Unsecure chicken perches

[gladdycat]

Having had two tragic run-ins with foxes in the past I noticed a system called 'Fox watch' for sale.

It isn't cheap, but if it helps protect my ladies then I would willingly pay for it. Does anyone have any experience of this system? According to the blurb,it seems to give off a sound that only foxes can hear, which deters them from coming near where it is situated.

[jam]

Can't says ive ever heard of it, but something that seems to have worked around my parts is some of my neighbours love the foxes that live round here and feed them leftovers. The animal shelter down my road also leaves out any left over cat food etc for the foxes too. Perhaps filling up the foxs so theyre not hungry for your chickens might work?

[gladdycat]

The link is http://www.primrose-london.co.uk/Fox Watch

 

If it works it would be brilliant.....and an answer to all our prayers! It just seems too good to be true though, and at present I don't have a lot of disposible income to spend on a product that may not work.

[Roobaloo]

Even if the product works, it is a deterent only...it will not protect your birds if the fox is desperate or determind so it should not be relied on.

 

If you have lost hens to a fox before, you need to assess when and why it happened - were they free ranging unattended? Was the coop left open? Did it dig into the pen?

 

All these things can be addressed to keep your girls safe...then a deterrant will help fortify your defences further!

[Lydia]

There's lots of information on Foxwatches around the forum, just do a search. Some say they work, some don't. Personally I have 4 of them and find they do work 95% of the time but only as a deterrent. They are not a failsafe option and, if a fox sees a window of opportunity, such as a pen left open or a hen freeranging unsupervised, he or she will take it. You can also get foxes who are deaf and, in times of need, will simply take the hit of the sonics and try their luck anyway - this winter just gone we had a regular night visitor for a while I suspect because he/she was desperate. That said, as I say, most of the time we are now fox free.

 

If you do decide to get a Foxwatch be sure to run it off the mains as it will eat batteries in a matter of days. You have to get an extra cable for this as it's not included and have outside power of course. Also think carefully about where you site it.

 

I do agree with Roobaloo, you have to look at your security first and foremost.

[Olly]

I've used a Foxwatch, and I found it very effective - but as Lydia says, if you search on here you will find quite a few posts about it (tip: search 'Foxwatch' rather than Fox watch) and opinions vary.

 

I didn't find the batteries ran down on mine too fast, but I took care to site it with the back to the hen-run. If you site it facing your chickens, it will go off every time they move, and that's what runs the batteries down. There is always the risk of the batteries running out without you noticing though, and if I bought another one (mine got broken) I would probably go for a mains cable.

 

I found it stopped the fox from hanging around my Eglu and run (as I had at the time) - prior to that I'd found pawprints on the Eglu roof, and it stopped him/her using the garden as a regular pathway. It is only a deterrent though, and if buying it is going to strain your finances, I wouldn't bother - focus on making sure your run is secure.

 

I'm afraid feeding foxes just encourages them to breed, jam - the more plentiful food is, the larger the litter they will have. Taking hens is instinctive - even if they are fed daily, they are never sure where their next meal will come from, and so if they see an opportunity they will take it. A hungry fox will just take greater risks than a well-fed one.

[Eggasperated]

The eglu representative in my area uses these http://www.solarpredatorprotection.co.uk/ but I don't know of any one else using them.

[gladdycat]

Thanks for the advice! I was intending to use it as a deterent to back up my security.

 

The first time Mr Fox struck, my girls had been free ranging in the garden, my OH had come home from work early, let them out and become distracted. A few moments was all it took. We were gutted, but especially OH.

 

Then last year 4 out of my 5 girls were taken from the run, just a few feathers were left in my neighbours garden

We spent ages trying to figure out how it had got in (no signs of digging etc). In fact for a while we wondered if a two legged thief had come in and taken them. We have fences 8' high bordering the run, and it was only at closer inspection that we saw faint paw prints 'scrambling' up at one corner.

 

Ideally I would love to roof my run in compleatly, but it is a very large area and has trees and large shrubs growing in it. The only other alternative would be to site the girls elsewhere in a much smaller (roofed) run.