Chicken bald back

[Wantchooks]

I need to set up a long term but temporary establishment for my old girls, and have decided to go with my eglu classic on bark within a boarded frame, and netting around the whole thing so they have a bit more room to spud about in. There is a photo of a yellow Omlet Go set up like this on the website that is shown to sell the netting, but I am incapable of trying to upload it here.

 

Currently on grass since last week, but this is getting messy.

 

However, today a fox crept into my garden, knocked down some loose netting around my classic and run and swiped one of the three old girls that were FR ing inside.

 

This has worried me as I am sure that the fox will be back for the other two, and I need to make sure that they can't be got at. Any more FR ing will be supervised closely, not from my kitchen as it was today.

 

How do you secure the fox proof skirt if it is sitting on a couple of inches of wood chippings/bark?

Would a fox be able to dig under the bark?

 

 

 

WIll a secure net fence deter a fox from getting too near to the run? I am worried that if fox gets up close it will be able to bite/claw through the run?

 

I want to build this as secure as possible.

 

Any practical advice from anyone who uses this kind of set up would be appreciated.

 

Still feel very upset about poor old Bluey - horrible for her.

[mimi5]

Sorry you lost Bluey You are wise to make changes, as you say the fox will be back

 

I have a cube and 3 meter run on soil but filled inside with a layer of wood chip. It is very secure I have a kind of lawn edging inside the run to stop the wood chip coming out I also have some spare house bricks all along the back of the skirt to stop any digging, at the front grass has grown through the skirt as it is sighted permanently

 

I also have a wooden ark on my patio (not in use at the mo) I have had that filled with "snowflake" a finely chipped wood.

 

Best wishes whatever you decide to do.

[Wantchooks]

Thanks mimi5- your set up sounds really secure. Unfortunately, I think I need to bed the classic run down onto a bark floor -rather than have the bark in the run only.

A cube run is bigger obviously and I think if I filled the run with bark it will lessen the space.

 

Anyone out there with a classic 2m run on a bark base that can give me some advice?

 

Thanks everyone.

[Minnie&Moose]

Very sorry about Bluey. Perhaps try pegging the run down with tent pegs if you're worried about it? We've previously had an eglu classic and run on woodchip with no problems. I put woodchips inside the run as well as around it and it didn't make the run space noticeably less - we had a big light sussex and 2 other large birds in it at the time and they seemed fine.

[Chickabee]

I'm moving soon and as I'm not sure about fox presence, I'm going to secure all my runs with tent pegs. I've bout loads from Amazon. I also use big tree stumps