Pro - Does anyone else's nest boxes get soaked in rain?

[Egluntyne]

You will have to get a padlock to stop the Anti Chicken letting them out when you are at work.

[Guest]

Perhaps it will encourage the anti-chicken to actually do some gardening!

 

She was a huge gardener - brought half her old garden with her and now she NEVER does any!!! I do love it bit its rather big for one person to manage (well one person and a small boy!)

 

I also worry about the weeds getting bad again - the chickens have kept them down nicely. Problem is it's such a big property that if you are inside you can't see them out in the garden, although often they hang around by Mums bit they do wander off and the bit where the fox came in was at the opposite corner of the garden.

 

Is there anything I could put on top of the fences to deter him (mind you it would be costly to cover the tops of ALL the fences).

[Pookylover]

Hi, I am really sorry to hear about your loss. Our garden backs onto several fields we rent for our horses and although I haven't seen a fox at all I am sure there will be one around nearby. We are collecting our chickens in 3 days and are planning to let them have the run of our garden and obviously will be securing it as best we can. Like previous people said, it is fox cub season and upsetting as it is they are just doing what they can to feed their cubs. We do what we can to feed our children too. I hope the rest of your girls are ok. Clare x

[AMO]

Sorry to hear about your loss.

[Snowy]

Just a thought Pengy, could you get some cheap chicken wire, fasten it along the top of your fence and angle it outwards? That way if the fox tries to scale the fence he would have to get around and over a layer of netting as well? Not sure how feasible that would be for you.

[Guest]

I might start to try fastening stuff up the top of the fence - it'll be a long job our house sits pretty much in the middle of a 1/2 acre plot and if anything there is slightly more land at the back than the front. That makes for a lot of fence to go round. The fox came through from the garden behind (well he exited that way) BUT the garden to the left turns into a field and has no fencing at all. The garden to the right has no fence to the house and garden behind as that is some kind of annexe.

 

I think for now vigilance is the key - we have been out there with the girls since 10am and at no point have we both left them - James is out there now. I'll have to shut them in when I go for my pedicure later and that'll be their lot for today.

 

Next week they are run bound anyway - we are away for a few days so just a feeder and egg collector is coming.

[Trixabell]

So sorry to hear your news babe thats awful, i'm so scared of foxes getting my girls i really am, so sorry it happened to you xxx