This morning I would rather talk about anything but foxes........but first a quick update for all my lovely followers and concerned folk.
Yes, it was most definitely foxes, at least two, that have eaten my lovely girls. Yesterday morning I heard the girls making a LOT of noise and dashed out of the kitchen to find myself stood about twelve feet from Mr Fox, calmly surveying what had been his larder, but now safely behind the chicken wire. On my order Sophie gave chase and saw him off, he didn't come back!!
This morning I have just been greeted by the sight of a large lady fox, bigger than yesterdays but just dashing through the field. I hope they realise chicken is off the menu. My remaining girls are all well and safe, slightly disgruntled at being expected to live in a pen, you can see the temporary enclosure for the big girls at the top left of the photo above, it will later be the empire of the Lavender Pekin Bantams. We have placed an emergency order with the company that provided our hen houses and hopefully they will rush our new Fox-proof Electric Poultry Netting to us and then all will be well.
Runner Bean Wigwam (also 2 beans planted at each post)
Now.....enough of that!! Yesterday saw us being busy, busy little bees, LH building his worm bed sections (very impressive!!) and me........I was turning the picture you see at the top of this post into the picture you see at the bottom.
Cucumber Slope (with Pumpkins behind and to the left)
Of course there were lots of other jobs along the way, including a marathon watering session for the Kitchen Garden and polytunnel, but in my mind my main achievement was the cucumber/pumpkin/bean bed.
Nice to step back at the end of the day and see someting completed (well almost, I'm just going to add some sweetpeas between each of the uprights, LH has put some mesh there for them to grow up).
I'm off to plant them now, that is after I've coaxed the girls into their daytime enclosure.
Have a good day and I hope you all have some of this lovely good weather, it's Bank Holiday in the UK this weekend so we know it won't last!!
Sue xx
Cucumber Slope (with Pumpkins behind and to the left)
Of course there were lots of other jobs along the way, including a marathon watering session for the Kitchen Garden and polytunnel, but in my mind my main achievement was the cucumber/pumpkin/bean bed.
Nice to step back at the end of the day and see someting completed (well almost, I'm just going to add some sweetpeas between each of the uprights, LH has put some mesh there for them to grow up).
I'm off to plant them now, that is after I've coaxed the girls into their daytime enclosure.
Have a good day and I hope you all have some of this lovely good weather, it's Bank Holiday in the UK this weekend so we know it won't last!!
Sue xx
You have been busy :) Hope you manage to fully fox proof your girls soon.
ReplyDeleteWe did some planting out in our little patch this weekend - climbing beans & sweetpeas. We netted them & the runners to protect them from the pigeons.
Still got more to do today - another row of carrots to go in.
only just catching up - so very sorry to hear this Sue. How terrible.
ReplyDeleteJust been catching up with your last few posts. I am so sorry to hear about your chickens. I only have four but a few years ago I had two hens from Omlet. I used to let them free range and then one sunny october day at midday I heard a terrible commotion in the garden. One hen was frozen to the spot and making such a noise. I found the other hen in a bush with a gaping hole in her side. She died soon after. I now keep my 4 hens in an enclosure for their own safety. In addition to this I have a group of fox cubs living at the other end of my garden. It is a constant worry that my hens may be targeted even in their run. As cute as the fox cubs are to look at - I really want them to go now. I live in an urban area and foxes are a really big problem.
ReplyDeleteIt's Victoria Day in Canada today and it's been a great weekend weather wise. No foxes here but we too starting clearing out the garden 'shed'.....something we've been wanting to do for a while. Today we will finish the job. Boy, what a difference. Have a great dau!
ReplyDeleteYeah for planting season! We've been waiting and waiting to plant - have had a lovely warm early Spring here in Southern Ontario (Canada) but traditionally we don't plant until Victoria Day weekend for fear of a late frost. So this weekend has been all about our garden.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderfully rewarding planting away and dreaming about good things to come. And amazing that no matter what has happened in the past, planting season is always so optimistic.
Last year we were stricken with blight in our tomatoes that spread to our peppers and cucumbers. Our lovely sweet peas just barely poked their little green heads above the soil and they were summarily snipped off by black birds. So over all, the garden was a bit of a downer last year to say the least.
Yet we plant again this year with all the hopes that things will go well and we will have better crops.
Wishing you the best crops possible in your garden, and the same for us! :)
Dear Sue,
ReplyDeleteOkay I won't dwell on the sad news but want you to know I was genuinely upset to read about Saturday's events. I read about it late Saturday night and it has been on my mind a lot. I am really sorry. I know I know it is kind of part and parcel of 'a new life in the country' but it is still sad and cruel for you, and again I am really sorry. And for those of us out here who are contemplating the leap into chickens (or should I say those of us attempting to convince our miserable partners that we should?!) it is actually good to read about the harsh reality.
But I won't go on.
Sorry too to hear about Betty's phantom pregnancy. God damn! I have a number of small spotty Maileg fabric pigs here and I am going to arrange them on the lawn and take some photos for you later in the week - hardly the same I know but might make you smile.
xx
Talk about making hay when the sun shines!
ReplyDeleteYou're doing great Sue! Just wish I had the land to grow more. My garden is beginning to look like a growing shanty town with pots, boxes and bags of stuff growing away LOL!
I'm hoping to grow enough to freeze,pickle, dry and preserve any way I can (no pun intended),then forage and barter for stuff I can't or have been unable to grow. Watch this space!
Sandie xx
So glad to know your 'girls' are going to be fox-proof! Have a lovely week.....
ReplyDeleteWe had a fox run through our yard today and I thought of you! I'm glad your girls are safe!!
ReplyDeleteOh Sue, so sorry to hear your news. I hate foxes. A few years back they took off with our bunny and guinea pig. So pleased to see your girls are now safe and sound. Sue x
ReplyDelete