Single hen

[katieD]

hi guys

 

had my chickens since xmas and not had any problems with foxes since- but my neighbour has just come round to say one was pacing roung my eglu and run and jumped on top of it!

 

she said the girls were going crazy and that she managed to scare it off. it was about 5:30am

 

i have been leaving the eglu door open now its getting light early so they can come out at their leisure- shall i stop doing this?

 

any advice on how to prevent this happening again?

 

thought about getting some electric netting and running it round eglu and run, just put it on at night?

 

what do you think? my daughter would be devastated if anything happened to them and i would for that matter

 

thanks for your help

 

Katie

 

Fifi

Lola

Dora

 

(yes the 2 yr old named them!)

[Egluntyne]

I would go for the electric netting....and close the Eglu door at night..... for the time being at least.

 

This is the time of year when the vixens are at their hungriest, so best to be on the safe side.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Sorry to hear that . At least you've had some warning without any horrible disaster .

[Gamebird]

Personally I would recommend electric fencing. See this thread for more info.

 

However, I would emphasise that if you have electric fencing then you must leave it on the whole time and not just during the day. If the fencing is turned off and a fox tests it and does not get a shock he will be confident to jump the fencing whether it is on or off. In other words to deter foxes he has to get a shock every time he touches it.

 

I have kept my chickens behind electric fencing since last June and they have been completely safe even though I have seen foxes circling the netting. But I do keep it electrified 24/7.

[Guest]

Def go for electric fencing u can either run the energiser off the mains type or a car battery type.... but u can get ones with smaller batterys..if u have a look on discount saddlery web page u could have a look at the equine energisers ..they are usually good price ..Omlet do have one but not sure if u could get one for less I am going to look into this but my horse energiser is a bigger one...Discount saddlery is a good site .

 

I usually get a 12 v battery from Halfords and do charge it up about every 3 months mine but I would give that Mr Fox a good zap as previously stated 24hours

 

I have foxes here at any time of day mostly in the summer their poos have either lots of berries /oats in it and are very black /grey and stink if u disturb(looks like dog poo)

 

dont know where u live but could let any farmers know too especially if htey have stock of any kind?? just a thought

indie

[..lay a little egg for me]

Def go for electric fencing u can either run the energiser off the mains type or a car battery type.... but u can get ones with smaller batterys..if u have a look on discount saddlery web page u could have a look at the equine energisers ..they are usually good price ..Omlet do have one but not sure if u could get one for less I am going to look into this but my horse energiser is a bigger one...Discount saddlery is a good site .

 

I usually get a 12 v battery from Halfords and do charge it up about every 3 months mine but I would give that Mr Fox a good zap as previously stated 24hours

 

I have foxes here at any time of day mostly in the summer their poos have either lots of berries /oats in it and are very black /grey and stink if u disturb(looks like dog poo)

 

dont know where u live but could let any farmers know too especially if htey have stock of any kind?? just a thought

indie

 

I always thought the poo with the berries etc was badger poo...

 

The equine energisers are often not powerful enough to run an electric net, though it depends on how long the netting is. If you have the 50m netting, I would go for an energiser designed for the job. I charge up my battery every month.

[katieD]

thanks guys- gonna price it up and get it ordered. any ideas on the type of shop i could get it from? so i dont have to wait for it to be delivered!

 

Katie