Poo help please!

[HennyPenny59]

Just wondering, has anybody had an incidence of a fox getting their chickens whilst they were contained within electrified netting?

[Eggasperated]

Its not happened to me but I believe it can be possible for all sorts of reasons, such as - fence near to trees or objects a fox can use to climb in, very soft earth round the perimeter of the fence allowing a fox to dig under, gaps under the fence if it's not pegged down properly and of course fence failing due to problems with the set up or wet grass round the bottom of the fence shorting it out.

I think all you can do is be as thorough as possible when setting up the fence and checking on the condition regularly.

Hope this helps, why did you ask?

[HennyPenny59]

Hi .. thanks for your reply

 

I think im asking, because even though Ive done the best anyone can do, to me they still look so vulnerable.

 

Their fence is 1.2m high, and when I look at it, I just feel that a determined and hungry fox could easily leap over that height without touching the fence and get them!!

 

The only 2 things I am worried about is ....

 

They are near a 4ft fence which is 7ft away ...Do you think they could use the top of that as a launching pad? and they are near a garage which is 7ft high (the roof has a 1ft overhang) .. There is a water butt attached to the garage which they could have used as a step up, but ive covered the top of that with barbed wire.

[Daphne]

Its not infallible I'm afraid - I've lost stock and so has a neighbour. I think the key thing is to keep the fence in very good order - taut and fully charged with no long grass to cause leakage at all times. Mostly, the fox will test the fence, get a shock and then leave well alone. When I lost my birds the grass was too long and when my neighbour did there was a sea of mud so conditions weren't great. I've also lost a hen in the last month but I think she flew out of the pen in a panic sighting the fox, so that is another hazard.

 

I know foxes can climb but I'm not aware they can jump 7ft across, maybe others know for sure.

[Eggasperated]

As far as I understand foxes climb up fencing rather than leap over from ground level so providing there is a good voltage, as Daphne said, they will test the fence then leave well alone. As regarding your other fence and the garage it sounds as if you have done your best to make this dIfficult for foxes so hopefully they will look for easier prey.

Hoping some of this will put your mind at rest so you can enjoy your chickens.

[HennyPenny59]

Thanks everyone for your replies, they genuinely have made me feel more relaxed

 

Ive disconnected the first live wire to the netting, so the grass would have to grow pretty long to reach the second wire, and I keep the grass short anyway, so im hoping ive excluded that problem of long grass shorting out the netting. Ive also got a fence tester which I use every morning ... But what I think I might do is to buy 4 rigid corner posts, as the ones supplied by the manufacturers are far too bendy to do the job properly, and probably more ground pegs as well.

 

Yes, the problem with the hens flying over the netting ... Blackie our Rhode Rock showed us she could do that last week when she was preparing to lay her first ever egg! ... I got home from work and couldn't see her in the run, and after 30 minutes of searching (in the wrong direction) I finally found her sitting on her egg in a perfect nest she had made out of pea shingle by our garden gate .. I honestly thought I had lost her to Mr. Fox. Thankfully since then she has decided to be sensible, and has laid in the coop like the others.

 

Im going to order those rigid fence posts and pegs tonight.