Mr Fox broke in to our Eglu Go through the back hatch

[mostin]

 

So sorry to hear that Peter. Sorry if I'm being insensitive, but I'm assuming that they burrowed under in just one night , is that right? Certainly makes me think about beefing things up around me

 

Thanks.

 

Yes, no sign of any burrowing yesterday (or indeed ever before), so all happened in one night.

 

We're going to lay some patio slabs and try to attach some wire mesh to the bottom of the run to stop this happening again.

 

Thanks for that Peter. My brother in law is a landscaper and we are getting his left over flags to go round our new walk in run, but it's not fully enclosed yet. Perhaps I should get a wriggle on .

 

Once again I am so sorry you lost all your girls

[Peter S]

Update on our fox attack:

 

So the fox came back last night, which we were expecting. What we were not expecting, however, was for it to bring with it the decapitated remains of one of our hens (Nicola), which it left in the garden.

 

Is this typical fox behaviour, or do we just have a really vindictive fox?

 

Peter

[mostin]

Now that is just cruel . I had heard of them burying hens where they kill to come back and get them later, but not returning to the scene of the crime with the bodies .

 

I'm so sorry .

[sandyhas3chucks]

i hate to ask when it is so upsetting...

but did it/they dig at the nearest point to the run or right under the Eglu.?

I thought the skirts were supposed to stop them doing this, but even paving slabs might not stop them????????????

Chic cubes are the samew principal too

So sorry for you. really awful, will def keep mine shut in Eglu at night now:(

[Peter S]

The fox dug underneath the Eglu house itself, where there is no skirt at the arched grey section of the house. It tunnelled under and into the run. I guess it tried to dig at the run but the skirt stopped it getting in, so it simply madeits way down the length of the run until it came to a section with no skirt.

 

The cube should provide better protection, as the skirt goes all round.

[sandyhas3chucks]

Thanks Peter...

Maybe you could email that info to Omlet...

Think it needs to be be looked at, I am sure you agree..

So sorry, makes me feel real sad

Sandy

[Peter S]

Thanks for you condolences - we are missing our ladies greatly.

 

I emailed this information to Omlet on Thursday, and even spoke to them on Friday when I was looking into possible underfloor mesh and wondered if the wire sold for the rabbit Eglu would be suitable (it isn't to my mind, as it's very flexible, but the Omlet folk said it should be okay!). However, I've received no correspondence from Omlet regarding the fox intrusion, although I also thought that this would be of great concern to them.

 

Watch this space, I suppose!

 

Peter

[sandyhas3chucks]

Peter, where are you planning to put it. 16 gauge or 19 (lighter) is generally accepted is being fox proof for WIR . I have gone to thicker 16 on mine. So would think you could buy a piece or strip of wedmesh to go under and arounfd at not much cost!

I bought ready cut skirt way back for my run, though blowed if I can recall who from! It has largish squares , maybe 2 inch, but must be somewhere in between those gauges I mentioned. they would sed it to you cut to your size too.

Will have a quick lookey about for you.

got mine here

http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Haven_Hen_House.html

others sell do search for no dig mesh chickens.

Am sure FOF will cut something for you.

and advise!

[Peter S]

Thanks for the info - it supports what I thought.

 

I bought a 6 m x 0.9 m roll of 16 gauge galvanised wire mesh with 2 cm x 2 cm (3/4" by 3/4") holes from Mesh Direct http://www.meshdirect.co.uk/Wire-Mesh-Galvanized-20-x-20mm-holes-900-mm-wide-x-6-metres-16-gauge-pr-393.html

 

This cost £30, which I think is quite reasonable. I also bought some a pair of hogring fencing pliers and some hogrings to attach the wire mesh to the run. I will also be drilling into the base of the house so I can attach the mesh to the house itself with some screws and large washers. I couldn't find anything in the width required, so I will have to construct two panels and join them together with hogrings.

 

Then, the whole unit will be positioned on some newly-laid slabs and filled with bark to gve something for the new girls to scratch around in.

 

Looks like I am about to embark on some major DIY!

 

Peter

[sandyhas3chucks]

good luck with it all.

Sandy

[saracook31]

Boxing day last year one of our light sussex hens was taken by a fox, we didn't even notice until the next morning when we let the remaining hens out. There wasn't a single feather around.

The next afternoon at 2pm, fox came back, killed my two Maran and my Aracuna Madge, also leaving my other light sussex badly wounded who sadly died the next day

We never even heard the fox or chooks, but this time there were feathers and dead bodies everywhere. Was horrible.

I wouldn't risk this again, so our new chooks have a large garden like run with very secure fencing!

 

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm so sorry to hear that . What a horrible experience for you .

 

Glad to hear you have fox proof accommodation for your new girls though . You've got quite a collection there .

[saracook31]

Oops this was meant to be on the fox attack sticky! I dunno how to move it or even if I can! silly me!

 

As if by magic! Egluntine

[GeorgieB]

I've received no correspondence from Omlet regarding the fox intrusion, although I also thought that this would be of great concern to them.

 

Watch this space, I suppose!

 

Peter

 

I'm not surprised you haven't heard back from them Peter. Considering they say their Eglu's are fox proof it doesn't reflect very well on them that they have turned out not to be.

 

Omlet also say on their website that they will donate £20 to the BHWT if you rescue any ex-batts when buying an Eglu or Cube from them. But I was told by one of the BHWT coordinators that they haven't given them any of the donation money from the sale of these for a whole year! So it looks like it's just a ploy to get more sales!

[Peter S]

[i'm not surprised you haven't heard back from them Peter. Considering they say their Eglu's are fox proof it doesn't reflect very well on them that they have turned out not to be.

 

To be fair to Omlet, I received the following reply earlier today:

 

"thank you for the feedback. This can only happen if there is a little uneven bid under the eglu. The part I would recommend to get is 2 of the panels that go around the wheelbase of the cube and lay this flat underneath the eglu. This retails at £10 per panel.

I also would recommend not to put any bricks on the run skirt. If the run needs to be put down, please use run pegs."

 

May be of use to others, I suppose.

 

Not good about the lack of BHWT donations, though.

 

Peter

[GeorgieB]

I think they should supply the Eglu with the panels then if you need them to make it fox proof.

[Louisdog]

I lost a chicken when a fox got into my run and Omlet were very helpful, excellent customer service, they apologised and replaced the broken run parts and sent me a new chicken

[the oneill family]

Just let them out in the morning, unsupervised even though people where in the room closest to the garden.

We have this overgrown allotment at the back of the garden and theres a hole in the fence.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Sorry to hear that . How many chickens did you have?

[the oneill family]

2 so ones left by herself but might be getting ex-batts

[clucking mad woman]

i'm now a very sad mum

my ducks were attacked two weeks ago,one came out of it with a large bite.despite myself and my kids on guard duty .the fox managed to get all three of my beautiful buff orps.then a rabbit.to top it off three nights ago the ducks woke me up and there was the fox trotting round my garden with another of my rabbits .despite it being locked up in it's eglu

the fox managed to pry the wire door open.

now the remaining rabbit and ducks will have to be shut in their house at night which they hate to keep them safe

the fox came in over the row of garages and managed to go out over a six foot fence

i hate the silence in my garden as my girls used to chatter all the time

[clucking mad woman]

Frequent Layer

Joined: Fri Feb 24, 2006 7:24 pm

Posts: 217

Location: SE Wales

I lost a chicken when a fox got into my run and Omlet were very helpful, excellent customer service, they apologised and replaced the broken run parts and sent me a new chicken

 

 

 

i've just ordered a new door ,clips bolts shotgun off omlet and the woman did'nt even say sorry.all she said was i've never heard of that happening!not much comfort/help

[Louisdog]

Sorry to hear that; it might be worth emailing James directly about this?

[GeorgieB]

Our hens free range all day and we have been lucky so far in that we haven't had any fox attacks. But after reading all the posts on here I decided to purchase an Electric Poultry netting Anti Fox Kit. Link below if anyone is interested-

 

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320388130584QQssPageNameZMERC_VIC_RCRX_Pr2_PcY_BIN_IT&refitem=320380228910&itemcount=2&refwidgetloc=closed_view_item&usedrule1=CrossSell_LogicX&refwidgettype=cross_promot_widget&_trksid=p284.m183&_trkparms=algo%3DCRX%26its%3DS%252BI%26itu%3DUCI%252BSI%26otn%3D2

 

I know these things aren't cheap but I think they are worth the investment to know your hens are safe. I have wondered why more people don't buy these so their hens can free range all day. Seems a shame to keep them cooped up when you don't have to.

[Louisdog]

We had one of these running at 7000 volts and the fox still got our duck from behind it, we do not know how But I think that is very unusual.