Sooo much pooping

[Mr Rhode Island Red]

Last night (11pm) I heard a loud screech that would lead me to believe someone was being murdered nearby. I opened a window to clarify that it was a fox calling, not somebody being killed

 

Then as I turned to walk away, saw a fox at the front porch window.

 

The hens were in their house (Phew!) and the fox eventually just strolled away.

 

I have 2 questions:

 

Why was there a fox right outside my doorstep? I thought they were petrified of humans and their settlements...

 

And secondly, do foxes attack during the day? I am just concerned because now I know that there has to be a fox or two dwelling nearby my house.

 

Thanks,

 

Mr RIR

[wannabe smallholder]

Hi. Not sure what type of environment you live in and what kind of fox you have. But judging by stories on here about fox attacks it is possible that your chickens could be at risk during the day, especially if the weather turns and food becomes harder to find. Urban foxes don't seem to care about humans and appear to thrive in human environments. I'm sure someone with more foxy knowledge will be along soon. Xx

[TAJ]

I have seen foxes in my garden during the day - where chickens are concerned they will not be fussy about time of day!

 

Tracy

[Egluntyne]

Yes they attack during the day.

[Snowy]

Urban foxes tend to have no fear of humans so you will see them in and around gardens in daytime. In rural areas, it depends on the area - we are in the middle of hunt country (or we were) so they tend to keep away from our village - I haven't seen one in daylight for nearly 20 years. 5 miles up the road, on the edge of Leicester, my friends get foxes in their gardens at all times of day and night.

[Mrs_B]

Sadly my neighbour didn't think foxes came out during the day and only at night - so he let his chooks FR in the morning whilst he popped out to work...needless to say what he came home to at lunchtime wasn't a very pleasant sight as the fox only took one of his chickens and killed the rest

 

If a fox wants a chicken it'll come out any time of day to get it!

 

x

[mikk100]

After 3 years of no sign of a fox I had no thoughts about letting my hens out in the garden for short periods unattended. In May after some poor weather when they had been in their run for weeks I decided to let them out for 45 mins sunshine whilst I watched half of a football match at the pub just across the road, I popped back at half time to lock them up and found a fox sitting in my garden looking at me. It didn't immediately dawn on me and my first thought was 'oh how cute, a fox'. She ran off and I found one of my hens tangled up in the chicken netting, when I cut her free and picked her up she just died straight away in my hands, presumably of shock as she wasn't visibly injured. It appeared the fox had come back to get her as my other 5 were nowhere to be seen although I could identify the precise location at which each had been taken by the mass of different coloured feathers left behind, it appears two had even gone up into the eglu and there was blood splattered about inside there. I'm telling you this because it was so upsetting and I had literally had no sign of a fox in all that time beforehand, she was so quick to do all that in 45 minutes and I assume was feeding cubs since she did at least take the hens away. I have only just this week restocked my hen house and won't be making the same mistake ever again.

[mrsatroy]

That's a really terrible story, and so awful to ahppen so quickyl during the day I have an area of my garden fenced off with Omlet Netting into hwich I let the girls during the day when we are at home. If I know there will be no one home they have to stay put in the cube run (+1 extension but hoping for another from Santa Claus!) We live in a rural area and I know there are foxes about - but I've only seen them at night or at dawn. However I am concious that they could easily jump the low netting and wipe out my poor girls. I do keep a regular eye on them when they are out in their area but these things can happen so fast!

[Mr Rhode Island Red]

I am living in a largely rural area. To be honest, the fox I saw at my front porch was only the 4th or 5th fox I have seen around the area in living here for 14 years.

 

As protection goes, the hens are let free range for about 8am to about 7.30pm (this time of year) in a walk-in-run-ish setup with a 1 metre high fence running the whole way around. There are usually a few sheep or cattle in the field beside the hens for most of the year (if they provide any protection?)

 

The only time I saw a fox near my hens was in Spring of this year. I had seen the fox get hit by a truck on the road, and then the fox comes limping/skipping/hopping into my field in a very disorientated fashion. He just ran around in circles for one or two minutes before collapsing and dying.

[cheekymonkey68]

Mr fox is definitely around during the day regardless of where you are... Im ruralish and I had a Mr. Fox at 10 am on a Saturday strolling down my drive and past the front door as bold as brass.

I have installed electric fencing, which I keep on night and day, and this has deterred any further day time visits, together with my latest addition to the family, a Patterdale Terrier...we wont be having an issue any more me thinks!

Please dont leave your hens alone in the garden just in case.

[FatJasper]

In my experience foxes have a rather good memory. We lost all of our first chickens whilst we were living with my parents in a semi-rural local with farmland on two sides. We used to get let the chooks FR all day until 1 got taken at around 7am. We were then slightly more vigilant and only let them out during 'core' hours when there were people around the house and garden and we thought that was fine. One day (this was in June) we got home at 4pm after being out all day with the two remaining chooks in the run all day and we let them out. It was throwing it down with rain and pretty grotty weather so we were inside the house and not in the garden but when I realised at about 5.30pm that I hadn't seen them for a while I eventually discovered fox-related carnage in the field at the back Once Mr Fox figured out that there were free chicken dinners to be had, he kept coming back. The replacement 3 chickens were confined to the Eglu and run and one evening in Jul/Aug around 7pm I stood by the window 3 feet from the run watching Mr Fox run rings round the run, jump up and down on top of it and try to get it. Me shouting at him did not deter him and I had to physically go outside and flap at him to make him go away. I would be very very careful and either limit FR'ing to when you are home and can closely supervise or invest in some electric fencing.