Well he managed it at last.6ft.solid wood fence,topped with coiled barbed wire and it still managed to get in.lost 14 out of 17 hens.At present I am seriously thinking of giving in.I am a pensioner so cannot afford a load of electric fencing and if I can't free range my birds it is of no interest to me.Attack was in broad daylight again and I just cannot see where he got in,none of the barbed wire is flatted and sum height of fence + wire is about 8ft.No sign of it digging in either,really and truly brassed off.
fox again
- Thread starter Martdog3
- Start date
I'm so terribly sorry, Marthog, this must be devastating for you.
Kalynta
New member
I am so very sorry. You must be devastated.
Where abouts are you, is there any one who could lend you some electric fencing? If I live near, I am in south lincs, I may be able to help.
Where abouts are you, is there any one who could lend you some electric fencing? If I live near, I am in south lincs, I may be able to help.
Fuzzyfelt123
New member
Feel terrible for you - poor chickens :shock: . I can understand how you feel like giving up but hope that you manage to survive this. It must be hard though if you do not know how the fox got in....
Margaid
Well-known member
Check out ebay too - I bought 2 x 50 metres at a good price. I messaged the seller and asked what they would accept for a quick sale. Trouble is you need an energiser .. and a battery or mains cable... and so it goes on.
Margaid
Well-known member
Are you sure it's a fox and not something smaller which is finding a way in? My friend though she'd lost 2 to a fox but we eventually decided it was probably a buzzard or some other raptor. That's really tough losing so many hens.
Thanks for your replies,especially offer of electric fencing,sadly I live too far away[W.Mids.] .Yes I am sure it's a fox,just got sight of it before it did for last 3 hens,and it was the biggest one I've ever seen,and I have seen plenty.Also heads were bitten off most of them,a sure trademark of fox.Thanks again for sympathy,having long hard thought now about whether to continue and what to try if I do.I've had hens for about 18 months now and really enjoyed keeping them,but we will have to see now.
Tim
Administrator
I am very sorry to hear of your bad luck with the fox. An electric fence works well for me and if you can install one in your location without too much difficulty, I would always encourage it.
You can buy a small energiser and use cheap galvanised multi-strand wire to put 3 or 4 wires around the run. To save buying a battery (and charging it), a mains energiser usually works out as the more economical option.
From a cost point of view, if you consider a hen to be worth £15-£20 at POL, a fence soon pays off, not to mention the heart break :-(
I have bought almost all of my equipment from UK Countrystore. Andy is very helpful and will spend time on the phone giving advice to make sure you have the right products for your set-up.
You can buy a small energiser and use cheap galvanised multi-strand wire to put 3 or 4 wires around the run. To save buying a battery (and charging it), a mains energiser usually works out as the more economical option.
From a cost point of view, if you consider a hen to be worth £15-£20 at POL, a fence soon pays off, not to mention the heart break :-(
I have bought almost all of my equipment from UK Countrystore. Andy is very helpful and will spend time on the phone giving advice to make sure you have the right products for your set-up.
valeriebutterley
New member
Hello Martdog,
lost all of my dozen perfect, beautiful, egg layers to a fox about 6 weeks ago. 7 bodies left, 3 headless, pen like a burst feather mattress, heartbreaking. I just hate bloody foxes, they kill for no reason at all that I can see.
I cried and cried, they were my pets and much loved, and also nearly gave up, but decided later on the same day to start again.
I, too, am a pensioner.
I paid £52 for 4 Warren replacements, and £86 for 6 other carefully chosen hybrids, who are growing beautifully, and turning out to be lovely friendly girls. The most expensive of these was a Columbine which replaced my Cream Legbar.
I think you can probably source cheaper hens, with a little research.
My son again made my pen as foxproof as possible, and I just hope it is.
Foxes do not like chicken wire, I think it traps their feet, so he has put down very rough bits of it under earth which could be an entry point.
Foxes can scale hugely high walls and gates, solid as they may be, but they do not like chicken wire at all!
He has tried entry again, but was defeated by hidden wooden boards as he tried to tunnel under.
I really do feel for you, do start again.
lost all of my dozen perfect, beautiful, egg layers to a fox about 6 weeks ago. 7 bodies left, 3 headless, pen like a burst feather mattress, heartbreaking. I just hate bloody foxes, they kill for no reason at all that I can see.
I cried and cried, they were my pets and much loved, and also nearly gave up, but decided later on the same day to start again.
I, too, am a pensioner.
I paid £52 for 4 Warren replacements, and £86 for 6 other carefully chosen hybrids, who are growing beautifully, and turning out to be lovely friendly girls. The most expensive of these was a Columbine which replaced my Cream Legbar.
I think you can probably source cheaper hens, with a little research.
My son again made my pen as foxproof as possible, and I just hope it is.
Foxes do not like chicken wire, I think it traps their feet, so he has put down very rough bits of it under earth which could be an entry point.
Foxes can scale hugely high walls and gates, solid as they may be, but they do not like chicken wire at all!
He has tried entry again, but was defeated by hidden wooden boards as he tried to tunnel under.
I really do feel for you, do start again.
I do realise how you feel about letting hens free range for preference, but as I believe this is the second lot of birds you have lost to a fox, there doesn't seem to me to be any alternative to installing a good strong foxproof run for them. If I were a hen, I would prefer a safe and comfortable run to 'freedom' to be attacked and eaten. I let my girls out into a circle of netting on the grass for an hour or so most days, and after that they are all queuing up and calling for me to let them back in their run, so it can't be too bad in there, can it?
You would need a very large run for the 17 hens you had this time, but perhaps, if you kept fewer, the cost of a good run would not be any more than electric fencing to the standard required, and would give more peace of mind as well. Apart from the heartbreak, if you know you have an ongoing problem with foxes, its going to be expensive to have to keep replacing birds. Could you use the existing 6ft wooden fence as one side of the run perhaps?
A solid wooden fence would give a fox very few problems as he could climb up the wood, and obviously the barbed wire was insufficient to stop him coming over the top. Was the garden completely enclosed with barbed wire, or could he possibly have got in another way?
Can you safeguard the surviving three hens? He will be back, I'm afraid, either to look for the bodies he left behind, or to kill again.
You would need a very large run for the 17 hens you had this time, but perhaps, if you kept fewer, the cost of a good run would not be any more than electric fencing to the standard required, and would give more peace of mind as well. Apart from the heartbreak, if you know you have an ongoing problem with foxes, its going to be expensive to have to keep replacing birds. Could you use the existing 6ft wooden fence as one side of the run perhaps?
A solid wooden fence would give a fox very few problems as he could climb up the wood, and obviously the barbed wire was insufficient to stop him coming over the top. Was the garden completely enclosed with barbed wire, or could he possibly have got in another way?
Can you safeguard the surviving three hens? He will be back, I'm afraid, either to look for the bodies he left behind, or to kill again.
chrismahon
Well-known member
Terrible news and my sympathies Martdog. Incredible that it got over a fence that high. No footprints inside from the jump down?
An electric line along the top also needs an earth line under it. I tried electrifying along the top of an old brick wall. There was 8000 volts from the line to the ground, but only 2000 volts from the line to the top of the wall. Didn't work anyway as the fox avoided that and came right round to the other side of the orchard and through the adjoining gardens in broad daylight. Wasn't dumb enough to be caught in the fox trap unfortunately.
An electric line along the top also needs an earth line under it. I tried electrifying along the top of an old brick wall. There was 8000 volts from the line to the ground, but only 2000 volts from the line to the top of the wall. Didn't work anyway as the fox avoided that and came right round to the other side of the orchard and through the adjoining gardens in broad daylight. Wasn't dumb enough to be caught in the fox trap unfortunately.
Awful awful news, we have fox scares a lot, as we have one around, but not during the day, yet, and im around a lot, with 3 (one very very large) dogs..
I am near the W. Mids, so if you need help I could try my best, I am genuinely gutted, I also have horses and have a LOT of electric fencing, going spare aswell!!
Get in contact if you wish, as you can have as much fencing, I know id be truly heartbroken if a fox managed to get mine :evil:
I am near the W. Mids, so if you need help I could try my best, I am genuinely gutted, I also have horses and have a LOT of electric fencing, going spare aswell!!
Get in contact if you wish, as you can have as much fencing, I know id be truly heartbroken if a fox managed to get mine :evil:
Thanks for that,my son and I have been working on it all day.Feel a slightly smaller area with maybe a dozen hens only this time if we can improve on old set-up.I am a stubborn old cuss and hate to be beaten,we are using chicken wire around the sides and will be putting a roof on it,although this will be tricky as it is still a large area.We will have a look at Penkridge market for hens,they often have pullets there and we bought some nice ones from there before.Very sensibley priced as well.
Hi Martdog3.
Good for you; I'm pleased to hear that you're not giving up. I've just managed to post a couple of pics that might give you an idea of how to put a roof on (though others might say that I've done it wrong); we used 2 x 2" tanalised timber from Travis Perkins (other retailers are available
) & screwed lengths of this to the top of the vertical posts around the circumference of the run, before running further lengths across the run to stop the chicken wire roof from sagging under the weight of anything that tries to get through it. We then covered the roof with chicken wire before covering the walls with more of the same. Whether it's fox proof remains to be seen; I get my first ex-batts a week on Sunday.
Hope you have success, however you go about it.
Have a beer for me in the Star or the Littletom Arms while you're in Penkridge. What day's the market?
Good for you; I'm pleased to hear that you're not giving up. I've just managed to post a couple of pics that might give you an idea of how to put a roof on (though others might say that I've done it wrong); we used 2 x 2" tanalised timber from Travis Perkins (other retailers are available
) & screwed lengths of this to the top of the vertical posts around the circumference of the run, before running further lengths across the run to stop the chicken wire roof from sagging under the weight of anything that tries to get through it. We then covered the roof with chicken wire before covering the walls with more of the same. Whether it's fox proof remains to be seen; I get my first ex-batts a week on Sunday.Hope you have success, however you go about it.
Have a beer for me in the Star or the Littletom Arms while you're in Penkridge. What day's the market?
Thanks,in the process of getting a wire roof up,run is now much smaller and I will have less hens to compensate for this.We have some wood over the top and covered it with chicken wire.Thanks to Stanley for offer of electric wire but we'll try this first as I believe it would be rather complicated to put up effectively where my hens are.The 3 I've got left are in a small run half of the day,then I let them in to the garden by the house for the afternoon,they love that.I also have 3 dogs,G.S.D.,Rottie & Jack Russell,sadly they hate chickens.Poultry market is Wednesday,hope to be done by then and go see what they have.Cheers all,will keep you posted.
chrismahon
Well-known member
Penkridge Market. That rings bells for us. Watch out for the breeder castoffs. Nice place though. Sure you are on top of it Martdog. Best of luck and don't get carried away on the bidding.
Hi joks12 and welcome to the forum. Yes there are quite a few things to get sorted when you’re just starting out with keeping hens, but once you’ve got going they’re not difficult really. Have you actually got your birds yet, or are you at the stage of planning their run and coop etc? If you browse the section on Chicken Houses Runs and Equipment you’ll find several threads from people in your position that may answer some of your queries, but do feel very welcome to start a new thread of your own and tell us about your plans and how you’re getting on so far.
Poultrykeeper Forum doesn’t sell anything, bedding or otherwise as we’re not a business, just a group of people who keep poultry and like talking about all sorts of things. Many people do use Aubiose for bedding (shredded hemp stems) which is sold as horse bedding in big bales. It’s incredibly absorbent, easy to poo pick, and doesn’t go mouldy. Or there are alternatives such as Easybed which you might find in your local farm store. Aubiose is often available from riding stables and if you can collect a bale or two in a car, it saves the high costs of transport. Here’s the link to places that will sell it retail. http://www.aubiose.co.uk/stockists.php
Good luck, and do get back to us, you’re welcome!
Poultrykeeper Forum doesn’t sell anything, bedding or otherwise as we’re not a business, just a group of people who keep poultry and like talking about all sorts of things. Many people do use Aubiose for bedding (shredded hemp stems) which is sold as horse bedding in big bales. It’s incredibly absorbent, easy to poo pick, and doesn’t go mouldy. Or there are alternatives such as Easybed which you might find in your local farm store. Aubiose is often available from riding stables and if you can collect a bale or two in a car, it saves the high costs of transport. Here’s the link to places that will sell it retail. http://www.aubiose.co.uk/stockists.php
Good luck, and do get back to us, you’re welcome!
