Fox? Fisher? Raccon?

[*Chicken Girl*]

Ok, I own a small chicken bussiness and I've been raising chickens for over 5 years now. Just recently I have been having a bad creature problem. Never before have I had this happen. I live deep in the woods, obviously a great place for wildlife that enjoy a chicken dinner everyonce in a while. I have seen a fox before, and some people have been telling me about how they have spotted a fisher cat. Now I have had problems starting about a year ago when my large labrador died. I belive that she scared these animals away from my flock. So far, whatever it...or they are...has taken well over 20 chickens.
    Not only is this fox killing my chickens, it is becoming way to brave. It came right up to my father, who was working with wood..chainsaws blarring, and it grabbed 3 chickens right in front of him.
   The last attack though, I truly don't think was a fox. It ripped the chicken wire right off the cage and went through 2 stalls, getting into where I kept my 5 month old chickens. It killed 13. Yet it didn't just take them and leave, like the fox has done multiple times. It Just seemed to have sat there and shredded the chickens untill it was done, and go figure it was all my nice show chickens.
    We have tried to trap it, shoot it, and more. Yet we are having no luck. Now we put up an electric fence all arround the pen ( in wich I have already gotten shocked once lol :P ) and it seems to be helping, yet still....any suggestions?

[beanfarmer]

Get a pitbull and train it not to eat chickens.  Doing that is easy because that behavoir has been bred into them to not bite people in a dog fight.  Put it in with the chickens.  Anything short of a bear will will be foound dead in the pen if it trys to eat chickens.  A really game pit will die rather than let something get anything it is protecting. 

[mt view farm]

the pit bull or any attack/guard dog is the best suggestion.  We live in the mountains of Virginia and constantly had predator problems- Mink, coyotes, fox, coon, skunk. etc.,  Sometimes traps work and shooting is effective but you can't sit out all the time !!  We recently got an Akbash which is very similar to the Pyrenese dogs and it has cut our losses tremendously.  We also have dogs by our chicken houses and garden.  A fox will take the prey and go eat it somewhere.  A coon or mink will kill for the fun of killing and will come back repeatedly.  You might also try setting traps where they came through the wire and you will have a good chance of catching it when it visits again.  Good luck !!!

[ridgetop]

Sounds like a damn coon to me....Maybe a skunk possum have had all them..usually fox will will take a run..Is the hole big ehough were they can take the bird out if they want??

[*Chicken Girl*]

Well we used to let the birds run arround our yard for like an hour or so when we were outside to watch them. Yet that's when the fox would come and just pick them off one by one, only leaving feathers behind. So now we don't let them run arround, or at least not untill the fox problem is done. The last time, when whatever it is took 13, it litterally just ripped the wire off the fence, the hole about a foot in diameter.

[Johnny Glades]

raccoon

[rushcreek]

Yep, I think it has to be a racoon too. He'll keep coming back to the same place to get in again. I hate em. Once they get in they will stay all night killing as many as they can. Set a live trap out for him. Then "relocate" him with a 22. Electric fence around your pens will help too.

[*Chicken Girl*]

yea we have the electric fence up...and it has been working very well...so far the only things we've caught with it is a frog..myself..lol...and a nosey nieghbor, yet no recent chicken attacks. But I was thinking I might put out one of my old very mean hens that doesn't lay anymore, and sit out there for a while, with a gun, seeing if anything comes arround. I know it sounds mean and all, and I do hate the thought of it...but still.
    Also one of my cats has been misssing for quite a while, and a few of the neighbors cat's are gone also. I've noticed a fox with a cat before on our road, so now it's just killing cats.
thanks for all the advice so far also.

[Fencerow]

We used to have terrible problems with predators getting into our chicken house which seemed secure enough to us--until we started
keeping a dog either chained to the house at night, or shut in just inside the door.  We've done this for years now, and there's never one problem as long as the dog is there.  (It doesn't have to be in with the chickens--just within sight and smell...)
FR

[Fencerow]

By the way, we do dog rescue, and have had several different kinds of dogs "guarding" the chickens.  It doesn't seem to matter whether the dog would really do anything...the presence and smell of even the smallest dog has worked for us...and we have a bad coyote problem here.  We have a little sheltie mix whose been on duty for the last year, and she wouldn't hurt a fly, but none of the predators know that!
FR

[jchiar]

sounds like a racoon

[wvgirl]

Foxes usually grab and run. If he is brave enough to stay around were humans are standing there watching him, I would be worred about rabies.  A mink or weasal usally decapate and suck in the blood . Dogs will get into chickens too.  What kind of traps did you use and what did you bait them with. Since they like chicken, I would suggest taking one of the dead ones and put in a live trap or steel trap near the pen. I used duck eggs and caught lots of things. I suggest you get another dog.

[topshot]

If the fox is grabbing feral cats all the better.  Those @$%@#$% kill more wild birds (grouse, sparrows, etc.) than anything out there.  They also are very hard on us folks trying to raise a few quail.