Unsecure chicken perches

[casiraghiegg]

I've just seen the first fox in my garden in 18 months - a month after I got my 4 girls . It was a young fox, this years batch I guess. Do they hunt in numbers? A neighbour told me that the council took away a mum and her ltter a few weeks ago (she thought that they would attack her kids - sorry but please save me from ignorant people paniced by the media ) but we back onto allotments and the fields are a short walk away.

 

I've been letting them FR when I am home in the evenings fairly unsupervised. I guess that this will have to stop. What now? Do I invest in a WIR or continue with them in their eglu & run + 1m xtn. They seem happy enough in the run but they just LOVE to FR . Its just not worth the risk though.

 

Any advice is most welcome.

 

Caroline

Betty

Gladys

Pearl

Ruby

 

Maddie, Kitty, Milly the cats

[batcatz]

Hi, I had the same problem and then found out 3 foxes lived under the shed in a neighbours garden. I think your Eglu should be fine as it's fox proof, but make sure the fox can't dig under it as a way of getting into the run. You should have a wire panel underneath it to stop it digging. It's best to supervise any freeranging from now on as the fox knows where the chickens are now. It's not so bad this time of year in the sunshine. I tend to let my chooks out less in winter and they are fine. A walk in run is always a good idea for your ease of cleaning and more space for the chooks.

 

Edit: oh yes, i agree with what you said about media scared families. If a fox is killed another one will just move into its territory. I haven't heard of foxes hunting in packs, normally it's just one who has had a lucky opportunity to get into a chicken run.

[markm]

A fox is a very patient and cunning animal; he is also an opportunist hunter.

 

Do you have any friends who own firearms? If your garden is not suitable for this a live catch trap and either relocation into the countryside (which is cruel and possibly illegal) or humane dispatch out of view in a safe area. Pretty sure you will get a local pest control company out of the yellow pages who will also deal with it.

[Mercedes55]

I would be careful about letting them out unless you can be out with them as I have read on here about a fox coming into the garden during the day and taking a hen.

 

I actually do like foxes and we do get them where we live. It is certainly true that no matter what you do to get rid of them, another one will come and take over, so it's best to make sure your hens are safe from them I guess. I don't have my hens yet, but when i get them I'm not going to take the chance of letter them out unless someone is out there too. I am now thinking about getting a WIR, but it's all so expensive on top of just buying a new Eglu.

 

When we put our run in place on the weekend we put paving slabs on top of the skirt and then a layer of wood chips to hide them, just in case we get a visit from a fox