[Creagan]

I lost a goose to a fox this year, so looking at ways of preventing this.
Electric fence manufacturers claim that an ordinary height fence will work, so long as you have three strands at top, middle, and bottom, and so long as there are no trees or sheds near the fence which would allow the fox to jump clean over.

Just wondering if anybody could verify this, it sounds like the ideal answer!

[chrismahon]

Here they use 5 strands no more than 2 feet high. The high tensile wire is used to stop wild boar pushing through. But even at that low height foxes are deterred. However these are true rural foxes. A UK urban fox is a whole different animal and a low fence won't stop them at all. The other factor is if the power goes down -they can sense it. Really you need a fence high enough to protect even with the power down for a while, with electric fencing for extra security against prolonged digging.

[Creagan]

Thanks, that's quite encouraging. I think my foxes count as rural (on the Isle of skye).
We do experience some power cuts once or twice each winter, so I would just have to move the birds into their house for the duration, or rig up a battery backup.

[Anke]

We use electric poultry netting and make sure they are inside at dusk in the evening and let out only once properly daylight in the evening.

So far, so good...

[lord flynn]

a thing that a farmer told me about is a light called Foxlights. I haven't tried one yet as they ar £60 but he uses them at lambing time and reckons he amount of lambs he lost went down significantly-they are weather proof and can be put on fence posts etc, moved about (he has 6 of them dotted about). The light out put varies so they don't get used to it.


I will get one-have seen them in the flesh and they are really robust. Not so much help against daylight attacks mind.


http://www.foxlights.com/uk.html

[landroverroy]

 It occurs to me that if a farmer found the number of lambs he was losing was merely reduced by use of the light then it's still 100% loss of those that were actually killed. . So in the case of
poultry, eventually, even with a reduction in deaths, you are still going to end up with all your animals killed. It'll just take longer for the last ones to go.
 The reduction in deaths could have been caused by something as simple as neighbouring farmers stepping up the number of foxes that they got shot.

[Porterlauren]

Those fox lights don't work for long!

[lord flynn]

It occurs to me that if a farmer found the number of lambs he was losing was merely reduced by use of the light then it's still 100% loss of those that were actually killed. .

dont understand this at all?although he reckons he loses the same about to badgers ( if you meant that 100% of losses were due to foxes only) and so this would then help against badgers. They need moving about-I though they looked better than the pair of red lights some were selling a few years back.

The reduction in deaths could have been caused by something as simple as neighbouring farmers stepping up the number of foxes that they got shot.

maybe, unlikely where he is though.  Just a suggestion, it might help someone.

[landroverroy]

What I'm saying is that the farmer is still losing lambs. He might not lose as many, but those that he does lose are still dead. So to me the fox light isn't a lot of good unless it stops the deaths entirely, and it would seem that if you used it for poultry then you would eventually end up with them all dead.

[lord flynn]

well, he lambs outside, he accepts some losses from predators. If the lights save some then thats better than not. Obviously a light will not protect poultry by itself. It might however, put off a fox from testing out a fence that is less than adequate or convince it that there are easier pickings elsewhere. I thought it might be of interest to people who'd not seen them before.

[Rupert the bear]

pee round the fence line , mark your territory, MAKE SURE FENCE IS OFF at time of application , (in your own time .....)

[doganjo]

I have movement sensor PIR's all round my house, one is directly over where my ducks and hens were - they stay on fro about 5 minutes if there is even the slightest movement - a bit of a pain sometimes - Mr Fox still killed them all bar one.