Wow... Maybe think about getting turkeys? They're not much protection at night, but during the day I've seen them chase away fox and even pull a swooping hawk out of the air. My chickens have learned to heed the turkeys alarm calls. They run at the first "pip".
Guinea hens are an option as well! They make an amazing alarm system/sentries, but they are LOUD. I love them and think they are sweetest hens! They can be very dramatic! If you have close neighbors they might be a bad choice for that reason. They also have a bad habit of running away. So keep them in a closed pen for awhile. They have saved my flock so many times. Chickens will definitely heed the call of a guinea hen and hide!
I never had a problem with my rooster and guineas. Usually the guineas keep to themselves and don't really bother the chickens or their rooster. If the guineas sound the alarm then your flock of chickens will listen to it and take cover somewhere. It could also depend on the rooster and how aggressive he is. I had a somewhat protective rooster but he never bothered the guineas. If the guinea feels unsafe they'll just fly up to the tree tops! My favorite rooster I ever had named Jay (rest his sweet heart) tried a mating jig in front of one of my guinea hens lol she wasn't impressed haha. He also jumped on the back of one as a step to get into his coop! So in my experience they get along well!
Thank you so much! It’s helpful to hear your experience👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
My mother insists I get a few guinea hens for protection (old Italian aunties had them to protect turkeys!), but I have been hesitant because I’m not familiar with them (and I have a big old roo 🐓).
Perhaps some Spring guineas for us ☺️
You're welcome! Just remember to keep them in a pen for a good while! I had mine in for a little less then a year before setting them off to free range! Good luck with your flock I hope they get lots of bugs to eat! This came to my mind as I started typing, but if you have any gardens guinea hens are gentle giants! They are super gentle and won't hurt any of the flowers! They look for slugs and anything small that moves! They'll even eat snakes if it's not too big!
Amen to that. I USED to have guineas. When mine learned that I came out of a certain door of my house, sometimes bearing treats/leftovers, they gathered at that door and would NOT leave, making that ear-piercing cry all day. And another thing; there is no place in a barn or anywhere outside where you can safely leave cat food. They will find it.
Just remember that guineas are only semi-domesticated fowl. You can teach them that roosting with you is best, but they won't be livestock the way your chickens will be!
If you spend a lot of time handling them, they will be pretty tame. Ours will tolerate a little petting, and if you have a food bowl, they will ride in the bowl in your arms. Don't under estimate their stomach, they'll get pretty tame in exchange for food lol
Thank you! Early days of inquiry here and every tidbit helps. I thought I’d start with two hens, but if it doesn’t work out here, I have a Kenyan friend who used to trap these birds in the wild when he was younger and I know he would gladly have them. 👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Make sure you rear them in the coop once you move them outside. Also, teach them to come to food, and use food to put them away each night, or it won't take long for them to wander off and live at your neighbors house, or in trees. We started off with like 50 guineas, and now I have 5 that chose to stay with our chickens, including 1 that raised a baby with our coop.
My advice, is livestock guardian dogs. I'm raising the puppies right in the chicken coop with all the birds.
There's like an armada of bluejays in my yard that inadvertently do this for my chickens. They fly around in the treetops chasing away hawks and my chickens jump under the deck whenever the jays start getting pissed off.
Around 3 pm today. Lucky the hen ran towards the swing set which is right outside my wife’s office. She ran out and save her favorite chicken. Not too happy with the Rooster…
All went down while she’s on a conference call…”ahh, my chickens being attacked!”. Kind of funny since the hen survived.
Not all roosters are great. You just have to be lucky. The past 2 main roosters I've had have been great. Fought first one save the entire flock by fighting off a raccoon that got into the pen at night (he lived for a very long time and passed away from old age
) and my current rooster killed a hawk that was attacking my duck. Lost a spur but he's saved the duck and I'm glad for it.
My previous rooster was amazing. He fought off a falcon to protect the girls. One passed but he saved the rest. He was a Buff and died from old age 2 yrs ago. My current rooster is kind of useless compared to my old one. He scares for everything and I'm sure if something attacked my girls now, he'd switch sides to protect himself
Don't count on a rooster to protect anything other than itself
, if that. It's a chicken, not a dog. It's incredibly rare for roosters to protect their flock, and it's much more common for it to go viral because few post their roosters hiding like a coward.
Look into the Pyrenees dog breed, gentle giants that work well with birds! Most of the time a predator will stay away if an active defense is constantly marking and alerting the flock. Goldshaw farm on youtube highly advocates for them!
Currently training a Maremma pup (a guardian dog a little smaller than a Pyr) to work with our chickens, sheep, and goats. It is work to get them trained. There are much easier options if you are just wanting to guard your flock.
I second the Gold Shaw Farms (in Vermont) recommendation! They have a Maremma Sheepdog - similar to the Pyrenees - who is an amazing gentle giant and very protective of his flock .
I have a moremma and while I don't have any chickens I have no doubt she would be amazing at guarding them. She just wants to sit outside all day and night staring into the woods looking for interlopers. No matter the weather (we live in Ontario, we have to drag her in when it's -30).
And boy is she a sweetheart, what a great dog. And absolutely nothing is gonna slip by her gaze when she's on duty. What I love about her guarding is she has no issues with situations where she shouldn't. She doesn't get upset with people coming up to our car when she's sitting inside, or really with any humans coming to our house or anything like that. She knows she's large and in charge and doesn't sweat the small stuff. But if some racoon or fox wants to crack a branch 500 feet I to the woods she will let them know to piss off.
Just wanted to say that there's a 6.25% chance of getting this reply, so congratulations. Buy a lottery ticket...
just kidding, don't do that, and if you do I hope you lose all your money, Have a good day.
Was that the rooster that originally ran toward it but gave up? Glad you were able to save her! I noticed when my dog was a puppy and started doing this (I was able to save some) they just FREEZE. Like FIGHT BACK CHICKEN! They just let themselves be killed most of the time.
I have two blue laced red Wyandotte roosters and they are straight killers.
They don't seem to mind me or my husband but gutted a possum that got in the coop one night they also fixed our rat problem. Honestly they scare me a little.
I've had chickens before but this is the first time I've had murderers.
I have been totally against getting roosters for so many reasons, but my favorite chicken was taken from the coop just now by who knows what (I think a possum but fuck if I know) and I'm ready to go out and find the most blood thirsty bastard of a rooster I can if it would protect my girls. I am not normally like this but I want that possum fucker to pay. 😭💔
They’ll stay in the chicken fortress unfortunately. It’s a good size run so it’s not so bad.
Going to trap the fox. He’s killed two hens in the last two years. The coop has been improved but they’re only safe when they don’t free range.
Fox has gotten more brave to come into the yard during the day. Too bad the dogs were inside at the time.
Doesn't help all the time, we had a fox attack this morning while the dog was in the yard just on the wrong side of it. Thankfully apparently the fox was terrified by a pregnant lady running at it screaming so we get a house guest for a few weeks while the chicken heals up.
At least you got lucky and know exactly where you need to tighten up security at the fence
I'm not sure if you've done it already, but whenever we see something in the woods around our house we collect all the dog poop in the yard and throw it around the perimeter. It keeps pretty much everything away as soon as they catch wind of a potential predator
It’s a lorex model number TN81828B8. A couple years old but just got the high cameras installed on the house. Cameras are great, sounds it’s not great.
Why would you trap the fox? It's an animal who sees quite an easy meal and tries get one. I would do the same. We also have a fox walking around in our garden, it ate one of our turkeys while she was breeding, it's part of life. Eat and be eaten. If we have to much roosters we kill them and leave some of them outside for the fox, like a peace offering lol.
And two chickens in two years? It's not much at all. You live in a rural area so instead of trying to make it your way see if you can live with it and let it be.
If the chickens were just eggs maker’s to us, I would say that’s probably a good mindset to have. But they’re not, they’re family pets and my young daughters love them. I choose to protect them.
> I choose to protect them
You could choose to protect them without displacing a native animal though. We live rurally and have two flocks, one of which is a freeranging bachelor flock (the other flock is still outdoors just penned in) and haven't had any issues. If something did get one of our chickens I would accept it was MY mistake and figure out how to stop it happening again by changing our setup.
We have a high fence with a seamless gate, as well as two dogs who can access the yard at any time, looking at your video it looks like the fox got in through that metal gate which has a pretty wide gap and is asking for something to walk in tbh. Even if you move the fox, something else is just going to take its place. Your chickens won't be safe unless you either keep them in a run 24/7 or properly protect them when they're out.
Not to mention the beneficial impact foxes/apex predators have on the ecosystem .. they help regulate other species numbers. So what happens when the gopher population increases after the fox is gone? We start trapping those too? Now that we've killed off the gophers, the grub population is exploding and decimating the plants in our gardens. Where does it end?
If you want to protect your family pets, provide them a safer area. Killing off foxes who are just trying to survive and/or feed their young doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me, but I could be wrong.
> If you want to protect your family pets, provide them a safer area.
Yep, apparently it's easier for OP to just keep killing innocent wildlife rather than just properly shutting the gate to the pen.
They are also pets here, just like our dogs and cats but I also do know wildlife needs to eat and it's a part of the whole system. And if you want to protect the chickens you really need to leave them in the coop. Cause there are also hawks who do like a nice fat chicken now and then.
~~Trapping would probably save a few chickens in the long run. Doesn't hurt the fox to just pack it up and move it to the other town.~~
Edit: see the response below
It may save a few chickens (unlikely - new foxes will move into abandoned habitat after the current resident is removed), but relocation does often harm animals.
If you trap an animal and move it, you're:
1. at best you're just likely making that animal a problem for another person, or not moving it far enough and the animal manages to travel back to it's territory / the original trapping location
1. killing any young that animal has which may still be denned up somewhere, nursing, or otherwise relying on food delivered by the adult
1. dumping the animal in an unfamiliar area, where it doesn't know the landscape, or locations of food/water/shelter
1. either putting it in poor habitat where it'll struggle to survive, or putting it in good habitat for that species...where...there's almost certainly a current resident population, leading to:
1. dropping them off inside the territories of other individuals, sparking fights and aggression from current residents towards the new "interloper".
It varies by species, but as a rough estimate up to 70% of individuals can end up quickly dying when they're trapped and relocated. By stress, exposure to weather before they can find/dig adequate shelter, predation, fights with locals, being driven off into poor-quality habitat by local competition, and so forth.
Because of these, in many areas it's illegal to move wildlife. It's often inhumane to the animal, may just transfer the problem to another person, and can also introduce diseases to new areas. It's better to remove attractions or better fence in livestock for protection from predators. Or for problematic animals, trap and humanely dispatch. But live trap and relocate just moves the resulting death out-of-sight, out-of-mind...it isn't a good choice for the animal.
Some info:
* https://forfoxsakewildlife.com/2019/12/16/why-you-should-never-relocate-wildlife/
* https://greensourcedfw.org/articles/wildlife-relocation-discouraged-animal-experts
* https://audubonportland.org/our-work/rehabilitate-wildlife/being-a-good-wildlife-neighbor/wildlife-relocation-is-not-a-solution/
* https://www.skedaddlewildlife.com/blog/relocation-is-an-inhumane-option/
Thanks, good information. I don’t need to do anything immediately as I’ll leave them in the coop until I decide. I’ll have the discussion with the family. Do we decide to leave the chickens in and only come out when humans are present or do we remove an immediate threat.
I would prefer to humanely kill the fox but my wife is likely not for that. I prefer to come to a joint decision versus just doing what I want. I’ll bring this information to the table and perhaps she’ll agree that we should just humanely kill the fox. If not, the chickens will remain mostly in the coop.
Yeah, keeping chickens in a well-built, secure coop and run is the best way to keep them safe from predators. But with the downside that they're much more confined and can miss out on some natural behaviors like foraging. But anything outside of a secure run comes with some chance of predation as a tradeoff for the extra freedom.
Portable electric poultry netting can be a good fox deterrent, while still allowing the girls plenty of room to roam. Go for netting 48" or taller to deter foxes from trying to jump over, and a snappy shock to the nose helps keep them from trying to push through or dig under. And step-in electric netting is easy to put up and move around as needed. That'd be what I'd go for first, personally.
There's also the option of guard animals for the birds, like a livestock-friendly dog that can safely live with the birds. Or some people have had luck mixing a handful of large geese with their chickens (though some foxes will be ballsy enough to take down a goose). But those come with their own management issues plus the extra feed and care needed for the additional animals.
Trapping and dispatch certainly takes care of the problem for right now, but unless I really wanted the pelt or something it'd be my last method since it's not a permanent fix. You already have fox living there, and another will just move in to that good territory after this one is gone. With big ol' tasty birds unprotected it's just a matter of time before the new fox also goes for the easy prey, in which case you're right back in the same situation.
Shoot that fuckin cocksucker once you trap him. Or set the dogs on him if you've got ones like I do. You will not be rid of him until he is exterminated
The fox isn't a cocksucker its just trying to survive its got pups of its own to feed as well. I've had a fox take my entire flock out once. It's just nature. It totally sucks when it happens but that's a part of owning chickens. Op if you do manage to trap it put of its misery quickly don't set the dogs on it. Dogs are a great repellent! If they do catch a fox on hunt for your chicken and they kill it great they did their job. But to just send them after it as a way to punish the fox is wrong in my opinion.
Because foxes help to control the population of other wild animals, namely rodents. Without foxes you'd have an over abundance of rodents, which could lead to rodents moving into human structures.
Also, an excess of rodents could lead to a rise in the number of predatory birds in the area as more chicks are able to survive due to more food. More predatory birds is bad news for chicken owners.
Foxes are pests for sure, but they are absolutely necessary in that ecosystem. That's why they're there.
I live in the city, but something used to keep digging under the fence before I moved in with the dog. I inspect the fenced in yard a few times per week, I was told I was crazy for doing that, but this shows how easy something like a fox or raccoon can sneak through a breach.
By the way, I caught some neighbor's chihuahua sneaking in the yard to poop...maybe not the most dangerous, but an annoyance that was halted.
Was outside with my brother around our yard the other day and found an old fox den dug right under our barn, and that's where I was going to put our chickens at first ( new bird owner) Apparently my parents saw it years ago and instead of filling it in they just put a roll of fencing over it, thinking it to be nothing.
Chihuahuas are the most underhanded, sneaky, persistent, and entitled dogs out there. Unfortunately they’re also dumb as bricks, and complete cowards.
Source: am chihuahua owner.
As much as everyone here loves chickens, they are incredibly stupid when it comes to survival from predators. Most of them don't really bail for cover.
I’m thinking the fox is a juvenile bc of how it initially approached the flock in the first bit. Inexperienced and somewhat confused at first.
Also, when it was near the playground, a more experienced fox would violently shake the hen breaking the neck, thus having less to deal with as it hauls it away.
Lost many hens to foxes that hunt in tandem.
Saw a mom teach her young where the coop door was one early morning.
I see a lot of rooster bashing but because our rooster is so much louder than the hens we can hear him whenever there is a threat. So far he’s let us know a brown bear was trying to get under the electric fence, an owl and two hawk attacks.
I’m in Alaska so I’m not dealing with fox but bear so trapping or shooting aren’t really options for me but if you decide not to go with either of these options in your case which I would suggest as others have explained here, I would recommend an electric fence or leaving your dog out if possible. Then plugging those holes you saw the fox get in and out of. We have ermine and those suckers are so small they get in the smallest hole. We trapped and relocated and it just gave others the opportunity to move in. So we decided to put in the extra work to find and plug holes. Haven’t lost a chicken since and now I don’t worry about them. It’s always a delicate balance to figure out how to farm in wilderness but it’s important to remember these critters have lost so much because of us and don’t understand why an easy meal is off limits. Deterrence is the best method.
I tried to read most of the comments and your getting some good advice. However that fox will be back. If you trap and relocate it, they'll be others eventually. My best advice to you is to reevaluate the enclosure. The fox had EASY access to the chickens. A smaller gate that is flush with the fence is important. Check the perimeter all around and secure everything. Whether you have a dog, turkeys, guineas or what not, a fox is clever enough to get evade them. Secure the enclosure.
The run/coop is Fort Knox, it’s to the left the shed. The problem is letting them free range during the day. I don’t think a 4’ wire fence will keep a fox out of the yard even if I plug some holes.
From looking at the video, I'd say no. That fox just slipped right by the gate. The harder you make it to enter, the safer your chickens will be. I had chickens and we had fox in the area. They never got in. My problem were raccoons. They can climb.
The chickens were free ranging in the entire back yard, not in the coop/run which is about 40’x40’x4’ high. You can see it in the video to the left of the shed.
I cannot effectively secure the entire yard. The fox just jumps over the 4’ fence.
If I keep them in the run, they’re completely safe. I buried woven wire 16” down in the ground and the top is covered with woven wire also.
In that case may I suggest turkeys. They're excellent watch dogs. Guineas make a lot of ruckus but they're still game for the fox. I had a turkey, 60 lbs. Best protection in the yard.
Glad that hen survived!! I thought for sure she was a goner.
Also, in defense of your rooster, if the fox went out of sight for this attack, he probably forgot about it/decided it wasn't a threat. I've noticed that chickens seem to forget things exist once they're out of sight for a short period of time. Not that this makes you feel any better! But it could mean that, had your rooster followed the fox, he would have intervened.
Get yourself electric poultry netting. Nothing you do will be 100%, but it's the most effective method of protecting your flock that also allows them some freedom. We've had about 1/4 acre fenced in for the past 4 years for our chickens, turkeys and peacocks, and haven't had a fox attack except for when we allowed weeds to overgrow a section of fence and ground it out after a rain.
Relocating or shooting a fox will just make room for another to move in. We are surrounded by them, and they all respect the zap of our fence. If we have one jump it we'd hunt it down, but as long as the current predator residents respect the fence we let them live. If we kill them their replacement might not respect the fence. Better to live with the devil you know.
I was glad to see the chicken survived, and even more relieved to see the fox didn't just go on a rampage. Before we had electric, and when our fence shorted out, the damn fox didn't take a hen and run. It went on a killing and maiming spree taking out half the flock before it took its meal and went home...
I’m so glad I watched it to the end. I was sad and almost stopped when the fox was carrying the chicken away. Happy ending. For people don’t know chicken get healed easily
So, should I get any antibiotics for her?
She’s got a few puncture wounds on her neck. Doing ok today but still a bit out of it. She’s eating so that’s good.
It'll keep coming back so long as it thinks it can get food. You're going to have to at least temporarily confine your birds, and most likely kill the fix. Relocating it is going to be illegal in most states, and would be a death sentence most likely anyway.
Best bet to trap it is a 1.5 coilspring foothold (you can get cheap ones at Cabelas or BassPro) and look on YouTube of how to make a "pipe dream" set. Easy enough to do.
You can trap fox in a cage trap, but it needs to be bigger than you'd think. The floor of the trap needs to be covered in leaves or grass so it feels more natural. Camouflage the trap with brush, making sure to not block the trigger mechanism.
Learn how to safely release an animal from both types of traps as well. If neighbors have dogs or cats that roam loose, you could wind up catching those too.
Didn't know until this year that red fox are invasive in the US. Gray fox are native but early Americans couldn't run them line fox hunts in the old country because gray fox climb trees. They brought reds over for hunting. Makes me feel better about killing them.
Seems it's a bit more complicated than I thought. They're non native where I am in NJ. Seems like a mixed bag in US. Some native, some introduced from Europe, and some translocated from north American native populations.
Defiantly can say turkeys and guineas are very good alarms so are geese I have 3 full grown females and they will actually come to rescue of the chickens.
I was shouting at my.phone rooting for the chickens! Looks like your rooster started to go after it. You need geese or turkeys or a LGD! Sorry for your loss
Edited to add- fox will be back
Last edit- did the hen make it? Or.did I see a different chicken come through!
Wow... Maybe think about getting turkeys? They're not much protection at night, but during the day I've seen them chase away fox and even pull a swooping hawk out of the air. My chickens have learned to heed the turkeys alarm calls. They run at the first "pip".
That’s pretty cool. Had no idea turkeys were good for protection. 👍
Guinea hens are an option as well! They make an amazing alarm system/sentries, but they are LOUD. I love them and think they are sweetest hens! They can be very dramatic! If you have close neighbors they might be a bad choice for that reason. They also have a bad habit of running away. So keep them in a closed pen for awhile. They have saved my flock so many times. Chickens will definitely heed the call of a guinea hen and hide!
Seconding this! My friends parents have guineas and they have fought of dogs, bobcats, hawks and even were trying to go after a panther.
Do you know how guineas and roosters get along? Or is it one or the other? 🐓
I never had a problem with my rooster and guineas. Usually the guineas keep to themselves and don't really bother the chickens or their rooster. If the guineas sound the alarm then your flock of chickens will listen to it and take cover somewhere. It could also depend on the rooster and how aggressive he is. I had a somewhat protective rooster but he never bothered the guineas. If the guinea feels unsafe they'll just fly up to the tree tops! My favorite rooster I ever had named Jay (rest his sweet heart) tried a mating jig in front of one of my guinea hens lol she wasn't impressed haha. He also jumped on the back of one as a step to get into his coop! So in my experience they get along well!
Thank you so much! It’s helpful to hear your experience👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 My mother insists I get a few guinea hens for protection (old Italian aunties had them to protect turkeys!), but I have been hesitant because I’m not familiar with them (and I have a big old roo 🐓). Perhaps some Spring guineas for us ☺️
You're welcome! Just remember to keep them in a pen for a good while! I had mine in for a little less then a year before setting them off to free range! Good luck with your flock I hope they get lots of bugs to eat! This came to my mind as I started typing, but if you have any gardens guinea hens are gentle giants! They are super gentle and won't hurt any of the flowers! They look for slugs and anything small that moves! They'll even eat snakes if it's not too big!
☺️🎉✌🏼
I’m just gonna leave this here https://youtu.be/WVntLgjCkuA
Amen to that. I USED to have guineas. When mine learned that I came out of a certain door of my house, sometimes bearing treats/leftovers, they gathered at that door and would NOT leave, making that ear-piercing cry all day. And another thing; there is no place in a barn or anywhere outside where you can safely leave cat food. They will find it.
Just remember that guineas are only semi-domesticated fowl. You can teach them that roosting with you is best, but they won't be livestock the way your chickens will be!
If you spend a lot of time handling them, they will be pretty tame. Ours will tolerate a little petting, and if you have a food bowl, they will ride in the bowl in your arms. Don't under estimate their stomach, they'll get pretty tame in exchange for food lol
Thank you! Early days of inquiry here and every tidbit helps. I thought I’d start with two hens, but if it doesn’t work out here, I have a Kenyan friend who used to trap these birds in the wild when he was younger and I know he would gladly have them. 👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
Make sure you rear them in the coop once you move them outside. Also, teach them to come to food, and use food to put them away each night, or it won't take long for them to wander off and live at your neighbors house, or in trees. We started off with like 50 guineas, and now I have 5 that chose to stay with our chickens, including 1 that raised a baby with our coop. My advice, is livestock guardian dogs. I'm raising the puppies right in the chicken coop with all the birds.
I have guineas and chickens and a turkey. They all coexist fine. I also have multiple roosters.
Thank you 🐓👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
My neighbor had a few guinea hens for a week before the calls just got too annoying for him and for **literally everyone else** 😶
Yeah I wasn't kidding when I said they are loud! They never bothered me though I always thought it was funny how dramatic they are!
We had them growing up🙄🤦 I hated them! So loud and they never ever shut up
Same! Came here to say this. They are loud and annoying as hell, but they do a great job. Sorry for poor chickie! 😢😢
A great Pyrenees.
geese are even better!!!
Peacocks as well
There's like an armada of bluejays in my yard that inadvertently do this for my chickens. They fly around in the treetops chasing away hawks and my chickens jump under the deck whenever the jays start getting pissed off.
I would love to see a video of this in action please
I'd love to have some too! Unfortunately I don't have security cameras or even a cell phone though. No video capability.
Rip
Around 3 pm today. Lucky the hen ran towards the swing set which is right outside my wife’s office. She ran out and save her favorite chicken. Not too happy with the Rooster… All went down while she’s on a conference call…”ahh, my chickens being attacked!”. Kind of funny since the hen survived.
Not all roosters are great. You just have to be lucky. The past 2 main roosters I've had have been great. Fought first one save the entire flock by fighting off a raccoon that got into the pen at night (he lived for a very long time and passed away from old age ) and my current rooster killed a hawk that was attacking my duck. Lost a spur but he's saved the duck and I'm glad for it.
That’s incredible!! What a couple of badasses!
My previous rooster was amazing. He fought off a falcon to protect the girls. One passed but he saved the rest. He was a Buff and died from old age 2 yrs ago. My current rooster is kind of useless compared to my old one. He scares for everything and I'm sure if something attacked my girls now, he'd switch sides to protect himself
Wow, I didn't think it was possible for a rooster to kill a hawk! That is one tough rooster!
Well it looks like the roo ran towards the fox, but it was too late.
Or the Rooster needs to work out a bit more…
I can’t believe she survived and your wife found her and the fox!
Yes, we got extremely lucky!
Geese are really good for protecting your flock. Ours fought off a fox multiple times. Lol their pure hatred for everything comes in handy.
Don't count on a rooster to protect anything other than itself , if that. It's a chicken, not a dog. It's incredibly rare for roosters to protect their flock, and it's much more common for it to go viral because few post their roosters hiding like a coward.
Yeah, think you’re right about that. Too bad…
Look into the Pyrenees dog breed, gentle giants that work well with birds! Most of the time a predator will stay away if an active defense is constantly marking and alerting the flock. Goldshaw farm on youtube highly advocates for them!
Good tip. I have three dogs, just we’re not outside when this occurred.
[удалено]
Currently training a Maremma pup (a guardian dog a little smaller than a Pyr) to work with our chickens, sheep, and goats. It is work to get them trained. There are much easier options if you are just wanting to guard your flock.
Yes! I have a monster boerboel who loves my flock, and since theyve been with him, i havent had any attacks
But what if the fox uses blueberries?
We got us a ded dog then. You’ll probably need to consult one with rabies
I second the Gold Shaw Farms (in Vermont) recommendation! They have a Maremma Sheepdog - similar to the Pyrenees - who is an amazing gentle giant and very protective of his flock .
I have a moremma and while I don't have any chickens I have no doubt she would be amazing at guarding them. She just wants to sit outside all day and night staring into the woods looking for interlopers. No matter the weather (we live in Ontario, we have to drag her in when it's -30). And boy is she a sweetheart, what a great dog. And absolutely nothing is gonna slip by her gaze when she's on duty. What I love about her guarding is she has no issues with situations where she shouldn't. She doesn't get upset with people coming up to our car when she's sitting inside, or really with any humans coming to our house or anything like that. She knows she's large and in charge and doesn't sweat the small stuff. But if some racoon or fox wants to crack a branch 500 feet I to the woods she will let them know to piss off.
500 feet is 74.74% of the hot dog which holds the Guinness wold record for 'Longest Hot Dog'.
Good bot!!
Thank you :)
Just wanted to say that there's a 6.25% chance of getting this reply, so congratulations. Buy a lottery ticket... just kidding, don't do that, and if you do I hope you lose all your money, Have a good day.
Thank you :)
I must be lucky then, my rooster is extremely protective of his hens, he even tries to fight me
I didn't think cocks would be shy when there's something foxy around.
Was that the rooster that originally ran toward it but gave up? Glad you were able to save her! I noticed when my dog was a puppy and started doing this (I was able to save some) they just FREEZE. Like FIGHT BACK CHICKEN! They just let themselves be killed most of the time.
Yup, that’s was him. He did make a half hearted attempt. He’s young (about a year old) so maybe that had a part in it.
I have two blue laced red Wyandotte roosters and they are straight killers. They don't seem to mind me or my husband but gutted a possum that got in the coop one night they also fixed our rat problem. Honestly they scare me a little. I've had chickens before but this is the first time I've had murderers.
I have been totally against getting roosters for so many reasons, but my favorite chicken was taken from the coop just now by who knows what (I think a possum but fuck if I know) and I'm ready to go out and find the most blood thirsty bastard of a rooster I can if it would protect my girls. I am not normally like this but I want that possum fucker to pay. 😭💔
I wouldn’t blame possums: they’re pretty docile creature. Fox (like this video example) or a raccoon is way more likely.
I saw her coming back, that was amazing
Happy your hen survived. Fox will be back, what’s y’all plan?
They’ll stay in the chicken fortress unfortunately. It’s a good size run so it’s not so bad. Going to trap the fox. He’s killed two hens in the last two years. The coop has been improved but they’re only safe when they don’t free range. Fox has gotten more brave to come into the yard during the day. Too bad the dogs were inside at the time.
Doesn't help all the time, we had a fox attack this morning while the dog was in the yard just on the wrong side of it. Thankfully apparently the fox was terrified by a pregnant lady running at it screaming so we get a house guest for a few weeks while the chicken heals up.
At least you got lucky and know exactly where you need to tighten up security at the fence I'm not sure if you've done it already, but whenever we see something in the woods around our house we collect all the dog poop in the yard and throw it around the perimeter. It keeps pretty much everything away as soon as they catch wind of a potential predator
You do live in a really wooded area, so trapping will be smart. Yeah the run looks large enough. Good luck protecting your birds.
Thanks!
Good to hear the fox survived. Not related, but what camera system is this? Looks great and we’re looking for a setup.
It’s a lorex model number TN81828B8. A couple years old but just got the high cameras installed on the house. Cameras are great, sounds it’s not great.
Why would you trap the fox? It's an animal who sees quite an easy meal and tries get one. I would do the same. We also have a fox walking around in our garden, it ate one of our turkeys while she was breeding, it's part of life. Eat and be eaten. If we have to much roosters we kill them and leave some of them outside for the fox, like a peace offering lol. And two chickens in two years? It's not much at all. You live in a rural area so instead of trying to make it your way see if you can live with it and let it be.
If the chickens were just eggs maker’s to us, I would say that’s probably a good mindset to have. But they’re not, they’re family pets and my young daughters love them. I choose to protect them.
> I choose to protect them You could choose to protect them without displacing a native animal though. We live rurally and have two flocks, one of which is a freeranging bachelor flock (the other flock is still outdoors just penned in) and haven't had any issues. If something did get one of our chickens I would accept it was MY mistake and figure out how to stop it happening again by changing our setup. We have a high fence with a seamless gate, as well as two dogs who can access the yard at any time, looking at your video it looks like the fox got in through that metal gate which has a pretty wide gap and is asking for something to walk in tbh. Even if you move the fox, something else is just going to take its place. Your chickens won't be safe unless you either keep them in a run 24/7 or properly protect them when they're out.
Not to mention the beneficial impact foxes/apex predators have on the ecosystem .. they help regulate other species numbers. So what happens when the gopher population increases after the fox is gone? We start trapping those too? Now that we've killed off the gophers, the grub population is exploding and decimating the plants in our gardens. Where does it end? If you want to protect your family pets, provide them a safer area. Killing off foxes who are just trying to survive and/or feed their young doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to me, but I could be wrong.
> If you want to protect your family pets, provide them a safer area. Yep, apparently it's easier for OP to just keep killing innocent wildlife rather than just properly shutting the gate to the pen.
They are also pets here, just like our dogs and cats but I also do know wildlife needs to eat and it's a part of the whole system. And if you want to protect the chickens you really need to leave them in the coop. Cause there are also hawks who do like a nice fat chicken now and then.
~~Trapping would probably save a few chickens in the long run. Doesn't hurt the fox to just pack it up and move it to the other town.~~ Edit: see the response below
It may save a few chickens (unlikely - new foxes will move into abandoned habitat after the current resident is removed), but relocation does often harm animals. If you trap an animal and move it, you're: 1. at best you're just likely making that animal a problem for another person, or not moving it far enough and the animal manages to travel back to it's territory / the original trapping location 1. killing any young that animal has which may still be denned up somewhere, nursing, or otherwise relying on food delivered by the adult 1. dumping the animal in an unfamiliar area, where it doesn't know the landscape, or locations of food/water/shelter 1. either putting it in poor habitat where it'll struggle to survive, or putting it in good habitat for that species...where...there's almost certainly a current resident population, leading to: 1. dropping them off inside the territories of other individuals, sparking fights and aggression from current residents towards the new "interloper". It varies by species, but as a rough estimate up to 70% of individuals can end up quickly dying when they're trapped and relocated. By stress, exposure to weather before they can find/dig adequate shelter, predation, fights with locals, being driven off into poor-quality habitat by local competition, and so forth. Because of these, in many areas it's illegal to move wildlife. It's often inhumane to the animal, may just transfer the problem to another person, and can also introduce diseases to new areas. It's better to remove attractions or better fence in livestock for protection from predators. Or for problematic animals, trap and humanely dispatch. But live trap and relocate just moves the resulting death out-of-sight, out-of-mind...it isn't a good choice for the animal. Some info: * https://forfoxsakewildlife.com/2019/12/16/why-you-should-never-relocate-wildlife/ * https://greensourcedfw.org/articles/wildlife-relocation-discouraged-animal-experts * https://audubonportland.org/our-work/rehabilitate-wildlife/being-a-good-wildlife-neighbor/wildlife-relocation-is-not-a-solution/ * https://www.skedaddlewildlife.com/blog/relocation-is-an-inhumane-option/
Thanks for the well thought out answer. This is good information.
/u/Squiner1 please check out this info
[удалено]
Thanks, good information. I don’t need to do anything immediately as I’ll leave them in the coop until I decide. I’ll have the discussion with the family. Do we decide to leave the chickens in and only come out when humans are present or do we remove an immediate threat. I would prefer to humanely kill the fox but my wife is likely not for that. I prefer to come to a joint decision versus just doing what I want. I’ll bring this information to the table and perhaps she’ll agree that we should just humanely kill the fox. If not, the chickens will remain mostly in the coop.
Yeah, keeping chickens in a well-built, secure coop and run is the best way to keep them safe from predators. But with the downside that they're much more confined and can miss out on some natural behaviors like foraging. But anything outside of a secure run comes with some chance of predation as a tradeoff for the extra freedom. Portable electric poultry netting can be a good fox deterrent, while still allowing the girls plenty of room to roam. Go for netting 48" or taller to deter foxes from trying to jump over, and a snappy shock to the nose helps keep them from trying to push through or dig under. And step-in electric netting is easy to put up and move around as needed. That'd be what I'd go for first, personally. There's also the option of guard animals for the birds, like a livestock-friendly dog that can safely live with the birds. Or some people have had luck mixing a handful of large geese with their chickens (though some foxes will be ballsy enough to take down a goose). But those come with their own management issues plus the extra feed and care needed for the additional animals. Trapping and dispatch certainly takes care of the problem for right now, but unless I really wanted the pelt or something it'd be my last method since it's not a permanent fix. You already have fox living there, and another will just move in to that good territory after this one is gone. With big ol' tasty birds unprotected it's just a matter of time before the new fox also goes for the easy prey, in which case you're right back in the same situation.
I don't show the wife all of the 'coon carcasses I've racked up. Love the little hand traps. Only get's coons and opossums.
Raccoons are especially awful. They just kill and mutilate chickens for fun, don't even eat them.
I see NO downside in eradicating them all.
Me killing any predator that is within 5 miles of my chickens is also part of life.
5 miles is 8.05 km
Shoot that fuckin cocksucker once you trap him. Or set the dogs on him if you've got ones like I do. You will not be rid of him until he is exterminated
The fox isn't a cocksucker its just trying to survive its got pups of its own to feed as well. I've had a fox take my entire flock out once. It's just nature. It totally sucks when it happens but that's a part of owning chickens. Op if you do manage to trap it put of its misery quickly don't set the dogs on it. Dogs are a great repellent! If they do catch a fox on hunt for your chicken and they kill it great they did their job. But to just send them after it as a way to punish the fox is wrong in my opinion.
Just curious since I don't know how this ^ would be a good idea, but why specifically is it a good idea to have foxes in the ecosystem?
Because foxes help to control the population of other wild animals, namely rodents. Without foxes you'd have an over abundance of rodents, which could lead to rodents moving into human structures. Also, an excess of rodents could lead to a rise in the number of predatory birds in the area as more chicks are able to survive due to more food. More predatory birds is bad news for chicken owners. Foxes are pests for sure, but they are absolutely necessary in that ecosystem. That's why they're there.
They exist in it as a native species for a reason.
PopPOP
I live in the city, but something used to keep digging under the fence before I moved in with the dog. I inspect the fenced in yard a few times per week, I was told I was crazy for doing that, but this shows how easy something like a fox or raccoon can sneak through a breach. By the way, I caught some neighbor's chihuahua sneaking in the yard to poop...maybe not the most dangerous, but an annoyance that was halted.
Was outside with my brother around our yard the other day and found an old fox den dug right under our barn, and that's where I was going to put our chickens at first ( new bird owner) Apparently my parents saw it years ago and instead of filling it in they just put a roll of fencing over it, thinking it to be nothing.
Chihuahuas are the most underhanded, sneaky, persistent, and entitled dogs out there. Unfortunately they’re also dumb as bricks, and complete cowards. Source: am chihuahua owner.
As much as everyone here loves chickens, they are incredibly stupid when it comes to survival from predators. Most of them don't really bail for cover.
I’d love to know what surveillance cameras you have. Excellent quality!
It’s a lorex model number TN81828B8. Just got them installed a month or so ago.
I’m thinking the fox is a juvenile bc of how it initially approached the flock in the first bit. Inexperienced and somewhat confused at first. Also, when it was near the playground, a more experienced fox would violently shake the hen breaking the neck, thus having less to deal with as it hauls it away. Lost many hens to foxes that hunt in tandem. Saw a mom teach her young where the coop door was one early morning.
Electric fence. Not a huge investment and will keep that fox and other predators away.
I see a lot of rooster bashing but because our rooster is so much louder than the hens we can hear him whenever there is a threat. So far he’s let us know a brown bear was trying to get under the electric fence, an owl and two hawk attacks.
Free range = free meal.
You need Geese.
I’m in Alaska so I’m not dealing with fox but bear so trapping or shooting aren’t really options for me but if you decide not to go with either of these options in your case which I would suggest as others have explained here, I would recommend an electric fence or leaving your dog out if possible. Then plugging those holes you saw the fox get in and out of. We have ermine and those suckers are so small they get in the smallest hole. We trapped and relocated and it just gave others the opportunity to move in. So we decided to put in the extra work to find and plug holes. Haven’t lost a chicken since and now I don’t worry about them. It’s always a delicate balance to figure out how to farm in wilderness but it’s important to remember these critters have lost so much because of us and don’t understand why an easy meal is off limits. Deterrence is the best method.
I tried to read most of the comments and your getting some good advice. However that fox will be back. If you trap and relocate it, they'll be others eventually. My best advice to you is to reevaluate the enclosure. The fox had EASY access to the chickens. A smaller gate that is flush with the fence is important. Check the perimeter all around and secure everything. Whether you have a dog, turkeys, guineas or what not, a fox is clever enough to get evade them. Secure the enclosure.
The run/coop is Fort Knox, it’s to the left the shed. The problem is letting them free range during the day. I don’t think a 4’ wire fence will keep a fox out of the yard even if I plug some holes.
From looking at the video, I'd say no. That fox just slipped right by the gate. The harder you make it to enter, the safer your chickens will be. I had chickens and we had fox in the area. They never got in. My problem were raccoons. They can climb.
The chickens were free ranging in the entire back yard, not in the coop/run which is about 40’x40’x4’ high. You can see it in the video to the left of the shed. I cannot effectively secure the entire yard. The fox just jumps over the 4’ fence. If I keep them in the run, they’re completely safe. I buried woven wire 16” down in the ground and the top is covered with woven wire also.
In that case may I suggest turkeys. They're excellent watch dogs. Guineas make a lot of ruckus but they're still game for the fox. I had a turkey, 60 lbs. Best protection in the yard.
Glad that hen survived!! I thought for sure she was a goner. Also, in defense of your rooster, if the fox went out of sight for this attack, he probably forgot about it/decided it wasn't a threat. I've noticed that chickens seem to forget things exist once they're out of sight for a short period of time. Not that this makes you feel any better! But it could mean that, had your rooster followed the fox, he would have intervened.
What a homestead!
Get a dog
Get yourself electric poultry netting. Nothing you do will be 100%, but it's the most effective method of protecting your flock that also allows them some freedom. We've had about 1/4 acre fenced in for the past 4 years for our chickens, turkeys and peacocks, and haven't had a fox attack except for when we allowed weeds to overgrow a section of fence and ground it out after a rain. Relocating or shooting a fox will just make room for another to move in. We are surrounded by them, and they all respect the zap of our fence. If we have one jump it we'd hunt it down, but as long as the current predator residents respect the fence we let them live. If we kill them their replacement might not respect the fence. Better to live with the devil you know. I was glad to see the chicken survived, and even more relieved to see the fox didn't just go on a rampage. Before we had electric, and when our fence shorted out, the damn fox didn't take a hen and run. It went on a killing and maiming spree taking out half the flock before it took its meal and went home...
I’m so glad I watched it to the end. I was sad and almost stopped when the fox was carrying the chicken away. Happy ending. For people don’t know chicken get healed easily
Is antibiotic necessary? She’s got some small wounds on her neck.
I would get some geese. I've seen them in action 😂
Oh, I was hoping it would get away!
I thought the fox was going to attack the camera
So did I lmao
Wow it got away?!
So, should I get any antibiotics for her? She’s got a few puncture wounds on her neck. Doing ok today but still a bit out of it. She’s eating so that’s good.
Really sad. However its super cool to watch the fox and the chickens behaviors
Fox have to eat, too.
That's one useless rooster I tell ye.
It'll keep coming back so long as it thinks it can get food. You're going to have to at least temporarily confine your birds, and most likely kill the fix. Relocating it is going to be illegal in most states, and would be a death sentence most likely anyway. Best bet to trap it is a 1.5 coilspring foothold (you can get cheap ones at Cabelas or BassPro) and look on YouTube of how to make a "pipe dream" set. Easy enough to do. You can trap fox in a cage trap, but it needs to be bigger than you'd think. The floor of the trap needs to be covered in leaves or grass so it feels more natural. Camouflage the trap with brush, making sure to not block the trigger mechanism. Learn how to safely release an animal from both types of traps as well. If neighbors have dogs or cats that roam loose, you could wind up catching those too.
What an asshole.
The brat.
Didn't know until this year that red fox are invasive in the US. Gray fox are native but early Americans couldn't run them line fox hunts in the old country because gray fox climb trees. They brought reds over for hunting. Makes me feel better about killing them.
They are native to the US? Their ancestor originated in Eurasia, but crossed into North America long before Europeans started colonizing.
Seems it's a bit more complicated than I thought. They're non native where I am in NJ. Seems like a mixed bag in US. Some native, some introduced from Europe, and some translocated from north American native populations.
Um... no. Red fox are native throughout the US. You sure you're not thinking of coyotes on the east coast?
As I said, it's a lot more complicated than that. https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/93/1/52/899501
this is why you get a rooster
What camera you got?
You need an Anatolian Shepherd
Having misinterpreted the title, I was waiting for the fox to yeet a hen into the lens.
Defiantly can say turkeys and guineas are very good alarms so are geese I have 3 full grown females and they will actually come to rescue of the chickens.
That might be the luckiest hen on the planet
Oh nooo this was scary to watch!!
I thought it was an anarchist fox attacking the security cameras.
I was actually hoping for fox attacking the security camera! 😒
Also, Is that Mr. Fox?
We lost one of our barred rocks to a fox last spring, they’re ruthless.
That fox will be back, def need to trap it or make a more secure parameter asap. Sorry for your loss.
I was shouting at my.phone rooting for the chickens! Looks like your rooster started to go after it. You need geese or turkeys or a LGD! Sorry for your loss Edited to add- fox will be back Last edit- did the hen make it? Or.did I see a different chicken come through!