Contact Hook Farm

Hook Farm
London Road
Hook, Hampshire
RG27 9EQ

Click here for directions from Google Maps

Incubator Hire

We have an exciting incubator hire service. You can have the magic of watching chicks hatch at home with our high visibility, fully automatic incubators. The day of hatching can be arranged to suit, so why not plan a birthday surprise!

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Opening Hours

We are open weekdays from 6pm to dusk. On Mondays and Fridays we are open mornings from 10am to 1pm. We are closed all day on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

At weekends we are open from 10am to dusk both days.

Boarding in and out is after 6.30 each weekday evening and after 11am at weekends.

Learn Humane Culling Technique

Alison is a DEFRA registered poultry slaughter woman and we run courses to teach you how to humanely kill a chicken. It could be because the chicken is injured, an unwanted cockerel, or a chicken destined to be the next meal.

You will be taught to kill a chicken quickly and humanely in a way that you will be able to use easily at home.

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Rehomes

We know that circumstances change and from time to time we get rehome chickens in. Our policy is to take hens in free and we rehome them at no cost to the new owner. Unfortunately we get an overriding number of cockerels, and whilst we don't charge the new owners for them, they are usually here for a long time. We therefore charge £5 to take in a cockerel to cover our costs.

Contact us from the tab below if you are interested in taking some rehome hens or a cockerel for free, or need to find a new home for your hens.

Testimonials

10th Dec 2009

Hi Alison,

Just wanted to thank you for the excellent course this morning. I learnt an awful lot in those hours and now feel confident about 'despatching' chickens. It was a very friendly atmosphere which helps a lot when you are nervous!!

Well presented and managed - very highly recommended.

Kind regards,

Brenda Morrison

Home > Fox Trap Hire

Fox Trap Hire

The fox, Vulpes vulpes, is a member of the dog family and there is a long tradition of conflict between the chicken keeper and the fox. The fox has been here for centuries and was a contemporary of the wolf. The wolf was hunted to extinction, but an anomaly led to the survival of the fox. It became protected in order to preserve it for sport. It was common in the 1900’s for hunt loving landowners to write a fox protective clause in the leases of his tenants, which was not in the interest of the poultry owning tenant farmers at all! That locally produced protective clause has now been enshrined in national law with the current ban on fox hunting.

Foxes are a complete menace and if you have been unlucky enough to suffer a fox attack you will want to join in doing your bit to keep their numbers down. Losing your chickens at any time is not pleasant, but losing them to a fox is particularly distressing.

There are two distinct types of fox attack and the evidence left behind will give a good indication of what has happened. If there are bodies left behind with the heads bitten off and bites across the back then it was likely to have been a vixen with cubs. If there are piles of feathers and maybe a few bodies left then it was probably a dog fox. That information is, in a sense, academic in that whatever type of fox it was it was still a fox attack. If there are bodies left then it is a safe bet that the fox will return the next night to collect them.

There is a misconception that a fox will kill all the chickens for some sort of sport. In fact, a fox is programmed to kill as much as it can in times of plenty (an entire flock), take what it needs and then return at a later date to collect his ready prepared meal, using your hen house as a sort of larder. It is the fact that the fox will return to collect the rest of the kill that is his downfall in that the trap will be waiting for him.

Foxes do not like change and the chances are that he has been through your garden many times on the off chance, but managed to find a weak point on the day he did attack. The trap will be something different in his path and he will avoid it for a while. However, the larder will be bare on his return because you will naturally have cleared away the dead bodies. In their place will be a tempting piece of wild rabbit in the trap and eventually his curiosity and the lure of an easy meal will get him into the trap. As he pulls on the meat, the trap door will be released and spring shut.

When you have caught a fox do not go near the trap and do not put your fingers anywhere near the fox or trap. Keep children well away. Call us as soon as you see a fox trapped, unless you are going to deal with the disposal of the fox yourself.

Hook Farm Fox Trap Hire will supply:

FOX TRAP · Live catch fox trap · Bait, where applicable

Option 1 You collect and return the trap. You provide the bait and you deal with any fox caught.

Option 2 We deliver, bait and position the trap. The trap will remain in place until the fox is caught, for a maximum of 2 months. If no fox is caught the trap will be collected after 2 months. If a fox is caught within the 2 months the trap and fox are collected. The bait used will depend on the season and we can supply frozen bait for you to change the bait if necessary.

Cost of hire

Option 1: 2 week hire £30, £10 per week thereafter. Payable by cash or cheque.

Option 2: Up to 2 month hire, including disposal of fox £195. Payable by cash or cheque. Cheques to be made payable to Hook Farm.

Deposit required Options 1 & 2: Fox trap deposit £200 Cash only

Contact us from the Contact tab below to discuss the best option for you.