Louis the llama is the last line of defence
BFREPA member Georg van den Berg has taken the unusual step of installing a llama in his free range paddock as he attempts to reduce fox losses.
Georg originally came over from Holland to grow intensive vegetables on his farm near Crewkerne, Somerset, but switched to free range egg production two years ago. But despite his hens being protected by a 10 line electric fence, which in normal circumstances should deter the most persistent of four legged predators, percentage fox losses have run into double figures over the last 12 months.
"We have a high fox population," said Georg, "and I believe we have rogue foxes who have learnt to get through the fence. Our paddocks also contain a lot of trees and hedges which is of benefit to the hens but also provides cover for the foxes."
Although Georg has never seen a fox go through the fence he believes they have learnt to jump through it quickly enough to avoid getting a shock.
"I've seen dogs do it," said Georg. "They see the chickens and excitedly leap through the fence without getting a belt.
"Meanwhile their owners are shouting for the dog to come back and when they eventually come back through the fence it is with far less enthusiasm and that's when they get a shock."
And Georg certainly puts a lot of time into fence maintenance, with the entire fence being walked once a day to check for any damage or obvious entry points. But the farm's organic status means it is more difficult to keep the vegetation off the bottom wires without the use of herbicides.
"We did have black plastic on the ground underneath the fence to suppress grass growth which worked really well until we put cattle in the field and they pulled it out," explained Georg, who now uses a hand scythe to cut the grass.
The idea of using llamas as guard animals is nothing new (in fact the Ranger first reported the idea over two years ago) and their use is on the increase in America where they protect sheep flocks from attacks by coyotes.
A study by Iowa State University revealed that 52% of ranch owners using llamas reported a 100% reduction in coyote losses and nearly 80% of those surveyed were said to be "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with their guard llamas.
It is thought that over the years llamas have been predated on by canids (coyotes, dogs, foxes etc) and are therefore naturally wary of members of the dog family.
Experience with sheep has shown that the pasture becomes the llama's territory and the flock becomes its family group. Typical reaction to a predator include alarm calling, walking or running towards the predator, chasing, kicking or pawing at it or placing itself between the predator and the flock. Ranchers in America even report seeing llamas kill coyotes.
Georg's llama—called Louis—lives in a 10 acre field along with 4,000 hens and two sheep. The sheep were bought to help Louis settle in and the three of them have become inseparable while the llama and chickens tend to ignore each other. But does it work?
"It's early days yet," said Georg, who has had Louis since the beginning of last month, "but I have to say he appears to be doing his job so far. We haven not see a fox in with the chickens or found any evidence of fox attack."
The Ranger intends to follow carefully the career of Louis and will bring readers an update in a future issue. Meantime, if you fancy owning a llama a male animal will cost between £250 and £500 and is very cheap to keep.
Deterring the rogue fox
For those producers who prefer to rely solely on the electric fence option, the Ranger contacted fox fence specialists Rappa Fencing to see what advice they could offer producers whose defences were being breached.
Very occasionally, said Rappa, where there is a prolific fox population in an area, competition for food becomes intense. Out of desperation for food some foxes will risk breaking through an electric fence to fill their bellies. Once a fox has successfully gone through a fence and taken its prey it is difficult to stop them doing it again.
The company says these situations are rare but where they have occurred they have solved the problem successfully by running a two line electrified offset fence outside and parallel to the boundary fence. This stops the fox from taking a run up to the main fence and will result in the fox receiving a shock from the offset fence— enough to dissuade him from trying it again.
Rappa are happy to advise Ranger readers on all fox fencing problems and can be contacted on 01264 810665.
