Saw a fox at 10am last Tuesday and it changed my whole free-range routine

I let my girls out around 8 every morning and never had trouble. But last Tuesday I was refilling the feeder around 10am and spotted a fox just standing at the edge of the yard, staring at the coop. Bold as anything in broad daylight. I always thought they only hunted at dawn or dusk. Now I'm keeping them penned until noon at least. Has anyone else had predators show up at odd times like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

brookepark1mo ago

Maybe it was just a one off, foxes wander through my yard all the time without trouble.

the_nina1mo ago

My friend Sarah had a fox that kept coming around her chicken coop last spring. She thought it was just passing through like yours, no big deal. Then one morning she found feathers everywhere and three of her hens gone, just like that. Turns out that same fox had been scoping out the place for weeks, coming back at different times to learn their routine. Now she locks those birds up tighter than Fort Knox at night.

ross.river1mo ago

@the_nina so her fox was basically casing the joint for weeks before it struck? How long did it take your friend to realize it wasn't just a random visitor?