Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: danfinn1 on May 11, 2016, 22:02
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Last Saturday we had the fox in our garden about 7.30pm, my three birds were in the garden as usual and foxy jumped over a low fence and got Beryl, luckily just pulling a few feathers out before they legged up the garden to me. Fortunately the fox was the wrong side of the floppy electric, not hooked up, fence. :)
We were having my son-in-law's birthday party here at the time. My eldest shouted it's a fox, so I was up and out the conservatory door, chasing the thing back into the floppy fence. I did think the animal was snared so was prepared to give it a kicking, but it escaped, round the back of my shed, right over my Rhubarb and out the back gate.
I am very carefull now at dusk. Beryl has been attacked now twice, both at party time, once a cat and now the fox, small and brown I'm guessing the vixen.
Having read another post on this subject I was carefull to check over my Eglu tonight to make sure the two birds in there were secure, Sandy is poorly now so being kept indoors
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How awful - luckily you were there to chase it away. Be very wary now - the fox knows that there is a weakness and will return again and again to try and exploit it, especially this time of year with young cubs to feed. Are the hens in a fox proof enclosure at night or when you are not there? If not I would seriously think of building one because the fox only needs to get lucky once and it will kill them all.
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you are so lucky, I lost all of mine a few weeks ago to a mink (my 3rd attack in 3 years :( ). I have now given up keeping chickens.
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Joyful I am so sorry. I do understand what it is like to feel obliged to give up as I had to after losing hens, ducks and quail to flooding in 2012. I know you had different breeds and enjoyed breeding and hatching. I really am sorry. :(
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I am quite confident of my Eglu Go and am sure the foxes have investgated it, but there is no way in, and much to the annoyance of my wife I always shut my birds in the coop at night, every night, and bring the food in. They are let out into the run at about 7.30am each day, then free range from 1pm ish to dusk. :D
I am now vigilant when light falls, as this appears to be prime time, and most evenings they, just two now, are in the conservatory with me. When they start roosting on the chair arms then they are enticed back to their Eglu with corn and locked in to the run. 8)
I do appreciate the Eglu is an ugly looking addition to the garden, but it does work well for me, we only have one neighbour the other is the Grand Union Canal, so we will never be without predators or indeed asbo's who throw stones at my greenhouse :mad: