Red Fox is after my chickens - guidance needed

[NHCraigT]

I call ours Fort Knox Chicken coop. There is a trench filled with rocks and layered with hardware cloth under ground around the perimeter of the coop. No gaps and hardware cloth around the run and over the windows.

Below is what Cowgirlup was referring to. IMHO, I don't think its possible for a predator to dig through this set-up, with 4x4 posts in 10" x 4' deep concrete piers:

Stay away from "chicken wire mesh" = it works to keep chickens in, but is 100% useless for protecting chickens from predators.

We keep a 10/22 with a suppressor handy, whenever the chickens are out roaming the yard (we live in the sticks with no neighbors).

(We've since added-on an extension to the coop & run, to make it larger)

 

[Kevin_NH]

Sweet looking coop. Add a coat of paint, LED lighting, and a murphy bed and you could sell it to a hipster couple as a "tiny house".

 

[Palladin]

Sweet looking coop. Add a coat of paint, LED lighting, and a murphy bed and you could sell it to a hipster couple as a "tiny house".

seriously, that's a condo!

 

[whacko]

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ckPHBJWQvpE[/video]

Haha! Brings back a memory from when I was a kid. My great uncle trapped a coon that was tripping over his trash cans. He put a 22 bullet between it's eyes from his revolver. He said "I'll run him out to the woods on the 4 wheeler later and bury him" and we went about to having coffee and breakfast on the deck. Bout 20 minutes later I see something moving out of the corner of my eye and that damn coon was sitting up staring at us......With a hole between his eyes! I said hey Uncle......Better hit him again man!!!!

 

[Coyote33]

Sweet looking coop. Add a coat of paint, LED lighting, and a murphy bed and you could sell it to a hipster couple as a "tiny house".

seriously, that's a condo!

Those look like store-bought windows, ... in a chicken coop. That's better than the windows in my real house.

Haha! Brings back a memory from when I was a kid. My great uncle trapped a coon that was tripping over his trash cans. He put a 22 bullet between it's eyes from his revolver. He said "I'll run him out to the woods on the 4 wheeler later and bury him" and we went about to having coffee and breakfast on the deck. Bout 20 minutes later I see something moving out of the corner of my eye and that damn coon was sitting up staring at us......With a hole between his eyes! I said hey Uncle......Better hit him again man!!!!

Use a pitchfork. It's quieter, saves a bullet, and you can use the same implement to dig the hole.

 

[Mike-Mike]

Sounds like raccoon carnage.

I think the hole was too small. Also, I have seen fox around the coop a bunch and never a racoon. But who really knows.

 

[NHCraigT]

Those look like store-bought windows, ... in a chicken coop. That's better than the windows in my real house

.

They are "shed windows". You can get them at any HD.

BTW, we have power running below ground to the coop (everything to code). Besides using it for lighting and a heat plate for water in the winter, we have cctv cameras set up inside and out to keep an eye on the chickens. The monitors are in the house and the cameras also have night vision. The video signal is sent wirelessly.

I would recommend cctv cameras for a number of reasons on a property, but especially, it helps with keeping an eye on chickens, in the coop, or when they are out in the yard.

For the coop set up, we are using a harbor freight system. Works great.

 

[standfast86]

OP, just know, if the fox gets in your coop, it will kill your whole flock. I don't think they were raised with whole waste not, want not mantra.

 

[standfast86]

One of my chickens got killed Friday. Can't be positive what was the culprit but I'm ruling out coyote and any bird of prey. So either skunk, fox, or fisher cat? We have a completely fenced-in backyard, with only a few very small openings near the corners that some small animal could sneak through. I found the chicken just outside the corner of the fence where the coop is, under a corner of my shed. Head gone, and one breast partly devoured. No prints in the dirt as the ground was freezing. All my neighbors around me are cool and I don't think they'd have an issue with me taking out a nuisance wild critter with a .22 quiet round. In the meantime we are leaving the chickens in the coop until we come up with a plan.

That sounds like a Red Tail.

 

[Golddiggie]

OP, just know, if the fox gets in your coop, it will kill your whole flock. I don't think they were raised with whole waste not, want not mantra.

So, they're democrats??

 

[45collector]

Why are you eliminating a bird of prey? Sounds like an owl to me if the head was gone.

Did it happen during the day or night. Were it's feathers plucked out?

That sounds like a Red Tail.

I guess I'm still learning about backyard predators. I've only had chickens for about a year and this was the first time we had any issues.

It happened some time between 8am and 3pm . Our chickens are (well, were) free range in the fenced-in (4 foot tall stockade) yard. There was blood on the inside of the coop door which lead me to believe the chickens saw the predator coming and tried to hide in the coop maybe? And they were cornered and one got dragged out? I dunno. There were some feathers scattered around underneath the coop but I couldn't say whether they were plucked out or not.

 

[exojam]

I had no idea they could pull that off. I knew mice can get through anything but not something the size of a fox.

 

[Kevin_NH]

I had no idea they could pull that off. I knew mice can get through anything but not something the size of a fox.

Many predators have the same deal as mice -- if their heads fit, their bodies will follow.

 

[goodlife30]

Folks -

Thanks for the feedback. Lots of good ideas - some funny as well. The coop is pretty well fortified. We will end free-ranging and will try the electric fence suggestion. At night, we are closing the drop door as an additional measure. If this continues for too long, we will consider a lethal solution.
-VT

Father in law has a real issue with coyotes and foxes. 30 chickens wiped out. In Maine so he placed leg traps around the coop. Uses a club to finish them off or 22 for the real nasty ones.

 

[StevieP]

Wrist rocket. Legal to own and use in MA. Just have to buy one somewhere else. A good-sized ball bearing delivered as a headshot, ought to do the trick.

 

[HuntMaine]

22 air rifle. Plunk him down


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[strangenh]

Many predators have the same deal as mice -- if their heads fit, their bodies will follow.

It's getting back out after the big meal that's hard.

(Not kidding, many a farmer's found a fox still in the pen after slaughtering way more than it can eat and pigging out.)

 

[sbandit]

Tractor supply sells fence chargers and all the supplies you need to electrify around the coop. Foxes are not that big of a deal if you have a decent coop. Racoons OTOH are very clever...they also hate fence chargers

You probably have both poking around.

I agree that you could charge a fence to scare them off. Only issue is you would need to build the fence around the chicken coop which could add up $ wise. I have game cameras out all year long and I see Coyotes, Deer, Fox, Racoons at least once a week on the camera. Best bet is to first call the town to make sure of what's allowed and then address it from there.

 

[Admin]

I find that 55gr of Hornady V-max doing 3000+ fps works too.

 

[bigblue]

Nice! How long did it take to track him down? Is that a NV optic?

 

[Admin]

Nice! How long did it take to track him down? Is that a NV optic?

He dropped dead in his tracks. Thermal scope

 

[bigblue]

My bad, I meant how long from when you initially spotted him or he took his first kill until you nailed him? Did you sit and wait for him to come to you on the back porch or did you go find him/her?

 

[Admin]

Ahh. He went in to the tree line and stopped when I walked out the front door. I used the zoom and took the shot. In my experience foxes always run a little ways then stop and look back, I dont know why but it works well when you want to give them a lead injection.

 

[45collector]

I find that 55gr of Hornady V-max doing 3000+ fps works too.

NH is the place to be.

Nice setup.

 

[MassPete]

Folks -

Thanks for the feedback. Lots of good ideas - some funny as well. The coop is pretty well fortified. We will end free-ranging and will try the electric fence suggestion. At night, we are closing the drop door as an additional measure. If this continues for too long, we will consider a lethal solution.
-VT

You're being very inhumane by not letting your chickens free-range.

 

[Chevy 2 65]

He dropped dead in his tracks. Thermal scope

Hang the tail from your car or truck. Nice shooting tex.. What thermal scope are you using?

 

[Admin]

Hang the tail from your car or truck. Nice shooting tex.. What thermal scope are you using?

https://tnvc.com/shop/ir-hunter-mk-ii-19mm-thermal-scope-640-x-480/

 

[45collector]

Caught a pic of the bastard last night. That's a raccoon isn't it?

 

[Admin]

Looks like it. He needs some lead pills.

 

[45collector]

Two nights ago the sonofabitch managed to open the smaller coop door and kill another chicken. That little door shuts fairly tight without any need for a latch, but the coon figured out how to pry it open I guess. Dick. I finally got around to setting up the trail cam last night and there he is.

What can I do, legally, to end this f*cker? I don't think any of my immediate neighbors (those within 500 feet of my back yard) would care if I had to let a .22 quiet round fly late at night to kill this thing. They like free fresh eggs.
But I believe I'm supposed to get a special permit to do that right? I have never had to deal with this before. Should I just SSS?