Will a dog keep foxes away from chickens?

[OverWyreGrower]

We're making some space in our garden for chickens. They'll have a fenced in part of the garden (about 10sq m) plus an enclosed run and ark.

We live in a rural area, and several people near us keep chickens.

One old guy near us has said that because we have a dog, the scent of him (e.g. wee etc) will keep foxes away? Is this true?

Max likes to watch our neighbours chickens (from the other side of a fence) and he wouldn't be allowed in with ours (obviously) but it would be good if the scent of him keeps foxes away!

[NEWTO THE PLOT]

not in my expierence ow I have 3 dogs and the fox's still visit my garden at night and I don't even have chickens to intice them

[Birdie Wife]

Hi OWG,

The close smell of humans is supposed to deter foxes. I have heard that you can hang small bags of human hair around the run area, the fox can smell the oils in the hair and stay away. I don't think it's foolproof but it would make them think twice.

[Alice]

Hello OWG, no, in my experience the smell of dogs does not keep foxes away. The only thing that will keep your chickens safe is a fox proof fence.

[OverWyreGrower]

Flippin' old wives tales!

I knew it was too good to be true!

Sadly, this means more work for Mr OWG, in sinking some wire a few feet into the ground, plus the stock fencing

[Birdie Wife]

Hi OWG,

Our chickens are in a non-enclosed run, but we shut them into the secure house each night and let them out in the morning. This might be less work than sinking a fence, especially as the wire will rot in the ground and need to be replaced in 4-5 years time anyway?

[OverWyreGrower]

We're planning a 10sq m enclosed area (stock fence and wooden posts) where the chickens will be during the day

They'll have a secure wooden ark for night times etc.

The only thing I'm worried about is that we're out during the day, so won't be able to check on them etc until tea time.

[Birdie Wife]

Other people may have different experiences, but foxes usually only come out after dusk and up here we haven't had any problems with letting the chickens roam where they will during the day. I live next to a farm, lots of sheep and plenty of fox signs, but after all I suppose the local keeper shoots them anyway. Foxes in more urban situations may be less cautious maybe.

[serenity]

I live in an urban area and have chickens which are in a fully enclosed area including mesh on the roof. We did have an instance recently when my husband spotted a fox tring to dig down to get into the greenhouse as we had placed the rabbit hutch in there overwinter to keep out of the worst of the weather. He didn't suceed as there is a solid concrete floor in there but did make a mess

I have been told that if a man unrinates around the perimeter of the garden then this will deter foxes but don't know if it will keep a hungry fox away.

[Alice]

Foxes might adopt different behaviour patterns in different areas, but here, we're semi rural and not dealing with urban foxes, I frequently see the fox in daylight hours. He's not too bothered about us either. If he sees me, he walks side on to me and keeps his eye firmly on me, but he doesn't scarper. So I don't think he would be too bothered if someone had peed about the place. If I had chickens out there, I think their life expectancy would be about 2 minutes.