Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.

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joyfull

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #360 on: November 14, 2011, 11:33 »
really the only thing you can do is to buy an electric fence - now the fox knows where there is a source of food it will be back  :(
Staffies are softer than you think.

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bygrace

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #361 on: November 15, 2011, 10:00 »
So sorry to hear about this mummyeagle. It must have been awful.
This is something I dread, and I feel so sorry for my girls when I only let them out if I'm actually in the garden with them. They gather excitedly by the gate to their enclosure when they see me - "sorry girlies, I'm only on my way to the compost heap and can't let you out  :( "

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Craigx

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #362 on: November 18, 2011, 19:37 »
id do what ever i have to to protect my birds if the fox gets hurt so be it thats life it 1 life vs 14 lives no contest im affraid

Hey.

So iv been reading every page in this discussion (madness i know, all 25 pages!), This is the post that strikes me as ideal(sofar), they cannot really protect them selfs, but we can protect them!

Craig
My wife, The kids, Coco the dog, Abunch of hens,

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Lewjam

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #363 on: November 21, 2011, 08:07 »
Craig,

The point that’s missed there - is that killing the fox won’t make a long-term difference.  Don’t get me wrong either, this is from a protection of hens point of view rather then an ethical stance against killing foxes.

If you kill the fox, another will take its territory, come into your garden and take your hens as they are not in a fox proof enclosure.

Only way to successfully protect your hens from a fox, is to make your run fox proof.
I hate signatures but love irony

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mummyeagle

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #364 on: November 26, 2011, 11:01 »
thanks bygrace. i now have the same thing-every time i go outside the hens go ballistic and want to get out. i try and let them out for an hour at least but only when i am right next to them. getting tricky now weather is getting worse and not so many jobs to do in the garden!

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bygrace

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #365 on: November 26, 2011, 12:37 »
thanks bygrace. i now have the same thing-every time i go outside the hens go ballistic and want to get out. i try and let them out for an hour at least but only when i am right next to them. getting tricky now weather is getting worse and not so many jobs to do in the garden!
Plenty of jobs to do, but so coooold and wet and windy!

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Craigx

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #366 on: November 28, 2011, 00:05 »
Craig,

The point that’s missed there - is that killing the fox won’t make a long-term difference.  Don’t get me wrong either, this is from a protection of hens point of view rather then an ethical stance against killing foxes.

If you kill the fox, another will take its territory, come into your garden and take your hens as they are not in a fox proof enclosure.

Only way to successfully protect your hens from a fox, is to make your run fox proof.



Oh yeah, i know, but i agree with what he/she is saying, thats all lol,

Craig

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pepsi100

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #367 on: December 10, 2011, 11:16 »
Well, ethical or not, I shot the last fox that came into my garden looking for a 'free lunch'

I dont have a problem with foxes raking out the bins, but they leave my hens alone, okay my hens are locked away at nigght, they have a scratch around in the garden for a few hours, then I put em in the run

I treat the fox as a trespasser, I know that if he does decided to drop in while the hens are in the garden he will have a 'snack' I put a stop straight away, and he gets a welcome to 'dustbin heaven'

The 'do gooders' have no idea of the havoc and death these vermin can cause in a run, so I dont really take any notice of their opinions

Councils dont/cant control the fox population, so its up to the individual to do it, anyway they can, just doing my bit ;)
It's all about the journey, not the destination

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nerdle

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #368 on: December 11, 2011, 08:48 »
Pepsi

Supermarket eggs/chicken is cheap so why do you keep chickens?  Are you too poor to buy food at Asda?

I suspect you keep them for pleasure like most people.  The fox isn't doing this for pleasure - he's hungry and has no choice.  Is he supposed to know that they are yours and he may not have them?

I treasure our wildlife (what's left of it).  The spread of the urban fox results from our wastefulness of food - the responsibility is ours. I love to see foxes and hope they never go away.

If you want to pleasure of chickens protect them.  Live and let live.
One grandma and 4 baby Pekins.

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pepsi100

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #369 on: December 11, 2011, 09:05 »
Pepsi

Supermarket eggs/chicken is cheap so why do you keep chickens?  Are you too poor to buy food at Asda?

I suspect you keep them for pleasure like most people.  The fox isn't doing this for pleasure - he's hungry and has no choice.  Is he supposed to know that they are yours and he may not have them?

I treasure our wildlife (what's left of it).  The spread of the urban fox results from our wastefulness of food - the responsibility is ours. I love to see foxes and hope they never go away.

If you want to pleasure of chickens protect them.  Live and let live.



I dont use Asda

I have no problem with any wildlife, but foxes are vermin, same as rats and mice, as they are wild life do I let them run amok in the hen house ?

The foxes I have shot have been mange ridden, chances are they would spread disease, if they want food, the bins are full of it

My chickens are protected, I have lost hens to foxes before, there is nothing nice about a fox in a  hen house, they dont just kill one, they wipe out everything

Its not just hens I lost, they ripped out the hutches for my kids rabbits, killed the lot, YOU TRY TELLING KIDS that is not wrong for a fox to kill their pet rabbits

As long as I am able and have my hens, I will dispatch any foxes that come into my garden, I will put poison  down to kill rats, and other vermin

So you crack on watching the wild life

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nerdle

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #370 on: December 11, 2011, 09:46 »
I suggest you fox proof properly and not impose more anguish on your children.

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pepsi100

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #371 on: December 11, 2011, 09:54 »
I suggest you fox proof properly and not impose more anguish on your children.

My hens are fine, the run is fox proof, but if a fox comes into the garden they set up a din, they dont know the fox cant get in, I ensure he doesnt

They are dispathed with a single round, they dont suffer, they are introduced to a dustbin

I have 2 hedgehogs hibernating in my garden at the moment, under a compost bin, that is the type of wildlife that thrives in my garden, not vermin like rats, foxes, mice

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joyfull

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #372 on: December 11, 2011, 10:13 »
please can we keep this topic friendly and full of information regarding how best to prevent a fox getting in to kill your birds - by this we mean secure ways of fencing e.g digging down with your mesh, electric fencing etc. Shooting is not always the answer - not everybody is able to aim accurately which leaves an animal to have a slow painful death. Also please remember that even for an air rifle you now need a license, the law doesn't differentiate between those and any other more powerful gun.

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pepsi100

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #373 on: December 11, 2011, 10:27 »
Thank you joyful, I have a licence for my weapon, I user it responsably, I hit what I am aiming at

I store my weapon securely, I have regular security checks from the police

I shoot rabbits and foxes at a major airport (they used to use myxmatosis to control the rabbits, not a nice way for any animal to go)

On the subject of my hens and their run, I have dug down 18 inches with wire netting, I have a wire frome around the run, they are as secure as I can make them

BUT as the councils are powerless to control the fox population,(if they do, it will be with poison, thats a nice harmless way to go)

I have to do what I can within the law, which I have done, it may not be suitable for everyone, though

Foxes are classed as vermin

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hillfooter

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Re: Fox Attacks Warning. It's that time of year again.
« Reply #374 on: December 13, 2011, 00:22 »
................ Also please remember that even for an air rifle you now need a license, the law doesn't differentiate between those and any other more powerful gun.

Hi Joy,

I'm not sure the above is true, you don't need a licence for an air rifle provided it is below the legal Fire Arms Certificate limit which is 12ftlbs of energy.  Most air rifles used for target shooting  and all air rifles offered for sale new online are below the FAC limit.  

However there is no distinction in law between offenses committed with an air rifle and ones committed with a more powerful licenced rifle.  So for example if you threaten or shoot someone with an low power air rifle or an AK-47, the law makes no distinction and both theoretically could carry the same penalty.

If you use an air rifle to control vermin (and I'm not in any way suggesting that Pepsi100 is using an air rifle) you are as with any firearm required to be responsible in how you use it and where you use it and you should know what the suitable quarry for the power of rifle you use is.  Foxes aren't suitable quary for any air rifle.  The following mammal vermin are, brown rats, grey squirrels, stoats, mink and rabbits.  

The BASC provides further guidance on the use of air rifles.

HF
« Last Edit: December 13, 2011, 01:48 by hillfooter »
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