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- #11
Dainerra, i know exactly what you mean. My border collie x jack russell has absolutely NO jack russell traits at all (following scents, hunting, fetching etc) she is like a black and white sausage dog that rounds us up down the beach, and thats about it. She's scared of the chooks.
However, like Mountain Man Jim was saying, my other dog Chopper the terrier does all the things that should be seen in a livestock guard dog. She's loving with the chooks and ferocious with invaders. And yes, she sits on the verandah every evening watching any person or thing that passes the house, regularly misses dinner because she's off patrolling, and barks at stuff we can't see. She also does laps around the chook run during the day, and is usually close to the chooks when free ranging.
However, hearing your story about the fox taking the chook in daylight with you right there, i get a bit worried. It's spring here and the foxes are being seen in pairs or groups.
Aprophet is right, here in southern Australia foxes are a huge problem. We live right next to the beach and apparently they hide out in the foreshore.
Apparently years ago another neighbour came outside to find a fox on top of his fully enclosed run, looking down on the chickens.
My run has thin chook wire with large holes around the bottom, flared out underground with very hardy aviary wire.
I think I will need to reinforce the above ground wire and add a wire roof, which unfortunately will mean I have to bend my back when I'm inside the run.
As asked by What Did I Do, my coop is fully secure with one small vertical sliding door that i shut every night. I will be adding a weight to it in the next few days, just in case a fox tries to claw it open. The bamboo fencing only goes around the back third of the yard, the rest of the fencing is 1m chook wire. We're still saving for more bamboo...
Do you think I should even let my chooks free range at all? Only when I am right there watching them?
However, like Mountain Man Jim was saying, my other dog Chopper the terrier does all the things that should be seen in a livestock guard dog. She's loving with the chooks and ferocious with invaders. And yes, she sits on the verandah every evening watching any person or thing that passes the house, regularly misses dinner because she's off patrolling, and barks at stuff we can't see. She also does laps around the chook run during the day, and is usually close to the chooks when free ranging.
However, hearing your story about the fox taking the chook in daylight with you right there, i get a bit worried. It's spring here and the foxes are being seen in pairs or groups.
Aprophet is right, here in southern Australia foxes are a huge problem. We live right next to the beach and apparently they hide out in the foreshore.
Apparently years ago another neighbour came outside to find a fox on top of his fully enclosed run, looking down on the chickens.
My run has thin chook wire with large holes around the bottom, flared out underground with very hardy aviary wire.
I think I will need to reinforce the above ground wire and add a wire roof, which unfortunately will mean I have to bend my back when I'm inside the run.
As asked by What Did I Do, my coop is fully secure with one small vertical sliding door that i shut every night. I will be adding a weight to it in the next few days, just in case a fox tries to claw it open. The bamboo fencing only goes around the back third of the yard, the rest of the fencing is 1m chook wire. We're still saving for more bamboo...
Do you think I should even let my chooks free range at all? Only when I am right there watching them?
