Foxes and Chickens, Keeping Chickens and Poultry and Fox Problems

Posted on 25 February 2010

There are some old wives tales about how to stop Foxes visiting…. Below are a few:
1) Get a man to wee round the chicken area – I am not being sexist here, I am male and have done this and guess what?? I actually witnessed a fox backing away once it smelled the scent. The effect of male urine is exactly the same as when a dog wee’s in your porch (if you have a dog – and a porch…) basically it is marking out its territory. So with foxes, it needs to be male pee. They can tell the difference (and no – I have not tried my wife’s yet, it just makes sense that male wee will work better)
2) Tie some (male) hair in a pair of socks or tights to the pen – ideally several socks full of male hair – it needs to be unwashed.
3) Wait up one night and really frighten the fox with noise and light (once it is near the coop) – obviously this only works if it is the same fox that causes the problems but it does work as they are smart and remember
4) If you do not have a dog, invite a friend over who does and make sure it leaves some scent around d the coop and the garden. Same principles as with human scent above apply.
5) Grow lots of strong smelling herbs and plants around the chicken area – rosemary, lavender, mint etc. the stronger the better.
Here is some other info:
It can be upsetting to have a chicken stolen by a fox. This is because many chickens can become our closest pets. Fortunately there are many simple solutions for preventing this problem.
First of all you should know that if a fox can find a way to get into a chicken run or a pen then it certainly will find it. Usually this is not the action of a group of foxes but an unusual occurrence. When one fox continually escapes into a pen at night to steal chickens it is called a rogue fox. Sometimes these rogue foxes are also called mensa foxes as it might be the smartest one from a litter that is visiting from afar.
A fox is a very agile creature that can scale six-foot fences and can easily squeeze through any four-inch square gaps. They are also excellent diggers. You can see easily how many of the loose wire pens that are currently used to hold chicken wire pens together may not be any defense at all for a wily fox.
The main way to keep a fox out of your chicken run is to officially fox proof tit. Wiring the entire pen over the top and underneath does this. Welded mesh is the preferred material and considered to be more effective than chicken wire. The reason chicken wire is such an inefficient preventative medium is because it can be pulled out of shape easily. Not only that but also most foxes can chomp straight through it.
If your chicken coop is wood or has a door it is worth it to put a bolt on the door. This is so the fox cannot get in. If foxes become a real problem then you might also want to consider making your chicken pen higher than six feet tall.
If a fox can get into a chicken run or rabbit hutch then it will. Often people who have lost their chickens or rabbit to a fox for the first time and having never received problems from foxes before will describe this fox has a rogue one. If you have pets or livestock housed outside in an insecure run then it is just luck that has stopped any foxes getting in not because now you have a mensa fox visiting.
In the U.K. there are several laws relating to foxes that protect them from cruel treatment. The Wild Mammal (Protection) Act 1996 protects most mammals from a variety of cruel acts, which are intended to cause unnecessary suffering. This law can also be used to prosecute those people who ill-treat the fox.
For instance there is no poison that can be legally used on foxes. Use of a poison to kill foxes would lead to either a large fine or imprisonment. You cannot also use gas to trap a fox or spring traps. Spring traps with teeth have been illegal in the United Kingdom since 1954 for any use on an animal. The self-tightening snare is also illegal in the United Kingdom.
There is only one kind of trap that is currently legal in the United Kingdom for catching a fox and it is called a Free Running Snare. It can be legally used to catch foxes but its use is also subject to many restrictions or you can be arrested for using it. Your best course of action when trapping foxes is to consult a local pest control professional as well as the local city and country laws that govern such matters in your area.
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http://www.chickenkeepers.co.uk/chicken-keeping.asp?sc=Do+you+Like+Wild+Mushrooms
If you are a fan of wild mushrooms then this is the site for you – packed with lots of advice on how to identify all sorts of wild mushrooms and where to find them

There are some old wives tales about how to stop Foxes visiting…. Below are a few:

1) Get a man to wee round the chicken area – I am not being sexist here, I am male and have done this and guess what?? I actually witnessed a fox backing away once it smelled the scent. The effect of male urine is exactly the same as when a dog wee’s in your porch (if you have a dog – and a porch…) basically it is marking out its territory. So with foxes, it needs to be male pee. They can tell the difference (and no – I have not tried my wife’s yet, it just makes sense that male wee will work better)
2) Tie some (male) hair in a pair of socks or tights to the pen – ideally several socks full of male hair – it needs to be unwashed.
3) Wait up one night and really frighten the fox with noise and light (once it is near the coop) – obviously this only works if it is the same fox that causes the problems but it does work as they are smart and remember
4) If you do not have a dog, invite a friend over who does and make sure it leaves some scent around d the coop and the garden. Same principles as with human scent above apply.
5) Grow lots of strong smelling herbs and plants around the chicken area – rosemary, lavender, mint etc. the stronger the better.
Here is some other info:

It can be upsetting to have a chicken stolen by a fox. This is because many chickens can become our closest pets. Fortunately there are many simple solutions for preventing this problem.
First of all you should know that if a fox can find a way to get into a chicken run or a pen then it certainly will find it. Usually this is not the action of a group of foxes but an unusual occurrence. When one fox continually escapes into a pen at night to steal chickens it is called a rogue fox. Sometimes these rogue foxes are also called mensa foxes as it might be the smartest one from a litter that is visiting from afar.
A fox is a very agile creature that can scale six-foot fences and can easily squeeze through any four-inch square gaps. They are also excellent diggers. You can see easily how many of the loose wire pens that are currently used to hold chicken wire pens together may not be any defense at all for a wily fox.
The main way to keep a fox out of your chicken run is to officially fox proof tit. Wiring the entire pen over the top and underneath does this. Welded mesh is the preferred material and considered to be more effective than chicken wire. The reason chicken wire is such an inefficient preventative medium is because it can be pulled out of shape easily. Not only that but also most foxes can chomp straight through it.
If your chicken coop is wood or has a door it is worth it to put a bolt on the door. This is so the fox cannot get in. If foxes become a real problem then you might also want to consider making your chicken pen higher than six feet tall.
If a fox can get into a chicken run or rabbit hutch then it will. Often people who have lost their chickens or rabbit to a fox for the first time and having never received problems from foxes before will describe this fox has a rogue one. If you have pets or livestock housed outside in an insecure run then it is just luck that has stopped any foxes getting in not because now you have a mensa fox visiting.
In the U.K. there are several laws relating to foxes that protect them from cruel treatment. The Wild Mammal (Protection) Act 1996 protects most mammals from a variety of cruel acts, which are intended to cause unnecessary suffering. This law can also be used to prosecute those people who ill-treat the fox.
For instance there is no poison that can be legally used on foxes. Use of a poison to kill foxes would lead to either a large fine or imprisonment. You cannot also use gas to trap a fox or spring traps. Spring traps with teeth have been illegal in the United Kingdom since 1954 for any use on an animal. The self-tightening snare is also illegal in the United Kingdom.
There is only one kind of trap that is currently legal in the United Kingdom for catching a fox and it is called a Free Running Snare. It can be legally used to catch foxes but its use is also subject to many restrictions or you can be arrested for using it. Your best course of action when trapping foxes is to consult a local pest control professional as well as the local city and country laws that govern such matters in your area.##############################http://www.chickenkeepers.co.uk/chicken-keeping.asp?sc=Do+you+Like+Wild+Mushrooms
If you are a fan of wild mushrooms then this is the site for you – packed with lots of advice on how to identify all sorts of wild mushrooms and where to find them

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Category: Chickens for Sale, Choosing Chicken Breeds, Foxes, Keeping Chickens, Pet Chickens, Poultry Breeds, Rhode Island Reds
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