At what weight are lambs to big for foxes.

[Agri]

Asking as bought a new field and there is a den near it.

 

[DB67]

About 2 days old. They will usually only target vulnerable new born lambs, and usually twins at that.

 

[Dry Rot]

There is a report by the Department of Agriculture for Scotland that concluded a fox will take a healthy lamb up to 10kgs in weight! That report is online somewhere.

I have personal experience of foxes attacking a full grown North Country Cheviot tup! The tup was dead by the time I'd got to it. Tracks in the snow and a pool of fresh blood. A pathologit confirmed that a corpse doe not bleed, so alive when entered.

Plenty of reports of foxes attacking lambing ewes. But I suspect that's not what you wanted to hear and there will be plenty who will dispute the facts.

 

[Dkb]

I’d be keeping a very strong eye on them for the first week anyway. Rare to loose one after that unless they are very small

 

[Man_in_black]

They'll start mating next month, good time to call them to rifle

 

[noagain]

Hoggs with twins in wee field next to shed, no lambs under 10days old . Lost 3

 

[LAMBCHOPS]

Stock and tar the neck and tail of the lamb. The Fox won't take the lamb . It's easy for us as we do put it on when we put lamb out of lambing shed at 24/48 hr . We do a thousand a year and Mr Foxy goes without!!

 

[primmiemoo]

☝
Another for Stockholm tar. A dab on the nape of the neck, and another just above the tail.

Had a rogue fox critically injure lambs of a fortnight old, before - horrible wounds to the back of the neck - and don't want that again. Younger lambs just disappeared.

If you have a good fox around, just let him get on with foraging for worms and killing rabbits, and he'll keep rogues away. Some "article" (of the only good fox is a dead fox variety, and not a sheep keeper, either) lamped and shot a good fox that had part of its territory here, which caused no end of trouble.

 

[Al R]

Also on tar spray. Lose 2 of the first 10 and 2 of the last 10 to foxes, the rest of the time there’s afterbirth from 50-70 lambs a day coming out so they wouldn’t challenge a ewe when afterbirth is easier for them. Put tar spray on all lambs now as it’s so easy, the old style Stockholm tar paste we’d only do twins but the spray is so quick we just do everything. Mainly outdoor lambing and although there’s swarms of foxes not a problem with them.

 

[NZDan]

I scan on a place that was losing hoggets and small ewes to a predator, they never figured out what it was, but the losses stopped when a big Dog fox was shot.

 

[Ollie.mclean]

This year I lost a week old strong single to a fox. The chap that saw it happen, but to far away to intervene quick enough, said it was like seeing a dog in the field with them. It picked this lamb off, cornered it and that was that.

 

[LAMBCHOPS]

Also on tar spray. Lose 2 of the first 10 and 2 of the last 10 to foxes, the rest of the time there’s afterbirth from 50-70 lambs a day coming out so they wouldn’t challenge a ewe when afterbirth is easier for them. Put tar spray on all lambs now as it’s so easy, the old style Stockholm tar paste we’d only do twins but the spray is so quick we just do everything. Mainly outdoor lambing and although there’s swarms of foxes not a problem with them.

What's the make of the tar spray and where do you get it would be a quicker method ??

 

[unlacedgecko]

Asking as bought a new field and there is a den near it.

If you're in Scotland, or you have game birds on the land, get the terriers in.

 

[unlacedgecko]

☝
Another for Stockholm tar. A dab on the nape of the neck, and another just above the tail.

Had a rogue fox critically injure lambs of a fortnight old, before - horrible wounds to the back of the neck - and don't want that again. Younger lambs just disappeared.

If you have a good fox around, just let him get on with foraging for worms and killing rabbits, and he'll keep rogues away. Some "article" (of the only good fox is a dead fox variety, and not a sheep keeper, either) lamped and shot a good fox that had part of its territory here, which caused no end of trouble.

The selective nature of footpacks helps in these circumstances.

 

[JohnGalway]

What's the make of the tar spray and where do you get it would be a quicker method ??

We found spray tar doesn't work as good as the stuff in the tub as it's thinner. I heat up the tub in hot water and draw the tar out into a 60ml syringe, then fill water bottles with sports caps so it's fast and relatively clean to apply.

 

[LAMBCHOPS]

We found spray tar doesn't work as good as the stuff in the tub as it's thinner. I heat up the tub in hot water and draw the tar out into a 60ml syringe, then fill water bottles with sports caps so it's fast and relatively clean to apply.

Great idea

 

[Al R]

What's the make of the tar spray and where do you get it would be a quicker method ??

Gold Label.
https://www.hyperdrug.co.uk/gold-label-stockholm-tar-spray-200ml/productinfo/GOLDLSTS
identical to this but get it from CCF, Wynnstay, APS etc... We find it really good, when it first came out the tube inside would block rendering it useless and it could happen at any time BUT the last couple of years you will get 100% empty, it’s quick and easy, cans can be thrown to other people etc, isn’t all sticky, cans can live in the quad. You can smell it on the lambs after 4-5 weeks if you sniff up close.

I remember using the tar paste and it was a nightmare, every time you went to use it you had to wear a wax jacket and then whenever handling lambs you still had to wear one as the stuff was so sticky/bad.

 

[Dry Rot]

☝
Another for Stockholm tar. A dab on the nape of the neck, and another just above the tail.

Had a rogue fox critically injure lambs of a fortnight old, before - horrible wounds to the back of the neck - and don't want that again. Younger lambs just disappeared.

If you have a good fox around, just let him get on with foraging for worms and killing rabbits, and he'll keep rogues away. Some "article" (of the only good fox is a dead fox variety, and not a sheep keeper, either) lamped and shot a good fox that had part of its territory here, which caused no end of trouble.

An old tod hunter told me, if you kill the vixen of a pair of foxes, you need to get the dog fox or he will go on a killing spree. I've no idea if that is true but he had a lot of wisdom and taught me a lot. His small bobbery pack of lurchers and terriers was the most effect fox control I have ever seen. Maybe that is the same thing.

 

[scottish-lleyn]

Ive found you get the least problems from foxes in the area where the den site is i dont know the reason why just what ive found. If you have a balanced fox population in an area also helps reduce predation on lambs.a residant pair that know the area will keep outside foxes out and normally these wandering foxes are the ones that coz the problem once you clear an area of its residant foxes more move in with no idea where or what food the area holds so just kill lambs.