Mr Fox

[Goldberry]

Hello, may I join you? I'm very excited - our chicken coop arrived today and we're getting our chickens straight after Christmas! The coop we chose looks like this cgi.ebay.co.uk/CHICKEN-HEN-HOUSE-COOP-POULTRY-ARK-RUN-BRAND-NEW-/120642631169?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Poultry&hash=item1c16dc7601.
What I was wondering was what anti-fox measures I need to take. Is it enough to lock the chooks in their house at night? They will be in the run during the day, although I'll let them roam round the garden sometimes while I'm there. Do I need to sink the chicken wire of the run into the ground if they will be safe in their house at night?
Thanks!

For total peace of mind, put the whole coop/run on slabs. Then use horse bedding, such as aubiose, as the scratch material in the run. That way, nothing can dig in.

Depends how much money you have .... we have very determined foxes but we use electric poultry netting from Flytesofancy and its fantastic

Hmm - not over-endowed in the money department! I read on the Omlet website something about hanging bags of human hair around the garden and getting dh to wee outside to deter foxes - sounds cheaper, but not sure if it really works .

Goldberry - we have just had the same hen house delivered for our first chickens. Its currently sitting in pieces in the spare room. We have to wait for snow to clear before trying to assemble. I hadnt thought we may need extra measures to deter foxes so I will watch this thread with interest.

What breed are you going for? We have decided on 3 birds to start but still unsure if we should go for bantams or ex battery hens?

Ours is sitting in the garden waiting to be assembled, unavailable. We are going for 4 birds. We're not going to get ex-batts at first, but may get some when we are a bit more experienced with chickens! We are going to get 4 different ones from here: www.oxfordpoultry.co.uk/Oxford_Poultry/Chickens_for_sale.html I particularly like the 'blue' one!

We have pretty much decided against ex batteries as well , because of our lack of experience. We will go for light sussex bantam, as from what I've read they are easy going and recommended for beginners. I just want the snow to clear so we can get on with it now. Your blue bird looks great! Good luck with it all.

We dug uip the ground and put the wire underneath (all the way under) and then put the ground back and put the house on top of that (you have to join the top of the underground wire to the run)

but slabs is the easier and cheaper option - you don't even nee aubiose, if you throw in a pile of soil at one end....

and with 4 birds, you will need an extension to that run - they will need a run of 2sqmetres per bird (so 8sqmtrs for 4). that's a run of 4mtrs by 2mtrs (or about 12ft by 6ft).