The fox, the mortal enemy of the chicken. For as long as people have kept chickens, a battle has ensued between the chicken and the fox. The fox, a cunning and intelligent hunter, has long found ways to infiltrate our defenses, thus claiming his prize and leaving us chicken owners feeling devastated.
The red fox (vulpes vulpes), can be found all across the United States. Measuring about 3 feet long, and 2 feet tall, the red fox is both as cunning as it is beautiful. It’s cousin, the grey fox, can still be a threat to chickens, but is much smaller and it is rare for a grey fox to go on the hunt for chickens. A hunt it is, the fox will scope out his or her attack ahead of time. Foxes plan, they think, and they plot. In order to defend your flock, you’ll have to do some planning ahead as well.
Red foxes are devoted parents, and often monogamous, mating for life. Like their cousins, domestic dogs, given optimum conditions, foxes can live up to 15 years in captivity, but live much shorter lives in the wild. It is a hard life being a wild red fox, with most only living 2-6 years in the wild. With a new litter of up to 12 kits each spring, the parent foxes go to work securing and stashing food around March. Foxes plan ahead. It is for this reason, when they attack a flock of chickens, they often take out the whole flock in one night. Once they’ve found a way in, they will grab a chicken, take it away, and keep coming back, repeating until the resource is depleted-in one single night. They hide and stash their food for future meals.
Rarely ever will a fox return to the scene of the crime multiple nights in a row. They know you are going to be up, waiting for their next strike.
To keep your chickens safe, here are a few ways to prevent foxes from taking our your birds:
- Surveillance
Chances are, your farmyard turns into a whole different world under the cover of darkness. You would be surprised how brazen predators can be, coming right within feet of the front door, looking for something to catch or scavenge.
One of the best plans of action is to get yourself some nighttime surveillance cameras.
Foxes take the same paths along coop walls and fences while on patrol. Look for any areas of ground that look frequented, and place your cameras.
(We once caught a pair of foxes on our nighttime camera, playing with a dog toy!)
Once you find out what is visiting your coop, and when, you’ll know exactly where to place traps.
- Militarize the Coop
Foxes are as stealthy as they are intelligent, so making your coop as secure as Fort Know is imperative. Extra work up front, when building your coop or run, will save you trouble in the long run. Foxes are great at digging, they dig a new den site each year, even sometimes with alternate dens, in case of emergency. The athletic fox will quickly dig under a run fence, then easily slip their petite frames underneath. To deter this, you can bury the fence. The deeper the better, but if the fox encounters a buried fence, it may stop him from digging deeper. Bury your chicken wire about 8 inches deep, or put heavy rocks along the wire bottom.
As well as under, keep the upper parts of your coop secure as well. Red foxes are stealthy climbers, and can fit through the narrowest of holes. Be sure to cover any and every crack and crevice where a predator could slip in. Keep your chickens locked in a coop at night, preferably only letting them into the fence or to free range during the day. If chickens are left in a run overnight, it really must have chicken wire over the top. Opossums, owls, raccoons, weasels, bobcats, and yes, even a fox, could easily climb on over any height fence, so long as it doesn’t have a secured top.
- Decoys and Detterents
As with any intelligent animal, after some time, the fox will most likely realize your decoy is just that, fake. He’ll slide right past the decoys he is used to seeing, so try moving them and swapping them out. Coyote decoys work great, as foxes and coyotes are enemies in the wild. Given the opportunity, a coyote will kill a fox. Try adding scent to your decoys as an extra way to make the decoy seem real. Some motion detecting lights are a great idea as well. When our motion lights come on at our place, it helps notify our dog, Elsa, of trouble. If you have an extra brazen fox, some motion activated Halloween decorations could do the trick! As with anything though,with added exposure, comes less fear.
Foxes are very leery of humans, and even just making lots of noise can be enough to keep it away for good. Yelling, banging pots and pans if you see the fox, can get the message across. Even better is shooting a few rounds into the air. (only if you’re in the country of course…)
- Set Traps
Sometimes the very best option is to trap and remove the fox. Having a large animal live trap cage on your farm will come in handy and definitely pay for itself after a couple years. A larger size trap is best for a fox. Place the trap along a wall where you think it frequents. Be sure to cover the cage in some branches and leaves to make it seem less obvious. If you just place a random cage out in the open, chances are, the fox won’t be falling for that. Use fragrant and delicious bait in the trap, like a can of tuna or fried chicken.
After catching the fox, what to do with it is at your discretion. It is not illegal to shoot a fox in the United States, especially if you are defending your livestock. You can also catch and release the fox. Experts recommend taking the fox at least 10-20 miles from your home if local ordinances allow, to be sure the fox doesn’t return.
- Get a Dog
Dogs can be great at keeping all types of curious nighttime critters away from your coop. While you are sleeping, your best friend can be keeping an eye or ear on the farmyard. A barking dog can prove enough deterrent to keep your fox away. Do be sure to keep your dog vaccinated against rabies, as foxes are a common carrier. If you see a fox behaving strangely, stay away and call animal control at once.
Dealing with a fox can be difficult. There are so many stories of a fox coming in a killing an entire flock in one night-a story shared by many chicken owners. Here, even on my own little farm, I had collected quite a perfect little flock of chickens, about 12 in all. In a single night this April, a fox came and took out all but 2 of my chickens. We heard the commotion, and sprinted out of bed, grabbing the spotlight, and racing to the yard- a fox was there, amongst our goats, running around pulling the feathers out of a big white hen! He had already took off with then hen in his mouth, and we, thinking it was over, we went back to bed. Just as we had fallen asleep, we heard chickens screaming again! He had come back! In fact, he had never left, but was HIDING in the barnyard, waiting for us unaware humans to sleepily stumble back indoors. Grabbing one after another, the fox took out some of my very favorite and best birds, all in one night, even a mama hen who was sitting on her clutch of eggs. The next morning, there was nothing but a mess of feathers scattered around a sad, sad scene. The fox has not returned, but know he will!
When we invite livestock into our lives, we are often inadvertently inviting unwanted predators as well. The red fox is just trying the survive and feed his family, just as we are. With these simple approaches, maybe you can convince your fox family to stay away from your chickens, and just go back to hunting rabbits!