adam f Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 I've been pretty relexed towards foxes to date... Ive kept hens for over 10 years and lost the odd one now and then - mainly when we choose to have a few hours out and get back after dark before I shut them away... Just got back tonight after after a really nice engagement party... to find a lawn full of feathers... one of our prize Buff Opringtons has been taken by Charlie. Ive been chilled in the past, but now it's war! :o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowlander Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 i know how you feel mate i once had a pen full of about 20 white indian runners emptyed by the fox i wanted o murder the ******* hope you manage to get him lowlander Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blunderbuss Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartynGT4 Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 Understand how you feel but could have been worse mate, Charlie could have ravaged the lot just for the sheer hell of it.. I'm guessing war = .22lr and a good lamp? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richie223 Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 take no prisoners dude.do the right thing and show him some shrapnel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 I lost all my hens about 6 weeks ago after a fox managed to get into garden so know how you feel. I know my neighbours probably wouldnt appreciate me firing a shotgun in suburbia so if the thing does make a reappearance (i've got more hens) then i'd have to borrow a trap from a friend and dispatch it on the farm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abiteachuck Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 (edited) about 10yrs ago i use to breed silver laced wyndottes one cock which i`d had from a egg was always getting bullied with the other cocks and was always the last one in, i went out later but he still would`nt go in ,later wife says have you closed the pop hole?, NO i go out and see one perched up in the pop hole i thought thats not like um i put the light on and charlies done the ******g lot 33 all my stock quite a few quid, heads every were, just like world war 3, i found 1 on the muck pile, now i can tell you if i would have caught it that night in the trap iam sure i would have set fire to it videoed it and sent it up to rspca. ok you might think thats a bit OT, but when you`ve seen it, charlie has no sympathy with me since then ive shot loads i love to see um dead we just only see eye to eye once. R.I. NO. P. MATE YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT TRY TELLING ALL THEM TOWNIES-ANTIS Edited April 4, 2010 by abiteachuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heladoxa Posted April 4, 2010 Report Share Posted April 4, 2010 I've got plans if you want to live trap it. Then you can shoot it of flush it down the loo or something Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam f Posted April 5, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Looking this morning it looks like a couple got out of the pen, but whilst the skinny black tails can get back in, the fat fluffy Orpington couldnt - and fell to an oppertunistic fox. We live very rural backing on to farmland on 3 sides, so I'm not niave to foxes, I'm fact I have permission on the fields and often spot foxes whilst out lamping. If anyone has got plans for a trap it would be appreciated. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 (edited) I haven't got any plans to post but traps are not that difficult to make. In the simplest form a wooden cage covered with mesh and a device to cause the door to shut fast when a plate is stood on or the bait is pulled. Commercial traps are a bit on the small side usually because they have to be. Foxes are a lot less wary of them if they are a bit more spacious. Have a look at a couple of commercial traps on various websites and you will soon get an idea for a mechanism. Edited April 5, 2010 by Vince Green Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danddo Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 Know exactly how you feel, about 6 months ago lost 6 chickens, charlie in question has since paid the price though, made me feel a little better, hope you get him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 (edited) I have to say it Adam, if you keep poultry (Especially Free Range) and live enywhere near the country there is no such thing as being "relaxed" towards foxes, they WILL strike sooner or later. In my opinion for anyone that keeps poultry or small livestock the only good fox is a dead one! Get out there and sort the thieving little critter out and pretty soon mate cos there will almost certainly be cubs soon and that means there will be even more hungry thieving little mouths to feed! p.s. Here's a thought - If all of those "Tree Huggers" and "Fox Befrienders and Feeders" kept free range poultry in their gardens and the fox got in and killed the lot I wonder what they would think then? Would they still go round saying "Oh aren't they cute and harmless sweet little things, how can anyone kill or hurt them"? :o Edited April 5, 2010 by Frenchieboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 first things first make sure your pen is fox proof and make sure they are in when you're not about. Thats the most effective way of stopping it happening as this fox will be back till you sort it out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchieboy Posted April 5, 2010 Report Share Posted April 5, 2010 first things first make sure your pen is fox proof and make sure they are in when you're not about. Thats the most effective way of stopping it happening as this fox will be back till you sort it out Spot on advice mate! As has just been said "He WILL be back, and he will keep coming back till you sort it out or have nothing left for him to eat!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam f Posted April 29, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 Sadly you guys were so very right.... bit of an update for you.. I had been so busy early April, and then we went away last week on holiday I never managed to get around to trapping him - kind of forgot all about it. Had a text from the neighbour who was looking after the chickens, on the last night of our holiday yesterday (got back today) telling me a fox broke into the run on Friday night and killed the whole brood..... a masacre, she was so upset bless her. Looks like the crafty blighter managed to break one of the shiplap boards off the run and got in that way - amazing - just a 4" gap... he killed the lot and took just one. Making a trap tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imperfection Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 Shame you got hit again,but in a way i do admire the fox for its ingenuity despite loosing hens to one also.Might be an idea to screw all the shiplap down instead of nails and perhaps attach mesh to the inside of coop as a final defence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vince Green Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 Foxes don't have a reputation for cunning for nothing. A few years back a fox got my kids pet rabbit by opening the latch on the door of the hutch. Devious little creatures. He paid the price for it though, thats when I built my first trap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joke209061 Posted April 29, 2010 Report Share Posted April 29, 2010 I built a trap a while back, just made a 70x50x100 cm frame, wire mesh all bar one end, secured with cable ties. On the 'open' end i made runners and a drop door, peg the door in the up position with string running over the top of the box and down the back into a chicken carcass. Fox enters pulls chicken, peg releases and door falls shut. Caught one with it and havent used it since, If you have cause to be in Reading Berkshire, you can have it. http://forums.pigeonwatch.co.uk/forums/ind...amp;hl=fox+trap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the running man Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 U built a trap that's good idea I mite copy that,u never patented it did u? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joke209061 Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 U built a trap that's good idea I mite copy that,u never patented it did u? I know its not a professional job, it works fine though. Thanks for your warm heartfelt praise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ads03ads Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Take revenge, eat his cubs and see how he likes it I'm sorry to hear you're having such problems but unfortunately poultry and foxes don't mix the need to be kept apart! It can become an obsession though so be warned. I've shot six foxes in the last month trying to get at my chickens, keep up the offensive and it'll pay off. Best of luck with it Ads Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stirky Posted April 30, 2010 Report Share Posted April 30, 2010 Look on the bright side, at least the cubs will be well fed and sleeping snug today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garyb Posted May 5, 2010 Report Share Posted May 5, 2010 Caught a big fox sniffing round the girlfriends pet ducks at 22:30 last night... Going to set a live catch trap tonight and see if he pays another visit - She already knows to expect the worst Other than that, I plan to bait and shoot with my .22lr from the bedroom window. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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