Keeping Mr Fox away from chickens

adouglasmhor

Lotus-eater wrote: »

That will teach you to wear your fox outfit while alpaca viewing.

outed as a Furry on MSE

choille

You need to shut the hens in at night as soon as they go in. Male urine is supposed to act as a deterrent, but if they see an opportunity they'll be in there biting all their heads off.

Dogs do deter foxes, if you have one & it's a guard dog instinctive one - ie it'll bark if it hears noises outside.

Davesnave

babyshoes wrote: »

I know ferret pee and poo will deter bunnies, and it might be worth a try for foxes.

No, I don't think so. Mr Fox used to walk past our ferrets' run every night at my old house and didn't give them a second look!

It was only my tiny cat who'd give the fox a good swearing-at and, uncharacteristically, the fox would bark at her too, if she was blocking the path. There would be quite a stand-off at times, though normally I've found foxes and cats ignore each other.

Ferrets might be no match for a determined fox, but I think foxes are bright enough to find something easier to go for. Agree there are no bunnies near our ferrets though!

peter_the_piper

To further what Dave says, the fox does'nt come around much now since the cat beat it up for trying to take one of the dead rabbits it had buried. Dogs are not normally a deterrent, we've had less fox visits since our springer died. I imagine it was looking for all the bits the dog gave up on.

Jue_xx

Someone I know kept chickens for years, in the same enclosure as a goat. The goat died, and the next day they discovered that a fox had killed all the chickens. It appears that keeping a goat would work!

aardvaak

monkeygirl31 wrote: »

Does anyone know of any solutuions or deterants to keep Mr Fox (or indeed Mrs Fox) away from my chickens.
Thankyou

Try putting traps out or shooting them.

shirlgirl2004

A Foxwatch? Not really fox proof but another deterrent although not as cheap as some of the old fashioned methods.

Kimitatsu

We shut all of our chickens away at night. As an added precaution we have also fenced their bit of the garden - the whole area is fenced with chicken wire but it is buried 6 inches into the ground - that way the fox cant sneak under the fence.

Ultimately he could jump over the fence as its only about 4ft high but there is hedging and a wall to help stop him.

Our chickens take themselves off to bed about 30mins before dark anyway, so all we have to do is do a quick headcount and shut the door.

Mankysteve

Electric fence. wont cause Mr fox any injuries besides a bit of shock.

mambury

shirlgirl2004 wrote: »

A Foxwatch? Not really fox proof but another deterrent although not as cheap as some of the old fashioned methods.

Might keep Mr Foxy away but wake up all the neighbourhood dogs!! Can't see you being too popular with the locals!!