sandyhas3chucks Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I have a FOX watch and another on order. Many dogs are un affected.... I would be REALLY REALLY interested if any of you with these awful problems had it stop after getting a fox watch £51 including the mains adapter! I KNOW they are close... how near they get I don't know and I therefore don't know if it works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted July 14, 2009 Share Posted July 14, 2009 I would be REALLY REALLY interested if any of you with these awful problems had it stop after getting a fox watch £51 including the mains adapter! Yes, I do have exact evidence; No fox for 3 years then one started prowling daily at dawn. The hens were alarmed & called me, but luckily no harm done because of Fort Knox. Bought a Foxwatch and the daily prowling stopped for a few weeks. I'm certain it was the Foxwatch deterrent as the effect was immediate. Then, prowling again and I realised the fox had worked out another route. It's a big WIR so I invested in a 2nd Foxwatch. Again, the visits to the run stopped overnight. However, I suspect the fox prowls the garden perimeter, but at least that's not scaring the chooks nor waking everyone at 5.30! He did brave a visit when one hen was roosting leaning up against the mesh and he could snatch some feathers. So, they are a deterrent, not foolproof if fox thinks he's in with a good chance. It's also possible the 2nd Foxwatch wasn't positioned well on that occasion. Then, we put extra wire inside the run to give a double fence, eliminating grabbing opportunities, and repositioned Foxwatch 2. No sign of close visits since! They are great run protection, but not good enough for free ranging. Practice getting the cover angle right & it'll be a great investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lydia Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Yes I agree with Sheila. We haven't seen the fox in our back garden since the arrival of our 2 foxwatches. They are wired up to the mains and we keep them on all the time. However, foxy regularly sits in next door's garden during the day and goes through rubbish bags during the night if they are left out for the binmen. Therefore I only think of foxwatch as a deterrent and would never take a chance. It means the girls don't freerange as much like they did until last year but they do have a large WIR so I don't feel too guilty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loulou Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Just browsing the site for the first time in 2years as after 2 years of free-ranging my 2 gorgeous chucks died by foxecution a couple of weeks ago. They were out in the garden at midday. Sly old fox was obviously suffering from insomnia! Just burried them in the bark chipping run with feet sticking out! Am keen to know more about the fox watch? What is it and does it affect dogs as we have a little pooch. 4 new girls in situ. now and am keen to let them free range but am too scared at the mo!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted July 16, 2009 Share Posted July 16, 2009 Just browsing the site for the first time in 2years as after 2 years of free-ranging my 2 gorgeous chucks died by foxecution a couple of weeks ago.They were out in the garden at midday. Sly old fox was obviously suffering from insomnia! Just burried them in the bark chipping run with feet sticking out! Am keen to know more about the fox watch? What is it and does it affect dogs as we have a little pooch. 4 new girls in situ. now and am keen to let them free range but am too scared at the mo!!! Sorry about your other hens. Personally, I won't let mine free range now, although I miss it terribly (3 years). Not even with me, a fox would be quicker than me & cleverer than my hens. I would if I had electric fencing, but that's not an option here. A large WIR has been the solution here, it's not worth the risk. The fox will be back & a Foxwatch won't protect tempting free range chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlegem Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Just burried them in the bark chipping run with feet sticking out! :I know I'm new to chicken keeping but I don't understand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Just burried them in the bark chipping run with feet sticking out! :I know I'm new to chicken keeping but I don't understand Foxes like to kill all your birds in a frenzy, but they can't eat them all at once. So they bury them and plan to come back for their "meals" as and when they are hungry . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlegem Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Just burried them in the bark chipping run with feet sticking out! :I know I'm new to chicken keeping but I don't understand Foxes like to kill all your birds in a frenzy, but they can't eat them all at once. So they bury them and plan to come back for their "meals" as and when they are hungry . What so you bury them with their feet sticking out so the fox can find them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 What so you bury them with their feet sticking out so the fox can find them Nooooooooooo, the fox had burried them in the bark chippings with their feet sticking out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlegem Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 What so you bury them with their feet sticking out so the fox can find them Nooooooooooo, the fox had burried them in the bark chippings with their feet sticking out. When you said "Just buried them in the bark chipping run with feet sticking out!" I thought you meant you had just buried them............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mostin Posted July 17, 2009 Share Posted July 17, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teri Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 fox attack just waiting to happen over the past few days several foxes has been spotted too close for comfort. i have seen two sitting at my gate watching my girls in broad daylight just waiting for an oportunity to strike. luckily my dog stays with the chickens and i think he is the only reason i haven't lost any yet. i have three light sussex that have a large wooden coop, (actually designed as a large rabbit villa with three levels with ramps connecting them). this is kept in a large run about twelve feet by 6 feet and about 5 feet high. it has no roof. i used to let my girls free range in the garden all day. if i went out they would be left in their run and at night they are locked in their coop. i now lock them in their coop when i go out as this is the safest option i have. i cant leave the dog out with them when i go out as he is an entire male staffie and may get stolen. i have open fields at the back of my garden which the farmer is now growing maze in providing fantastic cover for the foxes. they can now get within a few feet of my garden without being seen. i have now decided to re-home my girls for their own saftey this will leave me with my broody and her 7 chicks who for the moment are safe from foxes as they have a closed run (too small for my bigger girls unfortunatly) they are only 5 weeks old so i have time to re-design their future quarters and make it as fox proof as possible. any advice or ideas would be great. it only dawned on me the other day after spotting yet another fox as to why my street got its name.....i live on FOXFIELDS WAY!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocchick Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 I've posted before but don't think in this sticky. A year or so ago my chicken was injured by a fox through the omlet run overnight and had to be put down. The run cover was shredded and there were feathers I think from hens flapping round in shock. The other 2 hens were fine. It hadn't managed to get into the eglu or run at all. I found my chicken with most of her beak missing sat down in the eglu and she had obviously pecked at a fox through the omlet run. It was very traumatic. A vet came out and examined her but put her down as she would have had trouble feeding. There was a chickenwire enclosure round the run but it had squeezed through a gap. We now have foxwatch, the wire skirt is pegged down and covered with a number of bricks. The chickenwire is more secure. We're more careful about freeranging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter S Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 We now have foxwatch, the wire skirt is pegged down and covered with a number of bricks. The chickenwire is more secure. We're more careful about freeranging. Sorry to hear about this. I understand from Omlet that it is not a good idea to put bricks on the skirt, and the fox simply digs where the bricks end, rather than where the vertical part of the run meets the grouns - i.e. the fox is able to find where the skirt ends, and simply digs at that point. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexbex Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 What so you bury them with their feet sticking out so the fox can find them Nooooooooooo, the fox had burried them in the bark chippings with their feet sticking out. When you said "Just buried them in the bark chipping run with feet sticking out!" I thought you meant you had just buried them............ Don't worry, you're not alone.. I thought the same thing.... Becki x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fizzle Knit Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 I was awoken last Thursday at 5.37am by a commotion in the WIR. A fox had dug in via the one bit of wall (12 inches wide) not bordered by paving or lawn and was creating havoc. Miraculously none of the girls were injured, although all were very shaken up, especially Strummer. The gap the fox got through looked tiny, I'm amazed it got through, and extremely thankful that there were no injuries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted August 25, 2009 Share Posted August 25, 2009 A lucky escape! Glad you found them in time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajayb Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 We live in a semi-rural location with paddocks and woods. We have a cube and a duck ark and our chooks and ducks free range all day, only being carefully locked up at dusk. Neither our kunekune pigs nor our elderly black Labs appear to be any deterrent to the local foxes, which roam about day and night. We have regular stock fencing all around our perimiter and haven't got electric fencing as the horses in the fields across the burn from us have electric fencing all round and the foxes still wander through ... We have lost 4 hens in the last year at completely different times of the day and under different 'supervisory' circs. Last night at 7.30pm our Legbar had a narrow escape when we didsturbed the fox after noticing some of our chickens and ducks sprinting across the drive. Thankfully, she only lost a lot of feathers. I think our dogs and pigs would act as more of a deterrent if they were male. It's incredibly upsetting to lose a chicken but I have rationalised it as 'much better to live a short and happy life than a long confined one'. Having said that, and based on what I've read on the forum, I'm looking into getting a 'FoxWatch', although I have some reservations about how it will effect my dogs. Does anyone have any other experience of natural deterrents (ie cats, geese or cockerels)? I'd be interested to know if any of these was an alternative. 2 x Hy-Line 4 X Black Rock Cream Legbar Welsummer Cross Silver Pencilled Wyandotte 3 x Khaki Campbell 3 x kune kune pigs 2 x Black Labs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 Llamas? Electric stock fencing is quite different from electric poultry fencing and is, as you say, no deterrent to the fox. Properly sited and electrified poultry netting is, although not infallibly so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I agree, appropriate 24hr hour electric fencing on your land sounds the only effective deterrent in your situation. (Or Llamas, yes!) Although Foxwatches can be useful ( have 2 which stops perimeter stalking of Fort Knox), they aren't enough on their own, and wouldn't be adequate for your setting I suspect. Good luck, & let us know how you get along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted August 29, 2009 Share Posted August 29, 2009 I'm afraid cats are no deterrent to foxes. My cat has sat on the back doorstep and watched the fox wander through the garden without even raising a hackle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bexbex Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I think if I was a cat I'd do the same! "please take what you want but don't hurt me!!" but cats can be quite dim... What is this about llamas?? I would love a llama! haha, if I lived in the right place that is Becki x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Speckled Hen Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 I think if I was a cat I'd do the same! "please take what you want but don't hurt me!!" but cats can be quite dim...What is this about llamas?? I would love a llama! haha, if I lived in the right place that is Becki x Male neutered Llamas are used in The States to guard flocks of alpaca, sheep, goats and cattle against coyotes. Strangely enough one llama is a more efficient guard than several llamas. Presumably because a group chats and plays pool rather than getting on with the job Some people do keep llamas with chickens but their effectiveness is not proven here, but having said that some stockholders swear that attacks have been reduced by their presence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajayb Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Thanks for the suggestions. We looked into getting some alpacas or donkeys last year, having been told that they were supposed to deter foxes, but were put off for lots of reasons including, expense, noise, and type of care & housing required. The electric chicken fencing is probably the best solution but we would have to curtail the chooks' habits severely (they follow the pigs round eating up what they unearth while rooting) and I'm against this for my belief #1 with all animals, 'better a short and happy life ...'. Spoke with a near neighbour this morning who lost two of his marans to our fox last week - and his chooks have fenced runs (not electric). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xScrunchee Posted September 2, 2009 Share Posted September 2, 2009 People always talk about a short and happy life but I'm going for a long and happy life for my animals. Am I in the minority then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
