soapdragon Posted June 21, 2020 Share Posted June 21, 2020 I love the blue/grey colour of the house! A lovely set up too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted July 2, 2020 Author Share Posted July 2, 2020 Finally! The chicken run is now finished - at least until we find some better mesh at a reasonable price to staple on, and some clear corrugated roofing sheets as a permanent solution. Nonetheless, the electric wire round the outside will hopefully keep the foxes at bay and the buried mesh skirt should stop them digging underneath. The suggestion (on another thread) of leaving the floor au naturel and letting nature deal with the disposal of the chicken poo seems to have been a winner; the girls took one look at the grass in there and trashed the lot with gusto. Great fun for them. Now for a relax with a bottle of Montepulciano as a bit of a celebration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted July 2, 2020 Share Posted July 2, 2020 One of my favourite wines! Looks great! Speaking of a cheap source of weldmesh, I found Hills of Devon the most reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cat tails Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 That’s some serious electric fencing! 😳 Mine love digging around for things too. In spring I turn out most of my pots in their run, to replenish the kicked out earth and for their entertainment too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 22 minutes ago, Cat tails said: That’s some serious electric fencing! 😳 Sadly, we have regular visits from foxes in our garden, situated as we are in a big green rural blob of the country. The prevalence of foxes is one of the main reasons we didn't bring our chickens with us from our previous house when we moved into our current home. However, given we now have the space and the opportunity presented by our neighbours gave us the impetus, we decided if we were going to keep chooks again we'd have to do it properly. In fact, the electric fencing is a lot more straightforward than it appears. It's only a couple of hundred metres of polywire threaded multiple times round the run, spaced according to some recommendations on Electric Fencing Direct. Only time will tell whether or not the run will prove fox-proof, but it's certainly not for want of trying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 My goodness, I have never seen so much electric fencing! I think they will be fine, assuming the run is weldmesh. In fact, I am sure its all OK, but are you 100% sure you can get into the WIR?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 That is a very meaty looking fence layout. My electric fences come from Electric Fencing Direct too. The first year we used them we had deep snow and the fox tracks were quite visible - they gave it a wide berth - like several metres! Which was lucky because the fence had stopped working because of the snow, so I take it that the foxes recognise anything that might zap them! We now have another fence around the duck pen. The only time the fox has shopped was when the birds were free ranging, then it only took the one who was separated from the rest - due to wanting to be alone at the time. Foxy also took a small tub trug. Perfect size for a toy. I had left it in the garden ready to bring in for a wash. Probably it's a foxy shopping bag now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
majorbloodnock Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Daphne said: My goodness, I have never seen so much electric fencing! I think they will be fine, assuming the run is weldmesh. In fact, I am sure its all OK, but are you 100% sure you can get into the WIR?! The run isn’t all weldmesh, hence in part my keenness to ensure some solid and reliable electric fencing; a flock of eight hens makes us a significant target, and probably preferred to next door’s two girls. However, I’ll be upgrading to weldmesh when the opportunity arises. As for getting in, yes 100%. The polywire runs from one insulator on the run side to each door and then criss-crosses the door. We can get to both the door handle and the latch without getting too close to the polywire, and the latter’s flexibility allows the doors to open and close freely. So freely, in fact, that the “weight on a rope” mechanism I rigged up to make the doors self closing still works just as smoothly as it did before. Edited July 3, 2020 by majorbloodnock Added info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 You'll certainly taste yer fillings if you touch that lot! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 MB - ever thought of applying for a job at HMP 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
