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Red Fox is after my chickens - guidance needed

I had an issue last year with some unwanted critters. CCI 22 quiets in a bolt action 22 are quieter than an air rifle. I shot a few through the kitchen window, no one heard anything. I just picked up 2 more boxes of the 22 quiets if you need some.
 
One got into my quail coop and killed 16 birds on Easter Sunday.

Ate one, took one, and decapitated the rest. It looked like Godzilla got in there.
 
VTHunter said:
I'd like to deter the fox without killing it.
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Shoo it away with your purse.

Although I am not opposed to shooting it, I am in a residential area with houses within 500'. So, this is likely not an option. What types of measures is a 'farmer' allowed to take when protecting livestock? (Massachusetts)
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Gunshot? What gunshot? I didn't heat any gunshot.
 
Harsh language? [laugh]

The problem is not the fox. The problem is that people (in general) no longer see, know, or care where food actually comes from.

If the chickens were your neighbor's egg source, or Sunday dinner, there would be no problem with the OP taking care of a predator that was effectively out-competing them for food. What the neighbors see, however, is a cute, furry cuddle-buddy, and a mean People doing mean things to a defenseless animal.

Same thing as being vilified for referring to yourself as a dog owner, when you're supposed to be a "Pet Parent."
 
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 said .243, I said .223, implyng even the .223, which is a much smaller cartridge, is still on the big side for fox. They are skinny and thin skinned.
 
I have the exact same problem. Free ranged for years, then the hawks found them, and a fox took one. Now he visits every day practically, despite being whacked with a pellet 8 or so times. Very tough to get a shot, they wise up fast. Inside the coop Ive had skunks and opossums take eggs, and a mink kill 2 chickens.I have fortified and refortified and they still find a way in at some point. Doesn't take much for a mink. Ive peed around the coop and it doesn't seem to help. That said Ive lost 4 chickens in 8 years. Ive had friends lose more than that in a day. Ive needed to patch a few up, they are dumb but pretty tough. I actually sewed the neck of one closed after a hawk tore it up. Vigilance is key.
If you find a way to rid yourself of that fox let me know.
 
...and I always wondered. Everyone has their chickens out and about in the yard which is cool and everything, but you'd think the Hawks and coyotes and foxes would just take them all out until they were all gone. I have a red tail that just camps out above the quail pen just waiting.
 
Chris M. said:
...and I always wondered. Everyone has their chickens out and about in the yard which is cool and everything, but you'd think the Hawks and coyotes and foxes would just take them all out until they were all gone. I have a red tail that just camps out above the quail pen just waiting.
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In 5 years we have only lost one young pullet to a hawk and we weren't home at the time to scare it off. There are places through out the yard that the chickens will hide if a hawk is around and the rooster we previously had fought one off of a hen. I have seen fox tracks around the coop and only one fox passing through the yard in the early morning before I let the chickens out. Foxes are mostly nocturnal as well as most of the bad predators like raccoons, weasels, minks and fisher cats. A good coop usually keeps them out. Last year I scared off a bobcat and was glad it didn't come back because I didn't want to shoot it. Bears have passed through and not cared about the chickens. We also had a coyote or a very scrawny looking dog that tried to get a chicken but did not succeed.

I also make sure my chickens are full size not bantams so they are not as easy of a meal.
 
I secured my chickens in a 30 by 10 dog kennel enclosure topped by kennel sections and one foot square concrete patio blocks all around. You need to make sure panel with the door closes tight against the fixed section, i had a fox get in through there once and harmed a hen. They are safe in chicken Alcatraz now.
 
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.
 
Red Fox...I thought he was dead and went to heaven with Elizabeth. My Dad used to have some of his albums (vinyl 33rpm)...funny stuff.
 
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Marlin1 said:
... despite being whacked with a pellet 8 or so times.
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One either needs more power, or better accuracy. A high-power (PCP) .22 air rifle has plenty of both, and a "lead dust collector" on the muzzle eliminates nosy neighbor concerns.
 
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.
 
Use a live trap baited with some meat. Load trap with fox in pickup truck. Drive to secluded Area Inna woods. Shoot fox between the running lights with 22 handgun.
 
45collector said:
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.
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Did it happen during the day or night. Were it's feathers plucked out?
 

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