Yesterday was a very close call and everyone is OK, but I'll start at the beginning.

Last month we lost our first of eight hens, Sunshine (a blue australorp), to what I presumed and now know to be a fox. They were down by the woods by our neighbors who were out of town, with their big pit mix not patrolling the yard on an electric fence all day. All that was found was a trail of feathers and struggle leading into the woods. My mistake.

Since then (and because the neighbors/dog don't return until this weekend), we've kept on top of them with almost entirely supervised free range time. My job is writing intensive so I'm able to work from the porch, which helps for at least four hours a day.

Yesterday I went inside at 1pm, middle of the damn day, to refill my water and grab a snack. Two minutes later, tops, I came out and caught a large, healthy red fox at the beginning of its attack, holding our sweet Sunny (Sunshine's sister) in its mouth, not 25 feet from the porch. I yelled and she was instantly dropped, the fox making a hasty escape to the woods. Other than two small puncture wounds and a bunch of missing feathers on her back (she looks like a raw rotisserie chicken there now), Sunny is fine - eating and drinking, and even laying an egg this AM. Tough bird! It took me half an hour to round up the rest, two of which were hiding in a tree at my eye level.

The lesson for me: everyone knows foxes are smart, but to catch me on a water/snack break was shocking. It was clearly watching from the tree line, saw me go inside and made its move. Fast and effective. I suspect if I came out 10 or 15 seconds later, it would have been over for Sunny. A friendly reminder to all - be vigilant with your pet(s)!

My question. Aside from more supervised free range time (not very sustainable long-term) and the dog returning - what do people suggest? Does the fox urine trick work? Fake dog signs? 

Would love any ideas to keep our flock safe. Thank you!

A fox lesson (we got lucky yesterday) and counsel needed