The fox as a predator to chickens

Another great book i have read recently is ‘The Urban Hen’ by Paul Peacock which is aimed at people living in urban areas who want to keep chickens in their garden or allotment. Peacock is the editor of Home Farmer magazine so he knows his stuff. As i pointed out in my previous post Keeping chickens, electric fences and fox repellent!, it is incredibly important for anyone keeping chickens to be aware of the threat of a fox.

Peacock talks about a range of predators to hens and i’ve reprinted the section about foxes below. To read it in full, please buy The Urban Hen here.

“Foxes
The fox in the city is a sad beast. Anyone knowing the proud animal that leanly fleets around the countryside is saddened at their scavenging around the town, tipping dustbins and, in a fit of wildness, attacking chickens in gardens. He is best kept at bay with good security at the perimeter of the garden. Once they locate hens they will return time and again. Keep and eye out for signs of intrusion and, if you see any, be on the lookout to scare the fox away. Once challenged they are much more skittish and will eventually give up if challenged nightly.

We will look at this in more detail, but then hen house should not present any loose parts that give encouragement to a hard-working paw. Make sure that the run is protected by good stiff mesh capable of taking punishment from a medium-sized wild animal, that the mesh is buried a foot under the ground and that any joins in the mesh are not only overlapped, but securely wired together…”