mullethunter Posted March 16, 2017 Share Posted March 16, 2017 Is it lo-rise or high? I can do my lo-rise on my own in a couple of hours, but the first time it took me ages because I couldn't figure out the clips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted March 16, 2017 Author Share Posted March 16, 2017 Low rise, I would have loved the high rise but couldn't afford it. Where do you live, come and help me Any hints for me? At 10 this morning, that "Ooops, word censored!" fox was sitting on the lawn staring at me through the kitchen window. I wont lie, I was almost hysterical If I had a gun I swear I'd shoot it in a heartbeat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 Millie-Annie I would be happy to help, but I doubt you're near Cornwall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted March 17, 2017 Author Share Posted March 17, 2017 Well I will be at the end of April, but its a long way to bring the run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted March 17, 2017 Share Posted March 17, 2017 And it might be a bit tricky to get it home again once constructed You'll get it built #thisgirlcan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted March 18, 2017 Author Share Posted March 18, 2017 well yes this girl did, but blimey it was hard. I had to dismantle it twice as I got things in the wrong place. It took me hours, but it is done, all apart form pegging the skirt to the ground. I had a quite a few spare clips though, should I have done????? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted March 19, 2017 Share Posted March 19, 2017 I think I had more clips than the exact number they said I needed. I just put extra on, and then some additional cable ties. Just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted April 14, 2017 Author Share Posted April 14, 2017 if you have any sentiment for foxes do not read on............................................................................... The fox got braver and braver. He was in the garden in daylight, several times at night, he would come down to the house, the security light would come on and he would stare at us through the kitchen window. My husband would chase him away and he would come back. I was scared when I could see him, but I was more scared when I couldn't see him and he was up the other end of the garden marauding round the guinea pig hutch. I couldn't sleep I was up and down all night checking, seeing if the light was on. When I did see him, which was more and more often, I was almost hysterical. We spoke to the people over the back, who had a 2 year old little girl, they we scared to leave in the garden on her own, and an old dog, who they wouldn't let out. The foxes would sit on their drive all times of the day and night. So we got advice from a Wildlife Management Company who suggested we bought a trap. They said to just put the trap in the garden, but it could take weeks to catch it, it would need to get used to the trap, and we would probably need to cover it with branches etc. Not a bit of it. We baited it but did not set it one night and three times it was back getting the food out. So the second night we set it and caught it. The man came and humanely dispatched it. He said the fact we caught it so quick showed how brazen it was and he said have no doubt it would have been in your house had you left your doors open in the summer. He said foxes like this one are the scariest kind. We know he was a pair, so he said to continue baiting the trap as the vixen will either start hunting herself or just disappear. Its been 3 days and we haven't seen her. It is lovely opening the back door at night and listening to the silence, not the noise of it either scrabbling in or out. I can finally sleep. I am still scared for my guinea pigs and never leave them in the run when I am out and the tortoise is still shut away until late morning, but I am not as terrified as I was. However, I will never ever let my guard down. I wont lie, I cried about the fox, its not his fault and in a perfect world I would have waved a magic wand and put them back in the countryside where they belong. But as the man said 'either you can live in you garden or he can, but you cant both live there" Please don't hate me, I love animals and this whole sorry saga has broken my heart so many times. I have still not made up my mind whether to have more chickens. I don't want more chickens, I want my chickens, I still miss them so much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted April 14, 2017 Share Posted April 14, 2017 Oh Millie-Annie, you have had a hard time. I do feel for you. Foxes give me the creeps too. You did the only thing you could for the fox to keep your pets safe and perhaps the neighbours children and dog too. We all love animals but sometimes they just cannot be trusted. I hope you get more sleep as the days go on xxx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 After my own experience of the fox coming into my house I think you did the right thing - some individual foxes are so bold that they are a menace. You're right to keep your guard up because usually another fox will move into the territory within a couple of months - and that's why I've previously taken the view that it's not worth getting rid of one - but when you get one like this it needs extreme measures. The experience of hearing a fox rattling at the cat flap when I was a few feet away with the lights on and the radio on was frightening - it wasn't the fox itself but the level of persistent determination it was showing. If I could afford it I'd do exactly what you did, thankfully I haven't seen this fox recently and the chances are it's been run over which is the fate of most urban foxes. Nothing will bring back your chickens but I hope you can sleep better at night now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted April 15, 2017 Author Share Posted April 15, 2017 Thank you both so much. This fox has caused a huge dent in our savings, what with the Omlet run for the guinea pigs, and everything else. We are definitely not having chickens this year, as I am hoping if there is nothing in our garden to attract them we might not get another one. We are then going to invest in a Foxwatch and run electricity up the garden so it can be mains powered. If we do have more chickens we are having electric fencing round them too. We have Scoot to apply every couple of days once the week is up. The man said the smell of that fox will be enough to deter any others for a week or so, deters me, it stinks. Its odd because the people over the back said they have had foxes around for years, but never one like this one. But we have never been troubled, there has even been the odd night, I thought my husband had put the girls away and he thought I had and they were open to the elements all night. Plus next door kept his chickens in just loose chicken wire and netting, not even stapled to the ground. They were like that for 8 years and no foxes even though the people on the corner had told us they were feeding them. So I am hopeful he is just a rogue and now we might be left alone again. I can but hope I do appreciate your kindness and Olly, I would have been beside myself with it rattling the cat flap. Makes me shudder just thinking of it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjp Posted April 15, 2017 Share Posted April 15, 2017 I wonder if it was a rescue job or just the product of some pilchard feeding the dam thing. a fox that's not scared of humans is going to be trouble long term. a mate of mine took 6 weeks to trap one as it knew how to get the bait out of the trap without tripping it He had to zip tie the bait to the back of the cage in the end. turkey legs as recommend by pest control proved to big so He switched to chicken wings at the time it was the only bait that worked that didn't trap to many cats on that estate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted June 8, 2018 Author Share Posted June 8, 2018 (edited) Well we are 14 months on and I decided against more chickens. Re-reading this has given me the shudders all over again. Over the Winter we have had a couple of visits one from a healthy looking fox and one from the scrawniest thing I have ever seen, but that was it, twice in 14 months. I know that doesnt mean they are not about, but they are not like the last one. So despite people telling me that if we despatched it we would just get another one, we haven't so far. I am far more relaxed, I leave my guineas in the omlet run and go out, although I never leave them in the evening. The tortoise is trotting around, and I am so glad I didnt rehome him, but I did think long and hard about that. But I will never have anymore chickens sadly, they just encourage foxes. I still love coming on here and reading about your chickens though and I look after my neighbours when she is away, so I do get my chicken fix and they get my leftovers Hope all your girls are well? Edited June 8, 2018 by Millie-Annie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarkymite Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 On 08/06/2018 at 2:46 PM, Millie-Annie said: Well we are 14 months on and I decided against more chickens. Re-reading this has given me the shudders all over again. Over the Winter we have had a couple of visits one from a healthy looking fox and one from the scrawniest thing I have ever seen, but that was it, twice in 14 months. I know that doesnt mean they are not about, but they are not like the last one. So despite people telling me that if we despatched it we would just get another one, we haven't so far. I am far more relaxed, I leave my guineas in the omlet run and go out, although I never leave them in the evening. The tortoise is trotting around, and I am so glad I didnt rehome him, but I did think long and hard about that. But I will never have anymore chickens sadly, they just encourage foxes. I still love coming on here and reading about your chickens though and I look after my neighbours when she is away, so I do get my chicken fix and they get my leftovers Hope all your girls are well? Hullo! I am glad to hear that you've been able, gradually, to relax a bit. Though it's a shame you've decided not to have any more birds it's clearly the right decision for you at the moment. All well here and actually less fox activity this year than last year. We get the same male who does his patrol once or twice every night (and we have some lovely shots of him on our wildlife camera) but this year there is no vixen or cubs, as far as we have seen, so there's no high jinx in the garden at night and my seedlings haven't been dug up by playful youngsters. I don't have the same sense of rising panic about the foxes that I used to. I'm as vigilant as ever with the chickens though. Every element of the runs (Yes, two at the moment!) is inspected regularly, I'm always adding more cable ties . They are never left free ranging if we go out, and I'm only really comfortable leaving them "unattended" when free ranging if I've got neighbours out using their gardens (and the noisier they are being, the better!) I solved my early morning chicken noise problem too! The girls don't get let out until 6.45am these days and I use a sheet of permeable weed control fabric on the back of the Cube which just makes it a little bit darker. Very occasionally we still hear them if they are awake early, but it's much quieter from inside the Cube and doesn't upset any neighbours. Sometimes even now in height of summer they're still dozy when I let them out and I find that they are preoccupied with getting breakfast etc and there's no real noise until well into mid-morning (one of them does still like to have a lengthy screeching session most mornings but much later than she used to!) I'm saving up for a Hentronix auto opener so that I don't have to get up to let them out at weekends now!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 Great to hear from you again Millie-Annie I know how hard you will have thought about your decision not to keep chickens again. Make sure you keep us updated with guinea-pig tales and tortoise antics instead xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted July 3, 2018 Author Share Posted July 3, 2018 Hello, the guineas are fine and enjoying being out in their very expensive Omlet run. Humphrey tortoise is very naughty. He has developed a head butting habit and head butts everything. But he also is loving this weather Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted July 4, 2018 Share Posted July 4, 2018 My Mum's tortoise has a thing for my crocs when he comes to stay. He whacks my whole foot with the front of his shell. Funny things, tortoises Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Millie-Annie Posted July 4, 2018 Author Share Posted July 4, 2018 Our previous tortoise used to have a thing for wellingtons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
