Mystery solved....maybe!

Living Skies · #1 12/01/12, 03:44 PM

About a month ago now we got home slightly later than usual, still wasn't quite dark though and while on the way to the coop to check eggs found the yard was covered in feathers. We figured 4 birds were taken, one we found it's head but everything else was mostly just feathers. Our birds had just free ranged till that point and it was our first loss to predators, we had expected it at some point but still sucks when it happens.

At first we thought maybe our new LGD had done the deed but we had observed her for a long time before leaving her unsupervised with them and from day one she never even looked at them funny. They would be inches from her face while she slept and not a budge so it seemed unlikely, we also noticed the chickens still didn't spook when she was around after the attack. What we had noticed was a strong smell of skunk that day and it was close to the coop, we set traps out for the next week thinking it had to be the culprit but only ended up with cats..lol.

Fast forward a couple weeks and we were packing up very early one morning to take some birds to auction and one managed to escape, in a hurry and it not being an easy one to catch we left it out for the day. You guessed it, came home to a pile of feathers again. Ever since it's been real cold so the birds have been coop bound and no chance of any more attacks.

Well just an hour ago I was walking past the kitchen window and could swear I saw something laying on the bales at the edge of the yard, got the camera out with zoom lens and sure enough a beautiful red fox. Snuck out and got to about 30 yards, it was sound asleep and dead to the world until the sound of the camera.

Mystery solved....maybe! - Poultry

Wasn't quite sure what to make of us at first.

Mystery solved....maybe! - Poultry

Definitely a likely culprit me thinks. I knew I saw fox tracks in the snow right by the coop the other night and was sure this was a fox and not a yote on my game cam last week....

Mystery solved....maybe! - Poultry

Looks like this one is living between the bales right at the yard, I asked my wife if she wanted me to shoot it....so far she's conflicted, worried about her birds but she loves wildlife.

farmerstac · #2 12/01/12, 03:59 PM

Sorry for your loss. Get some traps out and take care of the problem. Now that he has found chicken dinner he won't leave till they are all gone or your dog get a hold of him.

Living Skies · #3 12/01/12, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by farmerstac

Sorry for your loss. Get some traps out and take care of the problem. Now that he has found chicken dinner he won't leave till they are all gone or your dog get a hold of him.

Thanks. I could have easily shot it today and if it keeps up it's habit of sleeping on the bales it won't make it much of a challenge getting it. Right now neither of us are worried about it as the coop has a cement foundation and is a solid building, no chance it can get at the birds and they don't come out now we are into the -20 temps.

Plan is for a 6' fenced in yard for them in the spring with electric at top and bottom. I've explained to her that this thing will always be at her birds and she knows it but is just as much a nature lover as farmer so she wanted me to leave it be for now. If it was a yote it would have been toast, they are everywhere out here and she's not so fond of them...lol.

CJBegins · #4 12/01/12, 04:23 PM

Sorry about your losses but those pictures are beautiful!

LFRJ · #5 12/01/12, 05:09 PM

I think foxes are so cool, but thankful we don't have a problem with them. The coyotes and the raptors are bad enough. Not as picturesque though. Thanks for sharing. Sorry you'll have to tangle with such a beautiful critter.

TamiJoyFarm · #6 12/01/12, 09:06 PM

Perhaps your LGD will take care of the deed for you!

Living Skies · #7 12/01/12, 09:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TamiJoyFarm

Perhaps your LGD will take care of the deed for you!

Most likely yes, she's just been spending the majority of her time inside with us but has shown a serious hatred of coyotes. Came to us pregnant and due to have pups any day now.

mammabooh · #8 12/02/12, 05:44 AM

Those are cool pictures! I had completely forgotten that foxes stink like skunk...can't believe I had forgotten! We had one as a "pet" when I was a kid. My grandpa had caught it in a leg trap and that leg had to be amputated. So, my dad kept it in a big dog cage out by his Beagles and fed it dog food for quite a few years. We named the fox "Stubby". Everyone who came to visit wanted to go see it and hoped to pet it...that was, until it would start barking and hissing...and the lovely aroma would overtake the area.

Good luck dealing with the fox. I'm not sure if I could shoot it unless I was hopped up on adreneline from catching it in the act or something. I have no trouble shooting coon, groundhogs, and possum, but that fox is so darned pretty!

pancho · #9 12/02/12, 09:47 AM

I found a fox pup only a few days old.
Brought it home without knowing what it really was.
I fed it on a bottle. It was 8 days later that its eyes opened.
It was about half grown before I could tell what it was.
It was a grey fox. It was an outstanding pet.
It was litter tained just like a cat. When the fox and my mother had a disagreement over some house plants it moved outside. After a year or so it finally left. Every once in a while when I was hunting it would come up to me for a petting.

TamiJoyFarm · #10 12/02/12, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pancho

I found a fox pup only a few days old.
Brought it home without knowing what it really was.
I fed it on a bottle. It was 8 days later that its eyes opened.
It was about half grown before I could tell what it was.
It was a grey fox. It was an outstanding pet.
It was litter tained just like a cat. When the fox and my mother had a disagreement over some house plants it moved outside. After a year or so it finally left. Every once in a while when I was hunting it would come up to me for a petting.

Oh, so sweet Pancho.

Blue Run Farm · #11 12/05/12, 09:25 AM

Beautiful fox! Unfortunately, my chickens were free ranged until a family of foxes found my yard this spring. Killed 5 in one day, a dozen and a half in under 2 weeks. The chickens are now confined to a 10x20 pen

We only have 7 of the original flock left out of over 2 dozen. I know for sure it was a fox because I saw one slinking around the pen a few weeks after getting them locked up. This was in broad daylight! If it hadn't been right near the road, I would have loved to have shot it. I love wildlife, but I love my livestock more. And a fox pelt would be a lovely skin if you have any interest in tanning...