Fox-proofed Chickie Pen with extra protection

Returning home Sunday night from my fabulous Sedona trip, I pulled the car into the carport. The lights shone onto a scarey sight.....a HUGE CAT as big as the whole chickie pen!!

In this photo just below the bulbous black nose, the brown tarp is covering the run which is attached to the PeptoBismol pink eggloo.

As you can see the pen roof is completely enclosed. Mr. Fox and Mrs. Raccoon will have to bring strong wirecutters to get into this new Taj Mahal.

My friends, Camille, Tom and Susan are not only expert constructors but very clever arty folks!

My poor sweet girls are gone

Date: May 24, 2008chickens About 6 AM today a fox climbed over the chickie pen wall and killed all my girls. Camille saw him carrying off the last one. We didn't hear a thing. Dreamer and Ivy and I were asleep in the front bedroom. Camille was going out to work in the garden. He was a fox she had never seen. I am so sorry for them and me and you having to read this. Arriauna Americauna Born April 22, 2007 Died May 24, 2008 Queen B Barred Rock Born April 15, 2007 Died May 24, 2008 Hecky Astralorp Born April 15, 2007 Died May 24, 2008 Henny Astralorp Born April 15, 2007 Died May 24, 2008

Fox vs Taj Mahal

Photos show Mr. Fox stalking on the outside of our Taj Mahal, and then Mr. Fox on outside left of the Taj as Arriauna and Hecky stand in snow atop the run. [The big black blobs behind the run are a compost bin and sacks of leaves for insulation.]

Mr. Fox has met his match. First he stood on the path between the house and the Taj Mahal hen pen. I was looking down at the action from the kitchen window which is why the photos are taken through 2 window panes and a screen. The hens were in their covered run, backlit with a light bulb, so he could see them easily. I don’t know if he made a noise, like ‘Heh, heh, come here, girls, I’ll give you a cookie”, but those sweethearts came marching out to greet him. Then he began to run around the outer edge of the pen, no doubt chuckling and saying “It won’t be long, my pretties”. They recognized him as the bad guy he is and they began to run. They all made a lap around the pen; hens on the inside, fox on the outside. Arriauna and Hecky flew up onto the run. That really excited Mr. Fox. He ran around to the west outside. He stared at Arriauna for a moment then leaped straight at her. He bounced off the double wire wall. I hope he had a wire imprint on his nose. At this point I intervened before he got too frenzied that he might figure out how to climb over the top.

Chickie Taj Mahal

No longer do we worry about escapee hens OR uninvited deer and foxes. Mr. Fox still has us on his list but he just runs by as he checks out the neighborhood. Word has it he asked Santa for wire cutters. Tom and Camille built this incredible fortress. The corner posts are set deep in the ground. Two opposing walls were made as kennel walls for very tall dogs. The other 2 walls are made of cattle corral wall wire covered with chicken wire. The roof is yet to be complete but will be a continuation of the cattle wire. The base of all walls have an apron of chicken wire, one foot up the wall and one foot out pinned to the ground. This will thwart any predator digging.

The birds and squirrels think it was all built for their perching pleasure. It has already served one squirrel escaping from the cat. The pen was closer than the tree! The hens love it. They can run around, even fly (a bit), in safety. I love the people door. It is very secure, yet easy to get in and out.

Tune in again for how to keep chickens warm, happy and laying in freezing weather.

Fox Spies on The Girls

See Arriauna (orange), Hecky and Henny (black) in front of the eglu door, but safely in the run. See Mr. Fox (red and white with triangular face) sneaking closer from the upper left. One second later the girls spotted him and dashed into their eglu house. This photo was taken through the kitchen window screen.

I walked out to watch him from the top of the back steps. He was not frightened by my presence. We stared at each other for a few minutes. The girls (bless their dumb little hearts) came out of the eglu when they heard me talking to him. He sat and watched them for awhile. I told him to leave and moved toward him. He yawned! Finally he strolled away, stopping to pee on some weeds. He slowly walked to the back by the compost pile where he usually hops up on the hay bales surrounding it to scramble over the fence. This time he went not over the fence but into the Austrees. I saw him walking the labyrinth. He was not doing the path properly so I threw a handful of pebbles at him and he scampered out of sight which appeared to put him over the edge toward the creek. I was not confident that he had really gone so I stayed out there for awhile.

He's young and curious. I like him and wish we could all be friends BUT I know he would kill the chickies just for sport if not for food. His regular presence is foiling my simple plans to expand the chickie's foraging territory.

The intermediate solution is to plant a tray of grass to give them. I'll keep a couple going to alternate.

Fox, Jr.

To the right of the Eglu, meet Fox, Jr. He is small but he is a fox. A fox in training? He appears to be a teenager from last year’s litter. This photo was taken from the kitchen window 3 days ago. All chickies have run into their Eglu. Only a newspaper and some shadows remain. Camille and I have had several ‘talks’ with him, both in person and in absentia. Not to jinx his 3-day absence, I will say he has not been missed. I pray some fortunate reason will keep him away. ‘Fox in the hen house’ can remain a literary phrase. ‘Fox passing by’ is too close for comfort.

Mr. Fox pays a visit

Mr. Fox (literally, red male fox) came thru the yard yesterday. I was alerted to his presence by a squirrel who was feeding at the birdfeeder but then in a flash hit the ground running and dashed up a nearby tree. Within a second Mr. Fox ominously circled the birdfeeder twice. He lifted his leg and marked the base of the feeder. Then he loped past the future eglu home of my chickies, past the small plant nursery, and around the corner of the house. He loped thru the side yard, as I loped thru the house to get a look at him out the front windows. He stopped in the middle of the front flower garden to mark a large red rock then loped out of view into the trees and probably down the creek bank. He looks hungry. Don’t all foxes look hungry? This time of year he is hunting food for his kits. He is very thin now; not the sleek luxuriant fellow of the winter. At night when driving in this 5 x 20 block neighborhood on the east side of Monument Creek, he and his female fox partner can be seen crisscrossing streets, leaping walls, turning down alleys, hurriedly searching for prey No chickens have been outside to leave any attracting odors so he didn’t stop at the eglu….yet.