Poorly chicken

[deecdee]

On the night of 27th December a fox entered our classic run and killed three hens. The fox burrowed beneath the side of the nest box and entered the run. Our hens were not enclosed in the nest box since we thought they were secure within the structure. A sad lesson to learn!

[Grandmashazzie]

How dreadful for you,especially when you thought they were safe.I don't have a run so can't comment but I had thought it was fox proof.

[Cinnamon]

The Eglus & runs are advertised as 'Fox resistant', not 'Fox Proof'.

It has happened before sadly, although it is a fairly rare occurrence.

[Beantree]

It's certainly not a nice way to discover the run isn't as secure as you thought Deecdee. We have had 3 fox strikes in the past so know how you are feeling. We now always consider our enclosures and runs as having varying degrees of fox 'resistance', ranging from a 9/10 down to 1/10. The only thing that is fox 'proof' are 8 of the 10 coops with heavy internal dropping pop-hole doors and latching nest box lids. Two wooden coops we bought are less than satisfactory, with external sideways sliding coop doors which could be torn off. But the doors are always closed at night, every night. Even in Summer on a hot evening the doors are changed from solid to welded mesh frames, but still closed very securely.

[Ain't Nobody Here]

I'm so sorry to hear that, what a horrible thing to have to deal with .

 

Yes, the eglu is advertised as fox "resistant" rather than "proof" but unless you are alerted to that fact before you set up your eglu it's sadly possible to have the outcome you've suffered.

 

I hope it hasn't put you off the eglu for good as there are ways of preventing the same thing happening again. Laying slabs all along the edges of the run and underneath the eglu or even under the whole thing, run and eglu, will make it much more difficult for anything to dig underneath. Weighting down the skirt of the run is also a good idea. In addition, as you obviously know now, locking the eglu will give them overnight protection.

 

If you need any more advice about your setup, just post a question and you'll get loads of helpful suggestions and support .

[Leicester_H]

So sorry for your loss - it must be devastating.

 

We put our eglu and run on our patio to avoid anything digging its way in - could you put some slabs down and put run (and eglu) on top ?

 

We now have a Walk in run on a proper slabbed base - we decided to make it a feature of our garden rather than something to be 'hidden away'. (OTT for what you may want but could maybe you have a slabbed base?)

 

 

As ANH wrote - please post any questions on here - people are more than willing to post pictures of their set-up and/or comment on ideas.

 

H

[wez]

Really sorry to hear that

 

We recently moved our Cube and run onto concrete after a rat invasion where a not so little beggar had (we think) got into the run through the gap where the wheels are. It's bigger than the rest of the run mesh and it had obviously got caught in there overnight. Next morning was a beautifully cylindrical but rather large rat shaped hole where it had dug out of the run to the outside world. I was then naturally concerned about what could get in.

 

Once again, sorry you've had this horrible experience, no words really x

 

[deecdee]

Thank you for many helpful comments. We have responded to the fact that the fox dug under the "wasp" waist of the classic forward into the run by installing some 2" wire mesh under the classic house (from B&Q). We will keep future hens enclosed in the house at night. Regards

[Redwing]

Were you maybe missing the squares of run that are intended to fill that gap? these usually are missing from second hand sales as they are frequently mislaid

 

https://www.omlet.co.uk/shop/chicken_keeping/eglu_runs/499/run_skirt_square_-_pair/

[The Dogmother]

Yes, they were introduced for that very reason.... (many years back) an owner had sited their Eglu Classic on loose soil, and the fox dug under in the same place.

[atsw]

That would have been me then -> http://andrew.hodain.net/chickens/fox/

 

Wow, 2006, that really was a long time ago.

 

I invested in a WIR on a concrete slab base soon after that incident. Lesson learnt and I've had no problems since.

 

Andrew