Agri Vehicles Insurance from Greenlands

Author Topic: Fox attack  (Read 4016 times)

whitby_sam

  • Joined Feb 2008
Fox attack
« on: July 04, 2010, 09:27:20 am »
My friend from the next farm along knocked on my door this morning to tell me that he'd had a Fox in his chicken shed last night. It killed 13! Didn't eat or take a single one though! I heard my dogs barking at something at about midnight but assumed it was just them playing. Turns out I had a lucky escape.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #1 on: July 04, 2010, 11:34:24 am »
Hi Sam. Assume you'll be next and check over your security.  We have had a fox which managed to open a pophole and did similar damage to your neighbour's. Our popholes are now double locked at night but I suspect a determined animal could still get in, weasels by any small holes, badger by brute force, fox by ingenuity.  It's a horrible sight when your beautiful hens are spread around headless  >:(
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

ballingall

  • Joined Sep 2008
  • Avonbridge, Falkirk
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #2 on: July 04, 2010, 11:45:07 am »
We have had a problem lately with the fox- all of our adults ducks have been taken (except the two who were penned up in little runs because they had ducklings). The fox took 3 female runners, who were all sitting on eggs, and it must have gone in through the pop hole for them, because they were hardly outside at all. I'm not sure how it got them back out of the run though- as no trace of anything left.



Beth

jameslindsay

  • Joined Feb 2009
  • Nr St Andrews, Fife
  • "Blossom" one of my Pygmy Goats
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #3 on: July 04, 2010, 11:49:02 am »
Sorry to hear of your loss Beth, I saw Gordon advertise Indian Runners for sale in the paper yesterday - I was tempted too.

Whitby Sam, fingers crossed the fox doesn't pay your girls a visit. They cause so much destruction. >:(
« Last Edit: July 04, 2010, 11:55:16 am by jameslindsay »

fizzgigg

  • Joined May 2010
  • bolton
  • catch it kill it cook it eat it waste nothing
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #4 on: July 04, 2010, 07:34:59 pm »
get yourself one of these
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/GALVANISED-HEAVY-DUTY-LIVE-5FT-FOX-CAGE-/390214784838?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_Home_Garden_Garden_Plants_Weed_Pest_Control_CV&hash=item5ada9d1746

i was plagued with foxes for years i tried locking them up at night putting a 6ft fence round the feild n they always found a way round whatever i did i got mine last year and it has been worth its weight in gold i havent lost anything scince ive had it. i still lock every1 up at night and foxes always go for the easy option then their quickly dispatched. i know its not for every1 but id rather control the foxes than have no stock

whitby_sam

  • Joined Feb 2008
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2010, 12:36:10 am »
I've given these a lot of thought and had decided that once my shotgun certificate had come through I'd get one of these along with a Larsen trap but I'm a little concerned that I'll end up catching either one of my dogs or a Badger... Now if I caught a dog it wouldn't be a real problem just letting it out again but if I caught a Badger I wouldn't fancy letting the bugger out again. I value my ankles LOL! Can I legally dispatch a Badger if its taking my stock? I know that some of my chooks have been attacked by Badgers and I know that despite suring up my fences and applying my scent to the badger "runs" I am still getting visits (Infact I've just seen one and although my dogs picked up the scent quite quickly they didn't exactly chase it off snarling and growling as I'd have expected).

I've looked into electric fencing, extra fencing, fox scarers etc and it always boils down to money. I haven't got a lot and the more stock I lose the less likely it is that I'll ever be able to afford these things. Its a vicious cycle, the more I lose the less I can spend on protecting them.

Roxy

  • Joined May 2009
  • Peak District
    • festivalcarriages.co.uk
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2010, 12:41:46 am »
Badgers are protected, and no one can kill them, whatever they are doing at livestock.  We have a problem with TB here, and I was told by them in authority, that there is no way they can come and dispatch the badgers, infected or not, its just not allowed.  Think only the Government can make that decision?  You could try and asking them if you can sort your badgers out, and see what they say ......no, I think the answer will be.

plumseverywhere

  • Joined Apr 2013
  • Worcestershire
    • Its Baaath Time
    • Facebook
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2010, 08:27:31 pm »
I still touch wood every day that we've not had any chickens taken. We have not only fox dens but also badger sets in our field (they used to film 'badger watch' on our land before we moved here)  I can only assume that its a combination of electric fencing and the fact our hens coop is a matter of feet from the house and our bath room light is on most of the night shining on to it. I don't knwo. maybe we are just very lucky. every time Iread that one of you has had a loss I feel so bad for you  :(
Smallholding in Worcestershire, making goats milk soap for www.itsbaaathtime.com and mum to 4 girls,  goats, sheep, chickens, dog, cat and garden snails...

Declan

  • Joined Sep 2009
  • Rathfriland, Co.Down
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2010, 11:58:53 pm »
Over the past number of weeks I've lost 22 birds to the fox. Got myself a trap and last night it was set as usual with one of my hens in one end and the trap set on the other. Set it just outside the hen-house. Once done I went back into the house to get the goats bottle and by the time I was bac kout he had been into the henhouse- killed and took 2 hens leaving the one outside untouched. I find myself now with just 1 lone hen left. getting really fed up.

Hardfeather

  • Guest
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2010, 08:31:48 am »
Snares are legal. They work 24 hours a day. You find where the foxes are running, set the snare, and leave it to do its work. I've killed several foxes on the same runs over a few weeks. A dead vixen, hung on a fence, will often attract others to their death.

The unfortunate thing about foxes is...the more you kill, the more you have to kill. They are territorial, so every time the territory becomes vacant another moves in. So there is an argument for trying to live with the foxes you have.

Killing vixens in February/March time can help toward a fox-free summer as it's unlikely that another pregnant vixen will move in so late in the season. The bereaved dog fox, without cubs to feed, will not be such a danger to poultry...for a wee while at least.

The worst case scenario is that you kill the dog fox and leave a vixen to rear cubs on her own. In that case she will definitely be looking for easy meals, and will often kill in broad daylight as the cubs grow and increase their demands on her.

I have killed many hundreds of foxes over the years using snares, gun and rifle, lurchers, terriers to bolt them to the gun or nets, and even gas, but they still come, and the minute my guard is down they are at my stock again. It's a constant commitment...that's why I work snares.

Declan

  • Joined Sep 2009
  • Rathfriland, Co.Down
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #10 on: July 06, 2010, 06:30:33 pm »
I was told today that another way to kill your fox is to inject a dead hen with weedkiller and leave it out for the fox. Fox eats the dead hen and then gets wacked himself.  Sounds a bit off to me but what do you think.

shetlandpaul

  • Joined Oct 2008
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2010, 06:42:15 pm »
and a very good way of going to jail. what happens when a dog gets it. if they need killing thats fine but thats just plain wrong.

fizzgigg

  • Joined May 2010
  • bolton
  • catch it kill it cook it eat it waste nothing
Re: Fox attack
« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2010, 09:50:43 pm »
yup im with shetladpaul poisoning is very dodgy ground and you cant garentee what your going to poison? stick with traps, and snares (set propperly) or sit up a tree n shoot the damb things but steer clear of poisoning its not worth the risk. good luck catching it though

 

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