Omlet Smart Autodoor - New in box

[Isabel]

Hi All

 

Having heard that one of our neighbours took a shot at a fox just behind our house yesterday ... and missed! ... it's time I stopped being so complacent and got the electric fencing (in its packaging in the garage) up and running.

 

At the moment the girls are freeranging in the garden ... they spend most of their time foraging in the ditch between us and the field behind - it's adjacent to their run and has a bank about 2-3 feet high. They love it there. However, if we include it within their fenced-in area, then a fox can simply hop in over the fence and be in their enclosure. So, how far away from said bank does anyone think the fence ought to be in order that a fox is unlikely to leap over from the height of the bank?

 

Hopefully in the next week or so, we'll move them to the field but I need to get the grass taken right down there before we can ... again, I'm dealing with banks and heights so any answers to today's question will help then too!

 

Incidently, you may remember that my breeder sold me an Orp which was supposedly 8 weeks but Tom took a guess of around 14 weeks? I was talking to the breeder last night and asked her about it. She said she had been discussed it with her husband the night we bought the chickens, and he had thought Nigella was older. She was most apologetic and offered to replace her ... of course, I said no, the three chickens are so well settled together that I wouldn't split them up now. Rachel, the totty one, has really filled out in the last ten days and has taken on more of a chicken shape.

 

Oh, and one more question. What's the best way of handling/picking the chicks up. I'm putting my hands over their back and holding both wings close to their sides, then lifting. They tend to get into a real strop, I tuck them under my arm but ultimately, the wings start to waggle free and then I have to restrain them quite tightly ... it's most undignified! Any tips please?

 

Thanks

 

Isabel

[Olly]

Can't answer the fence question, but as far as picking them up goes, what you are doing sounds right. You do need quite a firm grip, I can't bear flapping wings and that's when I usually let go, but if you keep a hand/arm over them all the time they shouldn't get a chance to flap. Don't be scared to hold them quite firmly!

[migsy]

That is a very good question because I have also been wondering exactly the same thing! I have a small garden, so the enclosure would have to be small too. But there is no point me getting electric fencing if a fox could dive into it from the top of the garden fence. If anyone knows how far electric fencing has to be away from the garden 6 foot fence, I would be most grateful to hear!

[Isabel]

Thanks Olly ... good to know my technique isn't a complete disaster ... and that I'm not the only person to let go when the wing flapping starts

 

Siobhan ... hopefully we'll get some answers!!

[Mollie333]

HI Isabel,

I'm unsure on this topic, because i dont have electric fencing.

But i saw a fox on my neighbours 6 foot garage.. so they can jump very high..

I would be more bothered about the fact that the foxes might rather dig under the electric fencing,

as this happened with my friends run, lost 6 ducks.

As for the picking up, you're doing the right thing, hold the wings down or put them under your arm.

goodluck.

[chicken bark]

As I understand it foxes will first go and sniff the electric fence to suss it out. This will give them the shock and so they won't try to tunnel under it or jump over it.

So you need to place the fence far enough from steps, low walls etc so that their first idea is to sniff the fence rather than just think initially about jumping over it. I've no idea how long this distance should be. I work at about a metre.

 

Also foxes like to jump over something solid such as garden fencing. Mesh is much less appealing to them.

 

 

Good luck with picking them up. I think I do the same think - just trying to pin their wings down. I've not managed a lengthy look at my girls yet because they don't put up with it for long. I'm sure it will all click eventually.

[Isabel]

Hi Mollie ... it's such a worry! The elec fencing guy (actually, make that people, plural cos I spoke to a few!) said that a fox is more likely to try to go under first, so will sniff at fence and get a shock. I've read that they can clear 6' and would well believe it ... I guess I'm trying to figure out how far they can leap if they launch themselves from a height (rather than how high they can jump) IWKWIM. That's terrible about your neighbour's ducks - it must have been really upsetting esp when they had gone to the trouble of getting and installing elec fencing. Finger's crossed our local fox population won't be quite so determined !

 

Isabel

[Isabel]

Oh thanks Chickenbark ... that sounds exactly like what I've been told re them sniffing at fence first. A metre sounds like a good starting distance - like you say, far enough to force him down the bank to examine the fence - I guess the further away the better - we've loads of room once we get away from the bank but it runs the length of an acre garden ... and I'm trying to avoid going to far out into the centre of the lawn ... I've got to think of DH's grass!!

[migsy]

Does anyone know how far foxes can leap from a height?