Do foxes prowl around in the daytime?

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Jobi1234

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A bit of a silly question you may think, but as a complete beginner, I wanted to ask my more learned fowl fanciers if, in their experience, foxes roam around predating in the daylight hours?

I'm thinking of letting my girls free range in the day time in my garden which is surrounded by a 6ft high fence and secure so I'm not concerned about them getting out but should I be concerned about the possibility of predators in the day?

According to my father who worked for the housebuilder on my new estate he often saw foxes running round the fringes of the building site in the early hours, but after 8 years of living in the area I've never seen a fox (in either the day or the night) and I spend an awful lot of time walking/cycling/commuting in and around where I live at all hours of day and night.

Do you think it's relatively safe to let the girls roam free whilst I'm out at work or do most people leave them in their run until they get home from work?
 
Well, foxes could easily get over a 6ft fence, - do check whether there are any places which could give a fox a leg-up on the other side, such as a tree, a bush or other obstacle. If the house builder has seen foxes they will be around, all the more now people have moved in to the estate, and urban foxes do hunt at all times of the day, especially when feeding cubs. Unfortunately some people make the problem worse by feeding the foxes and letting them breed under sheds etc in their garden, so they become tamer and more inclined to scavenge during the day. There have been many horror stories on this forum and on others about foxes actually coming into the garden and attacking even whilst the owners were outside with the chickens, as well as people coming home to carnage. If a fox does get in, it will quickly kill all the hens, hoping to return later for one corpse at a time, and if any do manage to survive they will be severely traumatised. I'm not saying this WILL happen, you could be lucky and go for some time in safety - but the only way to give you peace of mind, in my experience, is to build a really secure run, with a roof, large enough for the girls to be happy in most of the time, (min. 2sq. metres of floor space per bird) where they will be perfectly happy whilst you are out during the day. Then you won't feel the need to rush out into the garden every time you get home, to count the hens! Also, they won't make such a mess of the garden, especially in winter when the grass stops growing and they turn everything to mud.
Yes, foxes do mainly hunt at dusk and dawn, but urban foxes are developing their own ways of finding food, and if your lovely hens are gently clucking to them in your garden when you are out, the fox will lick his lips and soon find them out. Do remember also that although its light now when you get home from work, in the depth of winter your girls will go to roost at sundown, 3.30, so the danger period will probably be whilst you are still at work. Paradoxically, those of us who live in the country are often safer from foxes, because the local farmers and gamekeepers may be keeping them under control quite effectively, and also the foxes themselves won't have learned the scavenging habits of urban foxes and may have more caution when near to humans.
 
Really appreciate your feedback their Marigold, lots of common sense advice. I'm agreeing with you that the only way to go is to build a covered run that way the girls are safe and I have peace of mind, I'd hate anything to happen to them due to my misguided sense of what may be best for them. I'm guessing it's not just foxes that would have a go at them if they were left free ranging, perhaps cats too? I think foxes are beautiful creatures, I just don't want Mr Fox to get his mucky mitts on my lovely ladies so will heed your advice.
 
We live in town in what you might call 'back to backs' and so Mr & Mrs Fox would have to go well off the beaten track, across several garden walls and fences to get in. But if the ducks and geese on the river were not more tempting I'm sure we would have a visit sooner or later. We also have a dog and no cat enters the garden but the chickens chase the dog!
I think hens are too big for a cat but even in our situation, I have double wired the coop for overnight and stood it on slabs.
Winter is on the way and Foxy will be on the lookout!
 
You can bet they do Jobi1234. Just heard of a daylight massacre by 4 urban foxes that ripped through the tie wraps holding chicken wire to a steel frame and killed all the chickens in the run. Got through several gardens to get to their meal, just as one did to ours. It's just a matter of time if you leave them unsecured at any time- even if you are in.
 
Lost yet another chicken late yesterday morning, one of my old, old (retired) girls was wandering in the garden having a lovely time. By the time I realised the other the girls were on their toes and "BOK" "BOK" BOKKING" it was too late.
So yes, he can beat you even when you are out on the garden and on the alert. Never let your girls out of your sight if they are on the loose.
 
Then again, talking to a friend today who keeps a flock of 20 (thereabouts) on a farm. I asked if she ever had fox trouble and never has, even though she knows they have a den within 50 yards of the coop! We concluded that the rabbits were just easier and plentiful.
 
The thing is you can easily go for years without any issues, but once you've had a fox visit and take your birds it may never end. I think I had 5 or 6 fox free years (semi-rural, there were a few foxes about) but then a neighbour lost hers to a fox that got into the henhouse and shortly afterwards I lost a breeding quad group in an electric pen. I got rid of the problem that time, but of course they breed and new animals take over the territory. Since then I've disturbed a fox in broad daylight with a hen in its mouth, and I've had cubs playing in the garden in the day with me also there :shock: You can never let your guard down, they do hunt in the day, and just because you've never seen one or lost any stock it doesn't mean they aren't there or that they won't attack. Its much worse in a suburban/urban environment. When I lived in a city about 15 years ago (not with chooks then) foxes would regularly scale about 15 walls and fences (all the gardens were back to back)on their nightly wanderings and one took to sleeping in our garden, under a bench. It didn't move when I was digging the veg patch about 10 ft away, and on sunny days it would go to the sunny patch in the middle of the lawn and sunbathe there :shock: I think any of us that have had to deal with the aftermath of a fox attack would tell you that there is no substitute for prevention and vigilance all the time. Its a shame, because there is no better sight than chickens on the range, but the buck stops with us, their owners.
 
Reading all these posts with interest & taking heed! Where I used to live in a town I had my first little flock decimated by a fox attack & have been very cautious ever since. Now in the country (3 weeks!) am still cautious but we can all become complacent. Hoping the very large flock of wild ducks & geese in the neighbours garden will provide an easier meal for Mr F & he'll give my 4 girls a wide berth.
 
I'd like to think that, Lucylou, but as you say, don't get complacent. The presence of other prey may actually attract more foxes to the area, and domestic chickens can't usually fly as easily as wild ducks and geese so are sitting targets, more vulnerable to attack. There's safety in numbers for the wild birds, too - in a flock of ducks or geese, one or two nay be taken but the rest have room to take off and get away, not like chickens in a garden.
Think like a fox - which would seem the easier meal, given a choice?
 
One of our hens was taken in the middle of the day while there were people around (our friends had the chickens free ranging while we were away), and another was almost gotten as well. It was definitelly a fox as it got caught prancing around the garden with the second hen in its mouth when it came back for seconds. That was a couple of years ago and the fox has only been back twice since then (the second hen from the first visit recovered quickly and none were taken on the more recent visits).

Our hens always get locked up if they are going to be out of our sight, but a friend of ours leaves hers out. She reckons that the fox won't come because she has a male dog which leaves droppings up the end of the garden, but I'd personally still prefer to lock them up unless the dog was actually out in the garden with the chickens.

All of our neighbour's chickens got taken three times, but all three visits were at night and none of the chickens were locked up properly (two times from unsecure, make-shift coops and once when they'd been left out).

It seems to help a lot to have good security and lock up practices, but I doubt that even that would stop a determined fox.
 
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