Foxes - Some Common Myths about Foxes

Some Common Myths about Foxes

1. Foxes only come out at night.

Whilst they prefer the cover of darkness, some attacks actually occur during the late afternoon: the chickens are out in the garden or field, there's a quick dash from the hedge and all you find is a heap of feathers. Young foxes that are learning to hunt for themselves will often be out during the daytime and will be brave enough to approach areas that older foxes would avoid.

2. A fox cannot get through chicken wire.

Foxes can ‘tear' 1 inch chicken wire open with his teeth to gain entrance to a chicken run. The rectangular wire seems more successful but a hungry determined fox can get his teeth into 1 inch round chicken wire (sometimes called rabbit wire) and pull, stretching the wire until it breaks. Try to get the strongest wire you can for your run.

3. Foxes can't jump over a 5 foot fence.

Oh yes they can! I've heard of people loosing chickens after a fox scaled their 5ft high fence and I have lost birds too. Generally though, you should provide at least a 6 foot high fence to keep foxes out and ideally provide a mesh roof or an outward facing slope like you see on many security fences. You also need to bury the wire a foot under the ground. It's a lot of work but if you do the job properly once, it will save you so much heart ache and cost.