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Helen
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27-06-2011, 02:21 PM
Having a fox get into a pheasant pen I was looking after, when I had done everything I could to prevent it, and finding 75% of the poults dead, was not a nice experience.

Also, being involved in a large study about predator control, upland waders and grouse, I have seen with my own eyes what happens when foxes are allowed to occur.

Helen
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Velvetboxers
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27-06-2011, 04:18 PM
Not pretty sight. Slightly off topic nor was it nice the rabbit hutch that was trashed by a neighbours dog & the poor bunny that didnt stand a chance

Im sure the original poster has already reinforced their run/pen/coop. Just awful it happened to them & their chickens
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musky
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28-06-2011, 01:22 PM
I would like to apologise to wording this post incorrectly, I'm also sorry that some of you have found my personal opinions to be somewhat annoying.

I have always made an effort to keep my animals safe, as I said I have lost four chickens in 10 years of keeping them, and one of them was taken by a dog,
I am quite aware about foxes, I wrote this post because I was upset to lose one of my chucks, I live and have lived the majority of my life in rural locations, but still find all the killing and cruelty hard to stomach.
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Steve
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28-06-2011, 07:12 PM
Do bear in mind also that Badgers kill hens too,but tend to attack them when they're roosting in the coop.They can tear a timber coop apart like its made from tissue paper so always make sure its firmly screwed together and avoid nails as they work themselves loose in time.

There is an electronic device said to deter foxes.
http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/foxwatch-p-1722.html
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Gnasher
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28-06-2011, 10:24 PM
"Who said it wasnt? Killing for pleasure in humans isnt in our nature at all, why on earth you would say that is beyond me, its a CHOICE. A choice like subjecting your dog to electric shocks because you cant be bothered to put in a bit of effort, no more in your nature either Im afraid, your choice too."

Dawn, if you read my post again you will see that I was not implying that killing for fun was in human nature. I actually said that it is fox's nature to kill for pleasure ... just like some humans kill for pleasure. There is a difference.

Actually, I am inaccurate in that I don't believe foxes kill for pleasure ... they will slaughter a whole coop of chickens and will keep coming back to drag away the bodies, and bury them, just like dogs will bury a bone. But frequently they are disturbed before they have had a chance to drag away all the bodies.

As for your remark about electric shocks, that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the subject in question. We are talking about problems with foxes here ... although a simple and cheap electric fence will keep them away!
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Gnasher
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28-06-2011, 10:27 PM
Quote from Dawn:

"Rubbish. READ the title " A Fox PROBLEM" does problem mean something other than that to you?"

Yes, because I don't believe we should consider foxes to be "a problem". They are only trying to survive in the way that they know how ... by finding the easiest (for humans read cheapest) meal that they can, by expending the least effort (for us, sourcing the cheapest supermarket).
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Borderdawn
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28-06-2011, 11:50 PM
Originally Posted by Gnasher View Post
"Who said it wasnt? Killing for pleasure in humans isnt in our nature at all, why on earth you would say that is beyond me, its a CHOICE. A choice like subjecting your dog to electric shocks because you cant be bothered to put in a bit of effort, no more in your nature either Im afraid, your choice too."

Dawn, if you read my post again you will see that I was not implying that killing for fun was in human nature. I actually said that it is fox's nature to kill for pleasure ... just like some humans kill for pleasure. There is a difference.

Actually, I am inaccurate in that I don't believe foxes kill for pleasure ... they will slaughter a whole coop of chickens and will keep coming back to drag away the bodies, and bury them, just like dogs will bury a bone. But frequently they are disturbed before they have had a chance to drag away all the bodies.

As for your remark about electric shocks, that has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the subject in question. We are talking about problems with foxes here ... although a simple and cheap electric fence will keep them away!
Never does does it Gnasher, still it certainly was YOUR choice to purposely inflict pain and suffering on your own pet dog. That to me is truly disgraceful on every level.

Weird though, when the farmer behind the kennels erected an electric fence he still had Lambs dragged out of lambing Ewes, and a few taken, ripped up, one beheaded etc.. im wondering how on earth these "clever, smart, wily" etc.. creatures managed to get past such an obstacle!

Originally Posted by Gnasher View Post
Quote from Dawn:

"Rubbish. READ the title " A Fox PROBLEM" does problem mean something other than that to you?"

Yes, because I don't believe we should consider foxes to be "a problem". They are only trying to survive in the way that they know how ... by finding the easiest (for humans read cheapest) meal that they can, by expending the least effort (for us, sourcing the cheapest supermarket).
Thats the thing with opinions, we all have them.
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Azz
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29-06-2011, 12:31 AM
Just because something's a problem doesn't mean you have to kill it

Stupid people are a 'problem' but we don't suggest killing them

Anyway, back to the topic - I agree with all the humane advice, try to figure out a way to keep them out or your chickens safe. Strong fences with wobbly tops sounds like a good idea to me
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Gnasher
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29-06-2011, 09:18 AM
Originally Posted by Borderdawn View Post
Never does does it Gnasher, still it certainly was YOUR choice to purposely inflict pain and suffering on your own pet dog. That to me is truly disgraceful on every level.

Weird though, when the farmer behind the kennels erected an electric fence he still had Lambs dragged out of lambing Ewes, and a few taken, ripped up, one beheaded etc.. im wondering how on earth these "clever, smart, wily" etc.. creatures managed to get past such an obstacle!

Thats the thing with opinions, we all have them.
I can only go on my experience Dawn - we bought a house up near Chester that had a large duckpond in the garden with several species of breeding pairs on it. The people we bought from had lost many ducks to foxes, and in the end resorted to a simple boundary fence of tennis court-type chain link fencing with a wire running round the top. Fox problem ended, they never suffered any more losses, and neither did we.

I am not a farmer, I can only quote from my own experience. Clearly the farmer's electric fence had a big enough gap between the electrified wire and the ground to allow a fox to slip through.

Horrible as it is ... I am fully aware of what vicious killers foxes are ... and how ghastly it is to find the bloody remains of Reynard's kill (my uncle was a chicken farmer, so I know what I am talking about) ... I still defend the fox in that he is seeing an easy meal. To call them vicious killers is actually wrong, it is humanising them. If a human being did what foxes do then they would indeed be vicious killers, but the fox knows no better.

That is not to say that I would condemn a farmer for sitting up with a shotgun at night to defend his livestock. I just dislike the way you try to portray foxes as vermin and slaughterers of innocent lamkins, when you yourself freely admit to going lamping ... for fun, for sport.
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angied
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29-06-2011, 09:34 AM
we must have the thickest fox around here last year i heard him watched out of my window (my chooks where all locked up safely) and watched him go in all 8 gardens in the rd except for mine!!and im the only one with hens!maybe it was the smell of dog wee that put him off coming into back garden?
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