If your chickens are in a bear proof enclosure why you worried about the foxes?
Rehome your dog? Doesn't sound needed and is the issue.
Rehome your dog? Doesn't sound needed and is the issue.
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You can only control your reactions. So I would report to ministry to cover your own property concerns. Keep your dog safe there. If the fox is Def trying to kill your chicken's, make them into boots or a nice hat. The ministry doesn't rat. They just say they are aware of foxes being fed. They don't return. Over and over unless they get fed. They will bring more foxes with them soon. So Def fix it now. Who cares what people think. Your protecting your own animals.This is a bit of a weird one and I'm not sure what to do
Sparing unnecessary details our neighbors refuse to stop feeding the foxes
Now I'm going to try and answer all the obvious questions in this space here.
The coop is literally bear proof. It's been tested, I know. There have not been any successful attacks since we got our LSG. Further to that, yes, and he is a natural, too good. I'll get to that in a minute. Yes I tried talking to them. Yes I called the ministry. No I did not choose to get them involved, yet, that is still very much an option. In my region we are going into winter. I live rurally. I do not want to kill any foxes.
Now. The situation is that the neighbors are attracting foxes to their house and my dog turned out to be an expert. He took to chasing away predators without even being trained. This leads him to the neighbors yard and their aggressive and perpetually tied up bigger dog. I do my absolute best to keep him in our yard. He is very responsive to recall commands. He is in no way interested in going outside the property. Unless there's a fox. Both dogs actually. LSG runs and the little one points and barks.
TLDR
Neighbors attract foxes
LSG does his job
Neighbour gets mad
Winter soon, foxes will become more of a problem
Ministry told me to give up his name and they'll investigate or I can shoot them, the foxes
1 Debating neutralizing the lot of them as they're dependant now
2 Debating giving him up and being labeled a rat in this small community. Won't do anything about the foxes
3 Left field alternative option, just saturating the area the foxes regularly come from with bear spray. May deter foxes, should stop LSG from trying to find them. Might aggravate chickens. Is perfectly legal. Still doesn't really solve the problem
What do?
And just to make it abundantly clear, my dog absolutely does not seek out their property for any reason at all. He's running off foxes. When he's called, he comes right back
If a fox comes in contact with a dog here in Georgia, the dog has to be quarantined in a state approve kennel (cement slab fenced with a roof and house) for ten days due to the rabies problem. Cost of the kennel to be built is around $1500. So it’s not only chickens in danger here, but my Border Collies as well. I had to eliminate a fox a while back because she was coming to the the yard fence trying to get to the dogs.I have a fox den on my land that I do nothing about, because the foxes are largely unable to catch my chickens. I'm aware you're in a significantly colder climate than myself, however there may still be breeds of chicken you can raise without overt concern of predation
My American Gamefowl are highly predator alert and with an LGD they have almost no concern over foxes. I've watched a fox raid on many occasions and they catch nothing. One time I even saw a broody hen attack a fox to save her babies, and they all survived without injury
I don't even think they're coming here anymore honestly. I think they're killing my neighbors chickens because they have fat, unathletic breeds and I hear dying noises over there occasionally
Consider raising tough chickens?
As much as I didn't want to hear "just build a fence" it's apparent that it actually is tge quick and dirty option. I cant really justify the other options from what I gathered from this. If I slam a few stakes in the ground and put something between them, as flimsy as it'll be it will temporarily fix the problem and buy me time. Further, it would be beneficial to see how a fence would work with the setup here so a more permanent fence can be better laid out.There are some dogs that don't respect or understand fences or are just escape artists, but they are in the minority. Thankfully, most dogs will stay inside their fence, even though they could get out if they really wanted to. The dog inside the fence should stop (most of) the foxes from coming through. It's worked well here for many years with only very few exceptions.
IMO if you own a dog you need to keep it confined to your property, no ifs, ands or buts.
It really is the best option, in the end you don't really have a fox or a neighbor problem, it's simply a dog containment problem. Personally, I wouldn't spend the time, effort and money to put up something temporary that you'll just have to take down again to put up a real fence. Four foot chicken wire or whatever is going to cost you almost as much as 48" 2 x 4 welded wire. Just a hundred foot of welded wire fencing and T-posts should only be about $200. IMO that would be money well spent to resolve the neighbor situation and give you some peace of mind.As much as I didn't want to hear "just build a fence" it's apparent that it actually is tge quick and dirty option. I cant really justify the other options from what I gathered from this. If I slam a few stakes in the ground and put something between them, as flimsy as it'll be it will temporarily fix the problem and buy me time. Further, it would be beneficial to see how a fence would work with the setup here so a more permanent fence can be better laid out.
We've had bear and coyotes try their luck out back before so maybe if I see where they break in from it will help design a better system
The state exaggerates everything for a reason to involve itself in private business and steal money from citizens. If rabies was a genuine issue then foxes would be extinct because it's a virus with 100% lethalityIf a fox comes in contact with a dog here in Georgia, the dog has to be quarantined in a state approve kennel (cement slab fenced with a roof and house) for ten days due to the rabies problem. Cost of the kennel to be built is around $1500. So it’s not only chickens in danger here, but my Border Collies as well. I had to eliminate a fox a while back because she was coming to the the yard fence trying to get to the dogs.
Do you have a link to the law that requires that?If a fox comes in contact with a dog here in Georgia, the dog has to be quarantined in a state approve kennel (cement slab fenced with a roof and house) for ten days due to the rabies problem.
The state exaggerates everything for a reason to involve itself in private business and steal money from citizens. If rabies was a genuine issue then foxes would be extinct because it's a virus with 100% lethality
The red foxes here are beautiful and very large, and they cause zero issues. I actually heard them running around last night making their black metal shrieks. As usual they left my chickens and dogs alone, despite my chickens all sleeping outside
I would personally recommend raising tougher dog breeds if you have fox issues. Same with chicken breeds. The foxes already ate all of my stupid chickens years ago and now they can't catch anything here so they don't even try. Natural selection
Statistically speaking some people will encounter rabies but I doubt it's anywhere near as common as organizations with an incentive to lie would implyThat's all well and good if raising chickens is just a hobby. But a lot of us here prefer our "stupid" chickens that provide us with plenty of eggs and meat, making predation an ongoing concern.
You don't think rabies is a genuine issue?
My husband was bit by a rabid fox, I can assure you that it IS a very real and serious issue.
I agree, statistically the average person in the US is unlikely to come into contact with a rabid animal, but that's because we do regulate and vaccinate. Unfortunately in other parts of the world a significant number of people still die from rabies every year.Statistically speaking some people will encounter rabies but I doubt it's anywhere near as common as organizations with an incentive to lie would imply
In my long life I've only encountered a single rabid animal, a bat