Foxes

Keeping your Chickens and Ducks and other Poultry Safe

Mr. Fox has to be every poultry keeper's number one enemy. Sadly, many people have lost their chickens, ducks, geese or other poultry to a fox. When it happens, it can be devastating.

When I was 7 years old, I went down to the chicken house to open the outer run door to let our small flock of hens out for their usual free range of the garden. On opening the door, I saw all of our hens killed inside the house with their heads removed. Only one hen had survived and was petrified, hiding in a tree where she had escaped the attack.

Whilst I love nature and have a live and let live attitude towards most things, this experience has given me a vivid memory of a fox attack and that makes me pretty vigilant when it comes to keeping my chickens and ducks safe. I appreciate that not all of the protection methods here will suit everyone, but I will give you as many ideas as possible to help you keep your chickens safe. Which method(s) you choose is up to you but I do appreciate many people like to see foxes around, yet others don't and would rather kill them...This article aims to give you some practical advice on how to alleviate or eliminate fox problems. You can decide which methods are best suited to your views on foxes and how much time and energy you need to invest relative to the scale of the problem. Whatever your view of Mr. Fox I hope you manage to keep him and your poultry apart!

Was it a fox that killed my chickens?

Foxes are careful, fastidious hunters and there isn't normally much evidence of a visit. If birds are out in a large run or field during the day, a small patch of feathers is normally all you will find. They do of course need an entry and exit point and if the area is fenced, this is normally a small hole under a gate or fence. There will usually be no signs of entry if they have managed to get over the top of a fence. If a fox gets into a small run or chicken house and there are a number of birds in there, they can get into a killing ‘frenzy' and will kill 30 or more birds, usually taking only one bird with them. Typically, they will bite the heads off the birds. Sometimes, they will bury the bodies if there is enough loose soil. The photo to the right shows a duck that was killed and part buried. There were scrape marks on the ground where the soil had been gathered.

How many foxes killed my chickens?

Foxes are normally lone hunters, except when they first leave their mother when they will often hunt as a pair or a trio. They are pack animals and will keep in touch with the other members of their family by barking. You can sometimes hear this at night. So it is normally only one fox.
When are my birds most at risk from Foxes?
The times your birds are most at risk is when foxes are feeding their cubs in the spring. Another time to be careful is around August time when the mother leaves the cubs to go and find their own food. You are more likely to have a visit from a fox during the daytime when the cubs are learning to hunt and aren't so wary of people. I have had young foxes sitting at the end of my garden watching me release my ducks out into their run at this time of year.

Aren't there Urban and Country Foxes are they different?

There is no difference between an urban and a country fox - they are both the same species, however, the fox has adapted to many different environments around the world. Both urban and country foxes do not know how to hunt in the different environment they are presented with. Problems can occur when somebody has caught a fox in a trap and released it into the countryside as this fox is in unfamiliar territory and does not know where to get its food from and is often in another foxes' territory and will be attacked.

Read on to find out how you can protect your poultry from foxes...