[treecol]

I'm so excited to be back here after so long. A warm hello to you all. We haven't been able to keep chickens for years but have now moved to a suitable place to keep them again. DH has been busy all day with the run. It's 6ft high parrott wire, buried at the bottom 2ft  out. The hens will be in a large converted summer house at night so they can use it a bit like a barn at dawn to feed in & there  will be straw bales at various heights & different height purches & things to interest them till I let them into the run at 7am. Last time we kept chicken we had dogs living out, so foxes weren't an issue. Here is different , no dogs & until we finish fencing the garden can be accessed by foxes, although  I have never seen one.
So should we take any more precautions & do foxes get over 7ft wooden fences? I don't know how to keep the hens safe in the  run apart from what we've done.

[Sassy]

Although 7 feet is a good height a determined fox could get over. What is on the other/outside of your fence? If there are things a fox could use as a launch pad, coal bunker etc they will. Suggest a couple of strands of wire not necessarily taut on the top of the fence and leaning at a 45 dgree angle to the outside to be sure.

Welcome back to fresh tasty eggs and the joy of your birds 

[treecol]

So excited tonight, finnished the run - put weld mesh at 45 degrees & a foot out at the top. Wire is buried 2ft out & has 2ft square paving slabs ontop. We have converted the summer house with old kitchen cupboards on their side for nesting boxes. Perches made from nice strong branches at different heights. The hens will have plenty of light & room plus feed in there to occupy themselves till I let them out at 7am.
So tomorrow we'll pick up 8 lovely warrens from a good supplier who has Vaccinated them against just about everything. They can have a long day in their enormous run. I'll post some pics next week. I've missed not having chooks - can't wait for the morning!!

[New shoot]

I like the kitchen cupboard idea    Enjoy your new hens 

[grinling]

check the branches are not to wide/narrow for perches.
metal dustbin for the feed and have you got something for them to dustbath in.
check each over for eyes/breathing etc.

[treecol]

Thank you Grinling, the branches are roughly the diameter of rungs in pre-made hen houses - last night they were all over the place trying to find a favourite perch. We've put plenty in at different heights in all the corners - unsurprisingly they chose the highest ones. 2 bedded down in nest boxes & today we had an egg!!!
I've got a big bin for the food in the corner of the shed.
We don't have soil in this part of the UK, just sand so they all scraped their own hollows yesterday and it was lovely to watch as each one had dust bath. Thanks for the tips, it's been so long since I've had chooks, I've forgotten more than I learnt!