Fourblackhens
In the Brooder
- May 14, 2018
- 1
- 1
- 12
Hi everyone,
I'm brand new to BYC but not so much to owning chickens. I recently moved to country NSW (Aus) and had 4 lovely Black Australorp/New Hampshire pullets which free ranged in our garden during the day and were put in their run/coop every afternoon and padlocked in. A few nights ago I forgot to lock the padlock and a fox managed to remove it and then open the latch to the coop door, needless to say, it wasn't the best way to start the day the next morning.
We brought home our 4 new pullets (same x breed) 2 days ago and so far they've stayed in the coop - venturing out into their run in the evening to have something to eat and some water. They are extremely skittish around us. I'm putting that down to a sudden change in environment, getting used to their new home, new people and the fact that we've had gale force winds the last 2 days.
My cat (believe it or not) woke me up at 6am this morning to the sound of foxes on the property next to ours, calling to each other. I checked the coop and the run, it's completely untouched so I know that the only weak spot was the fact that the fox figured out the locks (!??!!)
I'm wondering though, if perhaps they've also picked up on there being a fox in the area? Could that perhaps account for how wary they are? I'd love to get rid of the foxes as they are such an enormous pest in Australia but i'm in what's considered a residential area so guns and bait aren't an option.
Any suggestions for soothing chooks would also be greatly appreciated! For the moment we're leaving them in peace and going out a few times a day with scratch and meal worms. We got 2 eggs yesterday so I can't imagine they are all that stressed.
I'm brand new to BYC but not so much to owning chickens. I recently moved to country NSW (Aus) and had 4 lovely Black Australorp/New Hampshire pullets which free ranged in our garden during the day and were put in their run/coop every afternoon and padlocked in. A few nights ago I forgot to lock the padlock and a fox managed to remove it and then open the latch to the coop door, needless to say, it wasn't the best way to start the day the next morning.
We brought home our 4 new pullets (same x breed) 2 days ago and so far they've stayed in the coop - venturing out into their run in the evening to have something to eat and some water. They are extremely skittish around us. I'm putting that down to a sudden change in environment, getting used to their new home, new people and the fact that we've had gale force winds the last 2 days.
My cat (believe it or not) woke me up at 6am this morning to the sound of foxes on the property next to ours, calling to each other. I checked the coop and the run, it's completely untouched so I know that the only weak spot was the fact that the fox figured out the locks (!??!!)
I'm wondering though, if perhaps they've also picked up on there being a fox in the area? Could that perhaps account for how wary they are? I'd love to get rid of the foxes as they are such an enormous pest in Australia but i'm in what's considered a residential area so guns and bait aren't an option.
Any suggestions for soothing chooks would also be greatly appreciated! For the moment we're leaving them in peace and going out a few times a day with scratch and meal worms. We got 2 eggs yesterday so I can't imagine they are all that stressed.
