Those of you who have lost chickens to foxes...

[MayorNaze]

do you live in a very urban area??

we are looking into getting chickens which would be in a (large) run during the day, free range if we are in garden and shut in henhouse at night.

we are in a very very urban newbuild type estate, i have seen both foxes and badgers but only at night. next door have a "free range" rabbit that has hopped around for years and not been munched - am i being naive in thinking that my chooks would be relatively safe in these conditions??

cheers

[Nekabu]

Urban foxes are a right PITA as they aren't deterred by the scent of humans and often come out during the day. Even though we're out in the sticks we have problems with released ones. Your set up sounds as though it should be fine as long as you don't get complacent and start leaving them out in the garden when you're not in it/within close range/ear shot. If you find the run gets skanky (especially in winter when you won't be in the garden so much) a nice thick layer of wood bark can make a good alternative to grass.

[MayorNaze]

thanks, they are going to be on bark chippings all the time so hopefully shouldn't get too skanky!
so i'm not bein too innocent about the whole thing. that's reassuring!