fox

Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum

Help Support Beekeeping & Apiculture Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hi
We lost 70 chickens last year. I now have my FAC and after only shooting 7 fox I have not lost a chicken since in seven months.
Most of the fox around here come from a fox rescue place 1/2 a mile away. They release fox from London after the council have court them, totally illegal but they still do it.
I recommend you get a FAC or ask on this forum http://ukvarminting.com/forums/ These folk will come and sort them for you FOC. I didn't go down this route as I didn't want other people with guns on my property but now I have been on this forum for a while I realize they are very responsible people and take great care to shoot humanly and safely .

Hope this helps
Pete
 
ive now nipped down to lotti only two min walk and lifted bait and will burn in morn has anyone got plans for a live trap thanks

Glad you have removed the bait bigal its not a good thing to do and well done for that. I am sorry that you lost your chickens to the fox. I have never kept chickens but know plenty of people who do and grew up in a rural environment so have a bit of understanding as to the mentality of the fox and what it can do and one of the chicken keepers on my allotment lost his recently to a fox.

A strong fox can get through chicken wire if it puts its mind to it as with the case with the incident on my allotment and if it finds a weak point perhaps slightly rotten timbers will work on that spot perhaps over a couple of days and can be missed by the owner. If people use chicken wire it should at the least be doubled up and buried 12” in the ground ideally welded wire should be used and strong timber for doors ect then you can sleep at night.

If the fox thinks he can get in he will be back every night and that will stress your chickens but if he realises no hope he may move onto easier pray especially in urban environments.

I have often made the observation that when this happens it’s a mistake, accident or poor coop design that is at fault and the fox a pain at times and a nuisance but does what a fox can do and we all know this can happen its not new

Every time we poison something it has a consequence that we dont intend to happen on my allotment site again the remaining chicken owners have bought a massive bag of rat poison because they now have rats next to the coops we also have a magnificent Hawk that patrols the site and eats very well from the mice and perhaps the odd small rat so I guess we wont be seeing the Hawk for long .
 
Last edited:
I have built in the past chicken coops from second hand site fencing, 6'x6' panels sunk in the ground door panels cut ware needed, (timber clamped ether side of wire to make the frame then cut wire ditto for the door), the roof is also constructed of the same panels if you go wider than 6' you will need a scaffold pole to support the middle or a post.
contact your local gun club they are always looking for places to shoot foxes/rabbits/rats/magpies/ FOC.

John
 
We lost a Light Sussex but the Marrens, which are grey, were left. I suspect the white hen was a lot easier to see in the dark, when the attack happened. We have two more Sussex now but perhaps I need to buy them camouflage jackets?
 
drstitson , thanks for that . I was going old school and trawling through the paper copy I have of the basc guidelines , my dial up wont cope with two sites at once .

G
 
I've had many problems with foxes over the years and have found that there are only really two options:
1. Shoot it or get someone to shoot it for you (if you can trap it then any local farmer should be quite happy to come along and finish it for you).
2. Make your coop impregnable. Chicken wire is rubbish and will not stop a determined fox, you need to use wire mesh... http://www.meshdirect.co.uk/Wire-Mesh-Galvanized-c-1.html

The only other thing that makes any difference is a good dash of male dog / human urine all around the coop and the perimeter fence. Careful you don't scare the neighbours doing this though!
 
before i start ranting.
an apology first to greatbritishhoney, sorry mate

now lets start ranting, on soap box and away we go.

there are two sorts of foxes in the uk. country foxes and urban foxes. EVERY THING EVER WRITEN ABOUT FOXES IN THE LAST 200 YEARS IS FOR A COUNTRY FOX ONLY, again country foxes only.

when i lived in the country in south warwickshire the only time you ever saw a fox was with a rifle scope or a pack of hounds was up its bum. they only hnt at night and hide all day and are very shy of humans. classic fox behaviour and well documented.

now lets talk townie foxes. whilst mowing the grass around my bee shed last year in the next plot 18 foot away was a vixen and two clubs out for some sunshine and this was at 3 pm and she had been there most of the day. humans dont frighten then at all

if you can think of all the human fouling of ally ways on a saturday night and they still walk the ally ways, so wee dont work neither does dogs as most dog urine is in the local park which the foxes scavange at night for ducks and geese and chip wrapers and fried chicken boxes, to see foxes in the park or in the streets in the day time is normal.

brummie foxes are so confident that i am sure they travel arround on the busses and would if they could sign on to get benifits, wife and 34 cubs to feed, they would get a house easily.

why have i used chicken wire then?

cause i cant afford to buy weld mesh, second hand harris fence panels are easily £30 to buy when they are in bits because people do buy them and reweld them then sell them so they are off the menu too.

burring chicken wire is a waste of time it rots out within a year with the soils around here .

my pen has a three foot high pallet made bottom to which a another 4 foot high chicen wire top is put with a single layer over the roof because i will get a fox attack mainly durring the day, to stop him digging under the pallet sides i have put a 5 foot wide double layer of carpet all the way around the outside of the pen as a foot path and anti dig barrier.

smells dont put him off, human hair was a waste of time so is wee.
the old pair who lived at the allotments tried several times to get into the pen and failed so gave up on it. they died this year in the snow so the new one tried and got in, my fault not his i missed a hole and he did not.

once they have got in they will never leave it alone untill they are gone for good. i trapped mine but no i cant shoot it as the allotments are not liecenced grounds for any thing.
i have not shot a fox with an air rifle i was just quoting an idea thats all but a very good one.

poisoning foxes is cruel but very effective, make your own mind up.

trapping is easy if you do as i said with a wheely bin( natural home) and a piece of string, i dont like to leave traps like that alone, and i do what the rules are.

once its caught yes you can transport it to some where to shoot it, and thats they best idea here. the rspca DO RELEASE FOXES into the country side, why i dont know as they will starve in a week. it is against the law but the rspca and the rspcb are both operating above the law when ever it feels like it and you cant do any thing about it.

knocking the fox on the head is my choosen meathod if i was to catch one.
flip the bin onto its wheels and then drop slowly a shopping basket or some such thing down on top of him to trap him down, wear welders gloves and then get hold of his scruff of the neck, pull him out and give it the largest and quickest blows you can, if dont right it should cause instant death.

councils are a complete waste of time as foxes and badgers are NOT on any pest lists, and idiots in towns think either are cute and harmless, tell the lady with the scarred child that one.

if in any way shape or form you were to do any of the above i would do it late at night and on my own to make sure no one sees, not of course that i would ever do that
 
again to prove my point todays news


An inquisitive fox has been discovered living the high life at the top of the UK's tallest skyscraper.

The intrepid visitor spent two weeks roaming free and surviving on scraps of food left by builders at the 288 metre Shard building at London Bridge.

The animal, named Romeo by staff, is thought to have entered via the central stairwell before conquering the climb to reach the building's roof. But his stay ended when he became trapped on the 72nd floor of what will become Europe's biggest building when it is completed.
 
Yes hp in some ways the urban fox is very different from the country fox and only ever seen dead country fox before my farther said the only time you would see one was prier to a hunt when a fox from a different area would be released in the area obviously lost so it could be hunted.

But the urban and country fox has one same characteristic they will kill for the hell of it. Sorry but for me chicken wire is to keep the chicken in and not to keep a determined fox out and poisoning is bad news and lazy thing to do.
 
i am right in thinking its not illegal to transport it a short distance to be despatched by a gamekeeper friend then thanks for that pete finished trap now just copyed a rat trap and made it alot larger so will try it tonight with dog food as bait
 
Yep, my only experience is with country foxes I'm afraid. Urban foxes are a different kettle of fish. Of course, the problem is totally man-made - I know of people feeding them in their back gardens!
What about trying the HFW chickenopolis idea? I seriously doubt it works but it might give the fox something ponder for a few hours whilst it works out how to climb the ladder!!
 
again to prove my point todays news


An inquisitive fox has been discovered living the high life at the top of the UK's tallest skyscraper.

The intrepid visitor spent two weeks roaming free and surviving on scraps of food left by builders at the 288 metre Shard building at London Bridge.

The animal, named Romeo by staff, is thought to have entered via the central stairwell before conquering the climb to reach the building's roof. But his stay ended when he became trapped on the 72nd floor of what will become Europe's biggest building when it is completed.

Just reading your thread as a fox ran across the field in front of me towards my chickens. Garbed a rifle but it was gone. Chickens still all there. I'm in the country and see them day time and night so either your wrong or their town fox's that are lost. :)
 
christ thats a very talented harris hawk, does it cut them into chips afterwards?
She is very talented! and the goldie is even bettershe gets the fox and chips for t!
 
I have been keeping hens for many years and find that even electric netting doesn't always work as they jumped over and wiped me out once, since then i ran a electric galv wire 12inches back from fence and 9inches off floor i have had no more attacks, i have caught over 30 foxes in 18 months either live catch trap 20% or by more successful method snare them.
 
you see where i am delkan i am better off keeping the foxes on the allotments alive, as once they are in there teratory they keep the other foxes away. but what i do have to do is to make sure the old pens fox proof day or night so for me thats a chicken wire roof as well as sides.

not to keen on snares as we have far to many feral cats in the streets so i would spend most of the time dealing with them, the cage trap works well for me as i can sit in the bee shed and select as and when i want to drop the gate.

someone was talking to me yesterday about the austrailian snake bloke/***** that died a couple of years back. he did a programe where they were catching what ever wild animal it was then when it was in the cage they went to town frightening it with shouting and bright lights etc so when i was released the last place it ever wanted to be was near this farmers field of sheep. i wonder if it will work for foxes
 
The councils are laying people off wholesale, but don't kid yourself Pete, they would be bound to have someone decide that it was abominably cruel. Done to a human, they would just call it psychological warfare. :)
 
I couldnt agree more with your dislike of the rspca , dont donate to their cause , it just encourages them !
G


Stupid comment. As I understsand it, the RSPCA get no govt funding - they rely on donations. No donations = no RSPCA. Is that what you want?
 
Every time we poison something it has a consequence that we dont intend to happen on my allotment site again the remaining chicken owners have bought a massive bag of rat poison because they now have rats next to the coops we also have a magnificent Hawk that patrols the site and eats very well from the mice and perhaps the odd small rat so I guess we wont be seeing the Hawk for long .

This is a known problem in the pest industry, it is why there is training laws and regulations. First line of approach with rats is not to over feed the chickens and keep the feed in a secure place. If this is done then the risk is greatly reduced. Plus there is always the option of using fen traps put into safe tunnels to keep fingers out.

Its worrying, if you check on the packaging and it says for professional use only then jo bloggs should not be chucking it down willy nilly. Unfortuneatly it is not illegal for shops to sell pro products but it is illegal to use them if you are not qualified.

They reckon that the majority of owls and hawks tested now show traces of poison in them.


Just wondering, are you sure it is a fox?? could also possibly be a badger, in which case you can under no circumstances touch it, poison it move it.
 
Last edited:
Stupid comment. As I understsand it, the RSPCA get no govt funding - they rely on donations. No donations = no RSPCA. Is that what you want?

now that sounds interesting! Ufortunately they have little understanding of a lot of wildlife issues. I understand that their intentions are good, however they should concentrate on animals in human care that are regularly tortured beaten and starved, not go around interfearing with issues that they do no understand. A friend of mine had a small holding with chickens and geese, it was part of his income. RSPCA decided to start releasing these semi tame foxes within a mile or so of his place. He was loosing his livelyhood so ended up shooting them, I seem to remember he had a VERY large figure Nearing 100 in one winter. This was done very simply by securing string to a dead chicken in the garden, string into bedroom window attached to a carrier bag by side of bed. each time the bag rustled up got friend and out of his window shot the fox.

SO maybe if they didnt spend money on these foxes that only go shot then there would be more money for them to deal with some of the horendous things that some people do.

Dont get me wrong I am not pro fox hunting, everything should be dispatched in a humane way not deamed as sport. However they wasted thousands meddling with the ban - and for your information, the hunts havent changed, if anything imo some are more brutal then before!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top