Free ranging our chickens has always been something we've done out of kindness for our fowl. Unfortunately we're going to have to be cruel to be kind for a while.
While I was out and about for the afternoon, 11 of my chickens were free ranging having a jolly old time; as they do! My wife happened to be watching them from the kitchen as 8 of them scratched around the upper-lower paddock when suddenly things were aflutter! A fox had grabbed one of our ISA Browns, Gumdrop, and the remaining 7 ladies were crying at the top of their little lungs and bee-lining for the coop.
Wifey was quick to react and ushered the 7 traumatised ladies back into the coop, as well as our 3 Silkies who were hanging out on the bottom paddock nearby. Unfortunately there was no sign of Gumdrop or the fox; our first unfortunate casualty of the cunning red killers.
I spent the evening in the dark and rain adding extra security to their coop and run -- hopefully enough to keep ol' Mr. Fox at bay. I'm sure he assumes he knows where he can get his next meal from and will be making another visit soon.
We have 15 hens in the coop+run at the moment which is OK when they're free-ranging, but not so much if they're to be cooped up at all times. It's a two-parter joined together for a total of about 20 square meters (or 200 square feet). I have partitioned part of it off (about 5 square meters) for 4 new girls I've added to the flock (2 x Araucana's and 2 x Black Copper Marans (yay colourful egg baskets!)). I want to extend back out to the yard ASAP, but want to keep ol' Mr. Fox away.
Can anyone give first-hand experience on electric chicken netting please? In your experience, has it worked to keep out predators? What type did you go with, and how high was your netting?
In addition to electric chicken netting, I'm planning on reaching out to the applicable authorities to see what I am and am not allowed to do as far as trapping the fox. I'm in Australia, and there are no native foxes on the continent. The red fox is classified as a pest and state governments and local councils use poisoned baiting programs to cull fox numbers. We don't really do guns in Australia, and as I'm in a semi-rural area, the use of poison-baits is very much restricted here, so I can probably only trap and have authorities euthanise.
Has anyone used cage traps on Foxes before and if so, how did you go about concealing the trap? Did you place it near the coop, or somewhere else? We only have 1.2 meter high post and pole fencing with chicken wire on it, so the entry points for foxes are pretty well unlimited.
While I was out and about for the afternoon, 11 of my chickens were free ranging having a jolly old time; as they do! My wife happened to be watching them from the kitchen as 8 of them scratched around the upper-lower paddock when suddenly things were aflutter! A fox had grabbed one of our ISA Browns, Gumdrop, and the remaining 7 ladies were crying at the top of their little lungs and bee-lining for the coop.
Wifey was quick to react and ushered the 7 traumatised ladies back into the coop, as well as our 3 Silkies who were hanging out on the bottom paddock nearby. Unfortunately there was no sign of Gumdrop or the fox; our first unfortunate casualty of the cunning red killers.
I spent the evening in the dark and rain adding extra security to their coop and run -- hopefully enough to keep ol' Mr. Fox at bay. I'm sure he assumes he knows where he can get his next meal from and will be making another visit soon.
We have 15 hens in the coop+run at the moment which is OK when they're free-ranging, but not so much if they're to be cooped up at all times. It's a two-parter joined together for a total of about 20 square meters (or 200 square feet). I have partitioned part of it off (about 5 square meters) for 4 new girls I've added to the flock (2 x Araucana's and 2 x Black Copper Marans (yay colourful egg baskets!)). I want to extend back out to the yard ASAP, but want to keep ol' Mr. Fox away.
Can anyone give first-hand experience on electric chicken netting please? In your experience, has it worked to keep out predators? What type did you go with, and how high was your netting?
In addition to electric chicken netting, I'm planning on reaching out to the applicable authorities to see what I am and am not allowed to do as far as trapping the fox. I'm in Australia, and there are no native foxes on the continent. The red fox is classified as a pest and state governments and local councils use poisoned baiting programs to cull fox numbers. We don't really do guns in Australia, and as I'm in a semi-rural area, the use of poison-baits is very much restricted here, so I can probably only trap and have authorities euthanise.
Has anyone used cage traps on Foxes before and if so, how did you go about concealing the trap? Did you place it near the coop, or somewhere else? We only have 1.2 meter high post and pole fencing with chicken wire on it, so the entry points for foxes are pretty well unlimited.
. At least I had time enough to fortify the coop tonight. 
