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This site fills a gap Ive had for a long time. I have about half an acre with hens and ducks and veggies and fruit. Were still picking up the pieces from last weeks storm - the chickens have all turned ferral after the storm trashed their house! and theyre all living up trees.!
Hello to all - I'm looking forward to learning and sharing with you.
Rainy
I thought they all went up into the trees - jungle fowl descendants! My trees all have low branches - elder, hawthorn etc - so they hop on a low branch and work their way up. I had to wash my car toady as two of them must have roosted in the tree above it - what a mess !
I'm going to have to re teach them where their house is now Ive put it back together.
Unfortunately Mr Fox took advantage of the storm and has taken some of the hens - wont know how many till I can coax them all back into the run
We had a similar situation last November. After a storm, the hen-house got damaged, and a fox took advantage. It found a way through a small gap, and killed a mother hen and a chick. Most of the others took to sleeping in trees outside. In fact, one has been outside since then! I have occasionally coaxed her back into the house, but she seems happy in the tree. I say seems, as I haven't seen her since it snowed...
hi all
counted the girls this morning and there was only seven - there should be at least 20
Im hoping that a few more faces might appear later. Some of the girls that have gone were about 4 or 5 years old - and two young silkies that were so pretty.
Ive always been against fox hunting but if come across him on my land ............
my parents' hens used to roost in the apple trees even though there was a perfectly good henhouse
sorry to hear you have lost osme - prolly fox yes. Fox hunting was a terrible way to control foxes - really ineffective - in fact some even built denss to encourage them so they had something to hunt!!
controling foxes with other methods such as shooting is entirely different. .
perhaps you have lost the ones not bright enough to go up the trees?
Red
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
my parents' hens used to roost in the apple trees even though there was a perfectly good henhouse
sorry to hear you have lost osme - prolly fox yes. Fox hunting was a terrible way to control foxes - really ineffective - in fact some even built denss to encourage them so they had something to hunt!!
controling foxes with other methods such as shooting is entirely different. .
perhaps you have lost the ones not bright enough to go up the trees?
Red
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
counted my girls again today - still only seven!!!
I know the fox has been because of feathers and footprints but I found something even more sinister today - someone has cut !!! a hole in the fence of the chicken run. Its definitely not a tear as its too straight.
3 days before christmas I lost a pair of khaki campbells - no feathers and no hens missing. I'm beginning to think that we have a two legged predator and am worried about the aylesburys that I got to replace the campbells. Anyone know how to rig up a battery to chicken wire !!!!
hi
I thought about electric fencing but two things concern me :
a] I have two inquistive children aged 3 and 5
b] we have overhead electricity cables and Ive read somewhere about the danger or arcing
I've got a 3 year old... they learn fairly quickly - and you just have tell them and remind them and remind them.
We do have electric fencing - poultry netting... it worked well in Herefordshire and I remember watching a fox eyeing up the chooks but staying well clear... he was beautiful... but deadly to my birds if he had got in. We've not had any problems with the fox around here in Aberdeenshire... two legs or four (touches wood) - we do have the electric but it's not very strong - a problem with the earth for some reason. We'll get it sorted though.
Overhead cables... yeah we've got those too... just have to be careful with your angles - they mustn't run parallel and i think right angles is best. BE SURE TO CHECK WITH A SUPPLIER and don't take my word for it as I am not an expert.
yes the parallel thing is what I'd read about!
Im sure my boys would be ok as there is already a stock fence [not ours] which borders our land that has an electric wire across the top and they know not to touch that.
Our current chicken run is about 6ft high - does electric netting still need to be that high to keep the fox out?
