Yeps have done...quite a plan My area is complete minus the fox proofing....I could always just lock everybody up for the night but don't want to do that.
This works to keep cats in my yard -- I don't know if it would work to keep foxes out, but I don't immediately see why it wouldn't. Have a sturdy wooden rail all around your pen near the top. Attach 18"/45cm wide chicken wire to it ONLY at the lower third or so, so it flops outward. When the fox climbs up and hits the loose wire mesh, he falls backwards. Sue
Tully's got the right idea - a skirt layed about the bottom of your run will stop them digging in and they will not back up - and as Sue points out, on top you may try a floppy fence (say 30cm/12 inches high) around the top of your existing fence - it may stop foxes, cats and birds of prey from climbing over/landing on the fence - they do not like the unsure footing.
BTW, a friend of mine (an old farmer girl) may have found a strange way to keep birds of prey away from her chickens, ducks & turkeys. She strings that brightly colored surveyors tape across her large pens every six feet (2m) or so. She hears & sees the hawks and owls, but they don't come anywhere near now. She thinks they think it is a trap. Sue
Will keep that in mind Sue. Haven't given a lot of thought to birds of prey. Will sort that out once I've fox proofed the fences.
As Len Would say..." In the end ya gotta do what ya gotta do .".... Get out there and look after em instead of sat inside on the computer lololololololololololololol 8) 8) 8) My big secret is To hasve speakers placed around the areas just the radio suffices its the noise or the voices that scare most predators away.Dogs barking,I hang a black metal crow in my garden that scares of heaps of predators,fruit and chicks.... Takes time to get it right though,no good if one forgets to lock em up though Tezza
Fox Proofing An american cowgirl I met this summer talked in depth about protecting her poultry. Some of her tips below... On fencing: To prevent burrowing predators, you can build a pen with chicken wire by digging down 3 ft / 1m below the surface or, rather, you can go 6 in / 15mm down and then 1 ft / 30 mm out. (I guess the diggers don't figure to dig away from the fence) To protect against critters who jump on the fence, make sure it is rigid and strong. Also, keeping some high grasses for chickens to hide from predators was recommended. Lastly, she was keen on working with dogs. (I've read some of the posts on here about dogs, so I offer this with a bit of trepidation) She felt you could train a dog to protect your chickens. The dog should learn to circle the area, you can run the dog around the chicken area on a leash. The dog can be shown which chickens are "hers" Another useful tidbit, somewhat related in that it came from the cowgirl's experience at an herbal symposium... She liked to grow a pennyroyal hedge in the barrier for the chickens, citing that it kept flies away, promoted chicken laying (by means of a happier, quicker sphincter), and the seeds provide good grit, they eat it and spread it. Aside: pennyroyal "likes" wet soil. I haven't had a chance to try any of this yet, but I throw it out there for you. If I get a chance to implement any of these ideas, I'll be sure to report back... I've been reading the site for a while now, never had the moxy to post anything. Hope this is helpful and well received. If not, I'll probably get scared back to fly on the wall status. javascript:emoticon(':?')
Thanks for the heads up on the pennyroyal Permajake - I grow it at the back door to smear the juice of a leaf or two on expossed skin when i garden in the evenings to keep the mozzies away...makes sense that the chooks would benefit from pennyroyal too. 8) Welcome
Maybe as a group we can breed a Fox proof chicken... Maybe using Tezza's battle scared Rooster as the DAD.. Now we just need a GI HEN, willing to do the hard yards...
Re: Fox Proofing Another :lurk: .. .. Welcome mate... If you get stuck without anything to say, simply reply with . A chook will fix it... And everything will be rosey :wav:
