"Judith in France" wrote in message
...
On Oct 27, 12:00 am, "Christina Websell"
wrote:
"Judith in France" wrote in
...
On Oct 25, 12:11 pm, David in Normandy
wrote:



Christina Websell wrote:
You were lucky that you got them back, if any of mine were out
overnight
that would be the end of them, down the throat of Mr/Ms Fox. I don't
know
if foxes are such a nuisance in France as they are here though, they
didn't
seem to be in Germany.

I plan to keep some chickens here in Normandy sooner or later, but my
French neighbour thinks I will lose them. Seems he kept some at one time
but foxes broke into his barn and killed the lot. I get the impression
they were very clever and determined to get to them in what he thought
was a secure place. We are surrounded by miles and miles of open
countryside and forests here, so lots of wildlife.

--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted
by a filter and not reach my inbox.

I too am surrounded by open countryside, we live in the Foret National
Livrados. I'm sure Tina will have a small fit but I would buy an Eglu
if I were you David, they are guaranteed fox proof. Mine only sleep
in it, during the day there are totally free. You can get a long run
with them if you don't want them roaming the countryside. It's Eglu
by Omelet, they have a website.

----------
No, no, no.
Get a wooden shed and attach a weldmesh run, put paving slabs as a floor
if
you want fox-proof.
Eglus are small plastic things that get wet inside from the chickens
breathing in it overnight. They are not at all suitable. Just a
manufacturer jumping on the bandwagon of the new chicken popularity. "Want
to keep chickens, keep them in one of these Eglus"
Except don't.

I cannot say how annoyed I get about it.
Judith, your chickens liked their Eglu so much that they refused to go
into
it when you moved it a few feet. I don't blame them.

Tina

LOL Then how do you explain that a wooden one on wheels was moved in
someone's garden and they refused to go into that. I know that you
are I will never agree on the Eglu so we have to agree to disagree.
BTW there are vents in the Eglu so that moisture does not build up.
It seems that yours are not free range and I want free range. Of
course I understand that you can't because of the fox problem but just
as you dislike the idea of an Eglu, I dislike the thought of hens not
being able to roam.

---
Oh, so do I dislike the idea that they cannot roam. It used to be possible
but now it isnnt. Once upon a time it was quite safe to let your chickens
out during the day here as long as you shut them up as soon as dusk came.
Now the ferking foxes come in the day so after some mega raids I had to
reluctantly put them into huts and runs.
I did try trapping for a while, with a vermin controller coming to shoot
them in the catch-alive traps. I did that for 3 years. We got 39 very
quickly. Three in a week.
It got pointless. They would never stop coming after my chickens so now my
fowls are safe with runs made of weldmesh, roofed and with paving slab
floors.

Tina