Unsecure chicken perches

[koo2cat]

Having not seen any foxes for months in the field at the back of our house, I have just seen three mahoosive ones playing in the morning sunshine ! Chickens are in the Cube run so are safe but I only have a one metre extension and there are 7 of them so they are a bit on the cramped side. Oh well better safe than sorry I guess. May have to get another metre extension as this cold weather seems to be bringing Mr Fox out looking for tasty chickens! I know he knows where my chickens are as last week when we had snow there were his footprints in the snow as plain as can be. He had done a nice circuit round the cube!

[Mum]

It's two weeks now since my fox attack. Hate to admit that the girls haven't FR as much as before (although to be fair, the snow added its own barriers )

 

Vigilence and safety are the order of the day.

[Cheeky Chooky]

I know he knows where my chickens are as last week when we had snow there were his footprints in the snow as plain as can be. He had done a nice circuit round the cube!

Scary

[jennym]

We've seen fox prints in the snow every morning when there's been snowfall over night. We've also seen Mr Fox on patrol many, many times - he's much easier to see against the white when we look out the windows in the evenings. Yesterday OH had to come home briefly in the afternoon (full daylight) and there was a fox in the garden, right in front of the eglu. Not taking ANY chances at the moment!

 

[heth1986]

Just food for thought... has anyone tried the ultra sonice fox deterrents?

 

I bought a cat one last year when I had the silkies because the cat from over the road kept coming and bugging them, I doubt it would have done anything but they made a racket when he was around and I didn't want to upset the neighbours! It only cost me £20, haven't had any problems since, and I know you can get fox ones too. When I read up on them there were mixed reviews but I must say that in my urban garden it seems to work very well!

 

Just a thought.

[koo2cat]

I did used to have a fox watch but it broke recently and I haven't replaced it . To be honest I could never tell really whether it worked or not although interestingly when it snowed last year the footprints did seem to avoid the area around the fox watch zone!

 

My next door neighbor is going to lend me some electric fencing today and I may see about getting some fitted permanently. Does anyone else here use an electric fence and if so is it 100% fox proof?

[TAJ]

Foxes out the field by us yesterday - it is a lean cold time of the year for them - we all need to be extra careful.

 

Tracy

[Cheeky Chooky]

OMG jennym...photographic evidence is even more scary

[Millie-Annie]

Last winter in the snow, I saw what I can only presume were fox prints in the snow. For I while I worried and kept the girls in, then got confident again and they went back to free ranging. We have snow again and fox prints again. Thing is Mr Fox isn't going to come calling just when it is snowy is he? So I presume he is around all the time at night.

 

I do worry but I think I would rather let them out and let them enjoy their lives than keep them shut up.

 

Does anyone have any photo's of fox prints in snow?

[Minnie&Moose]

Hi Koo2cat - we use an electric fence and have had no problems at all in the 3 years we've used it. We know foxes visit the garden very frequently at times (though there's been no sign of them in the last week or so) - we see them in broad daylight. However, in deep snow the fence shorts out very quickly so I don't rely on it then but otherwise it's been great. It's even deterred a badger who makes free with our garden at certain times of year - and a couple of teenagers who made the mistake of blundering into it one night having climbed over the fence in search of things to 'borrow'

[Cheeky Chooky]

Does anyone have any photo's of fox prints in snow?

The other morning our Border Terrier did his 'I can smell a fox and I'm gonna kill it' impression in the back garden and outside the front of the house and we wondered if the tracks in the snow belonged to Mr Fox?...having just Google'd it...looks like they did