but no footprints near their house. My hens all free range daytime and i haven't lost any yet?