Daily Improvisations

  • Inside the Homestead
    • Sewing
    • crochet and knit
    • Playing House
    • In the Workshop
    • Cooking and Food
    • Helpless Female
  • Out in the Garden
    • In My Greenhouse
    • Gardening in Southwest Idaho
    • Straw Bale Garden Project
  • Out with Animals
    • Chickens
    • Goats
    • Horses
  • Around the Globe
    • Adventures with Wild Greg
    • Chocolate Shops Around the World
    • Life in Taipei
    • About Town
      • My Blogs
  • The DI Store
    • DI Gardener’s Shop
    • How to Build a Backyard Brick Oven From Scratch (Book)
    • Custom designs
  • DI Memberships
    • Log In
    • Sign up to be a DI Sewing Room Insider
    • Dream House Members Area
      • Dream House Eyewitness Login
      • Your Account
      • Dream House Project
    • Become a Dream House Eyewitness!

Helpless Female Works on Transforming Chicken Coop into Anti-Fox Chicken Bunker

June 20, 2012 by Laura Blodgett 5 Comments

I had never seen a live wild fox up close until last week.  Now I am intimate enemies with it.  I was caught off guard and felt all the helplessness of seeing it show up in broad daylight and kill chickens while I was a few feet away in the house.  So, we moved the remaining chickens to a more secure pen, or so we thought, in the backyard.  Today the fox showed up WHILE we were in the backyard and the dog was out and about.  Two more for the fox, who has a total score of 5 dead (3 to a skunk earlier this month) and 2 injured.  Nothing has made it home for its dinner, so it has to be a little frustrated.  I’m not feeling any sympathy. Here is why I think we have a fighting chance:

  1. The back pen was already made with stronger fencing to help keep the chickens in. (horse pasture fencing)
  2. This fencing is dug several inches down into the ground.
  3. For weed control and aesthetic reasons, we recently completed a brick paver path around the main perimeter of the pen, which should further impede digging.  The edging pavers are dug in about 5 inches.
  4. The fence is basically 6 feet high.  There is a small gap between the top post and the top of the fencing, but I think the fox would give itself a concussion playing superfox through that.
  5. I found where it dug under the gate and have barricaded the bottom of the gates with embedded pavers.
  6. The fencing is wrapped around the outside of the fence posts, which should make it harder to climb.
  7. If need be, it shouldn’t be too hard to rig some fencing over the top of the pen.  Just haven’t quite got my mind around the particulars of doing that, but I’m not giving up!
  8. Lastly, we (many thanks to Curly Que for being willing to get her hands dirty) are using one of those carcasses against it, as a lure in the trap hidden in the plants behind the chicken pen.  Here foxie woxie…
 fox wars fortification of front door of chicken pen with cement pavers
fox wars fortification of front door of chicken pen with cement pavers

The chicken pen is my composting bin, so I am giving up wheelbarrow access with the pavers so high, but the ground is softer at this door.  I may reconfigure at a future date.  Meanwhile, I’ll leave the wheelbarrow at the door and carry full buckets to it when the need arises.

We were already “repurposing” some old brick to make a little walkway out the back door of the                                                                         barn.  I think that will help fortify                                                                              the chicken pen door.

fox wars chicken pen back door fortification
fox wars chicken pen back door fortification

The dirt around the back door is harder packed, so I opted for the sideways positioning of the pavers.  I am probably inordinately pleased with myself for figuring out how to fit them all in there tightly, but, helpless female that I am, it is a significant accomplishment for me.

The aforementioned trap is positioned up near the hole that the fox dug under the back fence.  Gives a whole new sneaky meaning                                                                     to the word “foxhole.”

fox wars trap with chicken carcass behind pen
fox wars trap with chicken carcass behind pen

I admit I am somewhat emotionally attached to my chickens, but even if I wasn’t, why should my chicken pen be the local fox fast-food-all-you-can-eat?  I aim to outfox this fox.

Anyone else having predator problems?  And what are you doing about it!?

Filed Under: chickens, Helpless Female, Inside the Homestead Tagged With: helpless female

If you want to read a heartwarming story about how a mother deals with a daughter's death, read this book.

If you have ever wanted to cook pizza in a brick oven in your own backyard, this book is for you!

Basic Facts Guides to Gardening in Southwest Idaho

a list of blog articles covering the basics to help you with your garden in southwest Idaho

My Other Blogs

  • Fun Fitness After 50
  • Fun Learning Chinese
  • LauraBlodgett.com
  • The Happy Homeschool

Blogroll

  • Anemone Flynn
  • Fine Gardening
  • Gourmet In The Field
  • Sew 4 Home

About me

 

 

Daily Improvisations is a project by Laura Blodgett

If you want to know more about what I’m up to and where to read about it, here is a summary!

Making sure you know that:

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, including affiliate links to amazon.com. See disclosures here.

Contact Me

Contact Me
First

All pictures and content including the name and logo “Daily Improvisations” are Copyright (c) 2019 by Laura Blodgett, unless otherwise noted. Please contact the author with any questions or comments.

Tags

animals Backyard Oven backyard weeds book reviews Chef Betharoni chickens Cori Lou Costa Rica crochet and knit decorating even I can do dehydrating fabric stores around the world flowers flowers from seed Gardens Around the Globe helpless female homestead injuries insects interview Maui music organizing poems PVC Pipe Projects questioning the establishment recipes restaurant reviews sew sewing southwest Idaho gardening sprinklers stock market diaries Taipei Taiwan technology know-how The Best Little Chocolate Shops tools and equipment underground house unimpeded parenting Wild Greg Adventure

Copyright © 2023 · Beautiful Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in