These adorable kits and their mother took out over half our flock the other day. They live in the woods right in back of our house - there are a lot of woods and a) we don't have the heart do do anything to them and b) there will be more and c) they are just behaving the way foxes do. 

Given that, I'm wondering what others experiences are with protecting a flock from foxes. We are considering: 

* keeping the chickens cooped in the early spring - they will hate this but it would protect them 
* playing talk radio - apparently foxes will think humans are around and stay away. This may annoy the neighbors and doesn't sound like a bullet-proof plan anyway. 
* increasing the height of our perimeter fence to 6ft - expensive and there are some difficult boggy areas. And Is this even enough? 
* Get a herding dog - by far the kids favorite option but family-member is allergic. Can exposure over time reduce allergies? Are there hypo-allergenic dogs with a herding background? 

Any and all advice is welcome. We are very sad at the loss of our chickens, have baby chicks currently inside and don't want a repeat experience next spring. 

Protection from foxes