Henney Penney Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Hi All, I am new to keeping chickens, mine will be arriving on 5 October. I am really looking forward to it but wanted some advice about free ranging. I live in a semi urban area and have a separate part of my garden dedicated for the chickens as I also have a dog. My aim is to have them free ranging in the day but my neighbour says she often sees a fox and I am worried that it may make our chickens a target. I am out at work all day but my father in law comes up to let the dogs out. I am not worried about the dogs as they will not be able to get any were near the chickens but really wanted other peoples opinions on free ranging and foxes. Looking forward to hearing from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Hi and welcome to the forum . It's really personal choice - you have to decide if letting your girls freerange is worth the risk of a fox getting them. What will they be living in? If they have enough room you should be fine leaving them in their run while you're out. I must admit to having become more relaxed over the 3 years I've had my girls - there are foxes about but I've never seen one in my garden so I do leave my girls out all day when I'm in the house or just out for a bit but I lock them up if I'm out all day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chucky1 Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 Hi Heney and welcome to the forum. ANH sums it up quite nicely. We FR ours all the time but the local farmers here take foxes quite seriously. Foxes can both climb high fences, burrow under them and break through stuff like chicken wire, so .... Anyway best of luck. Let us know how you get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 As others have said it's a personal choice really. I am another person who FR my girls all day. I have never seen a fox round here (although I know they will be around somewhere) but if foxes have been seen in your area you might think differently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C&T Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 I'm slightly different. Live in a built up area, and urban foxes can be tricky bold things... Ours are only out free ranging when we are at home. Otherwise, they are in their secure run. They don't suffer for it, and I know that they are safe. It also saves the garden from their destructive tendancies for some of the time!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henney Penney Posted September 23, 2010 Author Share Posted September 23, 2010 Thank you all, I appreciate your advice. I think I will just have to see how it goes, we will be keeping them in a cube with a 3m run and I am sure we could easily extend this if necessary. Take Care and I will keep you posted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken bark Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 There is always the option of electric netting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken shack Posted September 23, 2010 Share Posted September 23, 2010 I have a with an extra run for so that when I am unable to let them free range I know they have enough room in the run. My husband is in his workshop most day so they get the oppotuity to FR most days. Mr Fox is always on the lookout for a tasty meal so I wouldn't leave them to FR alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gelbel Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 If there are foxes about I would NOT FR unattended. The first time we took the risk all three of our girls were killed. I now never FR the girls I now have without one of us being around and about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
