4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Phosphorus]

Calling all those who have one

 

We had our only close call from a fox the other morning - broody mum (with chicks) lost lots of feathers through the eglu run mesh! Think she must have been close to the edge of run and not seen the fox in time Luckily seems to have been the only damage. The other girls are obviously safe in their walk in run as they raised the alarm for us and basically stood by the edge of their run egging my dh on to get the fox

 

Should I get a Foxwatch. Appreciate that this fox will probably return We have thought that it is a walk way for foxes before but I think they have ignored the WIR before as quite secure. Looks like the eglu run is more inviting! The chicks will be in this run for a while before the extension to the WIR is built so I need to consider foxes in the meantime

 

Any thoughts and if you have a foxwatch are you pleased with it? Also how okay is it with the batteries - it might take me a while to sort out electricity out there so it might be on batteries for a while!

[Guest]

I did a long time ago have a sonic deterrent for cats(not sure if its the same thing)?? but it didnt work and the number of people on this forum that have been caught out by foxwatch I wouldnt personally get one.

 

Electric fencing and when i say that it can be just simple nothing difficult. I love electric tape and it does work(I usually have 2 car batteries on the go but the energiser I have does show a red light when the battery is getting low, & the clicks start to get slower so usually I have a week to sort & charge the next battery..I use it for horses and am going to set it up for around a mesh enclosure etc If it works for sheep and horses etc it will keep out a fox.

 

One of the moderators on here runs a tape close to the ground so the fox would get zapped just coming near to the run.. It is so easy to turn off so if you are in the garden(or children are near) you can switch it off...you can buy different types of strands or tape.

 

I am sure there are fans of foxwatch but I dont think its an effective product, prefer an option which is more certain.

 

Good luck discount saddlery or hey farm saddlery(same company) sell energisers on line for good pricing.

 

indie

[Sky]

I have had a Foxwatch for about a month. I usually lock my girls in at night but wanted somthing to protect them when I don't lock their door at night whilst we are away. We have an ark so they will go up to roost but their ladder will be left down into their run which a fox would still have to dig into. I intend to put our omlet fence around their run when we go away as well and put my pony energiser on it so that it is electrified. If a fox gets through that lot I would be very surprised (fingers crossed)

 

As far as the Foxwatch is concerned there is no way my dogs will go anywhere near it if I try it out when they are in the garden so it definitely does have an effect on them. They make a hasty retreat into the house!

 

At the moment I have the Foxwatch pluged into our shed electricity supply on a timer which comes on at night when our dogs are in and goes off again in the morning before the dogs go out. I haven't seen any evidence of fox poo in the garden since we have had it.

[Olly]

I don't think Foxwatch and electric fencing can really be compared, the fencing should prevent anything getting to your chooks but the Foxwatch is marketed as a deterrent. You can't rely on it for total protection, but for those of us who can't set up electric fencing it's a good option.

 

I've had one and I rate it highly, and I didn't have problems with the batteries that others have mentioned. Position it facing away from the run, so the chooks don't set it off, and I found the batteries lasted ages. It definitely stopped the fox using my garden as a promenade, and from hanging about the run. I would recommend it, as long as you're not relying on it totally. It sounds ideal for the situation you've described above.

[MadAboutChooks]

I agree with the above. The foxwatch is a very good deterrent, but should not be relied upon on its own. I have had one for a couple of weeks and have been using it on the mains when my dogs have come in at night, it is then turned off first thing in the morning. Since using this I have not had a problem with foxes, I think that they may have visited because I did see some footprints on the rain cover! Before they were digging and hanging around all evening, and since using we have seen no sign apart from seeing these footprints once.

[Phosphorus]

Thanks for the replies. I have just ordered one I will not be using it on its own, ad hoc supervision and girls are in their runs at night, dusk and early morning anyway. We never let them out when we are not around.

 

It will stop me panicing about a fox ripping Gemma's tail feathers out through the mesh again - poor thing she only has a couple of tail ones left!