Guest Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Please help with our dilemma! We would LOVE chickens, and having read Omlet's info and this forum feel sure that we have the right sort of garden, neighbours, etc. Our children are longing for them too. There's one problem, though. We live in a suburban area which is densely populated by foxes. These characters are active during the day as well as the night, and are athletic into the bargain - I've seen one scramble over our five-and-a-bit foot fence. So it seems unlikely that we can keep them out of our garden altogether. I know that the Eglu and run are fox-proof, but I'm worried that a)the chickens might be terrified by seeing foxes staring in at them and b)the amount of free range activity the chickens we could give the chickens would be limited to the times (very early morning before work and late afternoon/early evening after work) we could actually be in the garden with them. What do people think? Should we forget the whole chicken dream? Thanks for your advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 4, 2004 Share Posted October 4, 2004 Have just looked at the Eglu Owners' forum where there are lots of posts about the fox problem - obviously much more common than I'd realised. Clearly other owners have found that in "foxy" areas you need to be right there in the garden when the chickens are out and about, and that even then determined foxes might try to snatch one from under your very nose. Horrible thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 5, 2004 Share Posted October 5, 2004 Lindy, it IS possible to make your garden foxproof but, as you've discovered, you need a fence at least 6' high - with no footholds for fox which are not only agile but excellent climbers. There must be nothing - NOTHING - at the other side of your fence which could be used as stepping stones to effectively make the fence lower. No branches, no garden furniture ... A very good ploy is to fix LOOSE chicken wire along the top of the fence so that if a fox attempts to climb over it it can't get over. To that end it should hang at the other side of your fence when it's disturbed. It's difficult to explain, sorry. Barbed wire doesn't seem to offer any distraction to a determined fox. and electric fence is ideal of course but very expensive. In a particularly vulnerable corner of our fence, where a neighbour's lower fence gave a path for fox to jump onto ours, we welded 2' upright bars at not more than 3" widths. The fox couldn't get through them nor over them. They're not really visible so aren't an eyesore. The rest of our fence is green plastice covered, very stout chain link, supported every 5' by 2" square steel uprights and along the top and bottom with the same substantial square section steel. It lets light into the gardens at both sides and the fox out. I'm lucky that Spouse is capable of and has the equipment for welding. But we're also fortunate in that neighbours have concrete paths or walls on the boundaries of our garden, if they didn't we'd have to have some protection against digging fox. All this sounds like a concnetration camp, it doesn't look like that I promise! And most people like to have some kind of fencing, we feel that ours satisfies all the requirements for us and neighbours. It did cost but the neighbours offered to share financially and physically. I reckon our fencing will see us out if we maintain it properly. That's all you can hope for with any fence though. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted October 22, 2004 Share Posted October 22, 2004 One of our beloved chickens was 'foxed' in broad daylight on Saturday afternoon. We have a large London garden with lots of different areas, and she simply disappeared - I wasn't actually around, but no-one else saw anything. Fortunately the other hen didn't see and has carried on laying happily, and has now been joined by a new friend. If you do have a completely foxproof garden, then I am sure it is possible to let the chickens roam around, but if not, it is not worth risking it for a moment. Ours love being independent and out of the run, but unless one of us is physically by their side all the time it is not going to happen. Karen Stoke Newington Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 There is a really interesting posting by Dee in the Fox Problem sticky - http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=235 regarding deterrents you can buy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherhen Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Hi Lindy I hope you are still logging in and havn't given up the dream of hens. The thing you need to remember is that the eglu and run, with the additional pegs, is really fox proof. Secondly, if you were never to let your 2 hens/3 bantams out of the run they would still have very happy lives. The amount of room they have is actually far more per hen than many hens living in conventional hen runs. Yes, some eglu hens are extremely free range, the range seemingly including house as well as garden in some notorious cases, and I'm sure they and their owners love it, but it isn't the only way to keep happy pet hens. We have had builders and workmen in our backyard so my girls have had to stay in their run and they are fine. I hang up lots of greens for them and they have barkchippings in the run which seem much drier for them than soil during the winter. We are doing things to our backyard to create a larger area where we can let them out without them trashing all the raised beds and pots but this is as much for our pleasure as their's. If you want to keep hens then go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Motherhen, I am so glad you posted this on the forum, as I have also been assured by the boys at OMLET that it is absoutely fine to leave the hens in the run all the time and that they are perfectly happy. I do try to let ours out for at least 2 hours a day because they clearly love being in the garden, but sometimes it isn't possible and it's really good to hear from someone with experience that this is okay! Thanks, Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motherhen Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Hi Karen I'm very pleased to have put your mind at rest. Don't forget you can put all sorts of bits from your garden into the run - weeds, vegetable plant bits, odd bits of turf etc. Sybil and Pollo will happily spend hours scratching through the thick layer of bark picking out the jar-full of mixed corn I sling in every morning, and as for the excitement when I hang up new cabbage or cauliflower leaves... In fact I think the square metres of ground required per individual hen for a flock to be classified as free range is the same or even a bit less than the area per hen in the eglu run. Yes, I did once spend a sad evening reading these interesting facts on the DEFRA website. I just wanted to check for myself that it would be kind to keep hens in an eglu. You have probably already noticed that the shape of the top of the eglu run allows for full stretching and flapping of the wings, unlike with conventional triangular chicken arcs. If people have lots of well fenced land and a small or minimal fox risk then letting the hens roam is great fun. However what really impresses me about the eglu is that it enables people like me, with tiny city backyards, (or other people who are out all day and need to know their hens will be safe and secure) to keep hens in a really good, healthy and kind environment - something that just wasn't possible pre-eglu. Believe me, if it had been possible I wouldn't have waited 18 years before getting back into the pleasures of keeping chickens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Surrey-based Steve Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 There was a really good article in Fancy Fowl (yes, such a publication does exist, and yes, we do subscribe...) about fencing. Someone had some serious kit with wobbly bits and electrified - still not 100% fox-proof apparently. We tend to hang around when they have the run of the garden just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickengeorge Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 i am a new omlet eglu owner and haven't actually got the chickens yet as they are a christmas present. i live in the suburbs and wonder what precautions i can take to keep foxes away from my pets to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Hi Chicken George (terrific name, by the way ) Have you checked out the "Sticky" at the beginning of this section - The Fox Problem - queries and advice - - http://club.omlet.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=235 In it are links to all the fox topics in this forum and I know that the subject of precautions has come up a few times so it might be worth a look there to see if any of the advice is useful. There are some rather unusual suggestions like marking the edges of your territory by using washing up bottles to spray wee! Hmmmm, not sure about that one but if Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall doesn't mind doing it, maybe there's a lesson for us all! I've also read that human hair left around the edges of your property deters foxes too. Good luck when your girls arrive - great Christmas present! Happy Christmas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julianbramley Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 Talking about the wee thing............it has to be a mans, its the hormones apparently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vickinics Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 We have a rather persistent fox who has on one occasion tried to snatch the hens form under our noses. Fortunately Hilda managed to alert me by throwing herself athletically at the patio door. Unfortunately he now comes to visit on a regular basis (often for a roast on Sunday!) and this week I discovered him standing on the top of the run observing them hungrily. I am glad to say that I am the one most distressed about this and it certainly isn't putting them off their lay. THey are off to my mom's for a holiday next werk while we go to Finland - I'm hoping he will forget where they live........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicki Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 I never let mine out of the run because of the dogs. They are perfectly happy and although on bark at teh moment will be on grass in the summer. You can get ultrasonic animal repellers which could help stop the fox climbing on the run. I know someone who9 uses one for cats and it is successful but am not sure what they are like with foxes. Could be worth a try though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hellcat Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 Nikki, what dogs do you have? We've a labrador and a pointer and although we do let the ladies out when the dogs are inside so far they haven't mixed outside the bars (where the ladies give good nose pecks!). Is it safer just to leave them in the run than try and introduce them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 When you are talking to a Frenchman, he is quite likely to just turn round and start peeing. Now we know - he's just keeping the foxes at bay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted January 21, 2005 Share Posted January 21, 2005 Yes - and they must have a big fox problem along their motorways! Lesley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Does anyone know if using a radio in the garden is a good deterrent for foxes? We have been letting our girls out but got concerned by the number of comments from people who have had fox problems, even when they are about. I wondered if a spot of continual Radio 4 would put the fox off and fool him into thinking we were in the garden. I tried it out and the neighbours were most bemused by this radio in the middle of the lawn in a plastic bag on very loudly! Not sure what Ginny Weasley and Meg made of it though (my girls.)[/b] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Some others have mentioned fox activity when they've been within a few feet of their chickens so I wouldn't trust it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Frugal Posted February 27, 2005 Share Posted February 27, 2005 Never heard of that one but then again I've never heard anyone say it doesn't work either!! It's better than doing nothing anyway and the noise might just keep wary foxes at bay. If the foxes aren't deterred by people though, I wouldn't expect it to make much of a difference. You'll have to let us know how it goes. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahJo Posted March 12, 2005 Share Posted March 12, 2005 Just read in the Telegraph today about the Alsation (fit 3yr old) who has been killed by a fox .. literally tore her insides out!!! . Think this was in Cambridgeshire, where the fox population has increased quite dramatically . Just be careful with the chooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahJo Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 "Ooops, word censored!"ODY read this ... just a warning how viscious Foxy can be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted March 13, 2005 Share Posted March 13, 2005 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murdo Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 In fact I think the square metres of ground required per individual hen for a flock to be classified as free range is the same or even a bit less than the area per hen in the eglu run. Yes, I did once spend a sad evening reading these interesting facts on the DEFRA website. At the risk of being thought even sadder, (but I might as well face the inevitable) I'm not sure that this is true. The only figures I can find on DEFRA now are 400 birds per acre (or vice vera - 1 acre per 400 birds) to be classified as free range. That's around 43560 sq ft, which is around 100.9 sq ft per bird, or an area about 10x10 per bird. So on that basis our Eglus won't qualify as free range if the hens have to stay inside. I'm happy to be proved wrong on this, but I'm sure noone want us to perpetuate a myth (an urban leggend ? ) on the board. Links to sources : DEFRA and BREFPA Mind you when you compare with 120 birds per square metre of nesting space, and 250 sq cm of litter space for another classification, I think our hens will forgive us, particularly when the alternative is to be out there with Mr Fox. [/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Well Murdo, I think you might be right, technically & legally, if anyone was going to actually sell eggs & call them free range. On this forum, I carelessly used the word free range once, meaning that my girls do roam the garden (so they are literally free range). But, afterwards I realized that I didn't mean to imply that chickens kept in Eglu run alone, or other enclosed run, were any less free & happy in their lives! What about a new term "happy, life of luxury, range" for those girls who out of space necessity or safety are kept enclosed. Its miles away from restricted enclosure of battery hens or overcrowding. Then "free range"..as mine do, loose in garden... Both ways are providing happy well cared for chooks....but you're right, we shouldn't start any misconceptions.. Does that cover it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
