Another stupid question perhaps: If I have the fox alarm installed, do I need a fence around the chicken? Anyone has experience playing with and without an enclosure?

if you add a gate to the fence and then click close for everyone but SIM NAME then that should work I don't think foxes will get through if you do that.

I started with all my chicken fenced in. The fox still entered, but maybe I could have locked the fox out by locking the gate. I love watching the birds walk freely, they are so entertaining to observe + I like surprises that might occur. So, if I have the wild foxes challenge, I might unlock the coop gate while my sim is near by, and lock it for anyone but my sim during night hours or if I get busy elsewhere. Fact is I tuned off the wild foxes challenge ion most of my lots, I loved the suspense it added, but it took too much of my focus only looking out for a fox. So, I use that challenge on a few lots mainly without a coop :) My chicks are fine and I get to see the fox occasionally on my rotation :)

"Simmerville;c-17990770" wrote:I started with all my chicken fenced in. The fox still entered, but maybe I could have locked the fox out by locking the gate. I love watching the birds walk freely, they are so entertaining to observe + I like surprises that might occur. So, if I have the wild foxes challenge, I might unlock the coop gate while my sim is near by, and lock it for anyone but my sim during night hours or if I get busy elsewhere. Fact is I tuned off the wild foxes challenge ion most of my lots, I loved the suspense it added, but it took too much of my focus only looking out for a fox. So, I use that challenge on a few lots mainly without a coop :) My chicks are fine and I get to see the fox occasionally on my rotation :)I decided to give it a try, and yes it works.So, protip for everyone: The fox alarm is worth it.I have a fence around the whole lot that is locked for chicken only (there is no option specifically for wild animals so if I am to lock out foxes I also lock out neighbors etc). I also was clever enough to put the rabbit stump very close to the chicken coop with the alarm on it, so the rabbits are automatically protected by the coop alarm.The alarm starts blaring as soon as a fox goes thru the gate, and it immediately turns and walk away, keeping both rabbits and chicken safe....I also had to lock my front door for chickens tho, since they kept walking into my kitchen. They're tasty, but... ;)

"Beardedgeek;c-17990802" wrote:"Simmerville;c-17990770" wrote:I started with all my chicken fenced in. The fox still entered, but maybe I could have locked the fox out by locking the gate. I love watching the birds walk freely, they are so entertaining to observe + I like surprises that might occur. So, if I have the wild foxes challenge, I might unlock the coop gate while my sim is near by, and lock it for anyone but my sim during night hours or if I get busy elsewhere. Fact is I tuned off the wild foxes challenge ion most of my lots, I loved the suspense it added, but it took too much of my focus only looking out for a fox. So, I use that challenge on a few lots mainly without a coop :) My chicks are fine and I get to see the fox occasionally on my rotation :)I decided to give it a try, and yes it works.So, protip for everyone: The fox alarm is worth it.I have a fence around the whole lot that is locked for chicken only (there is no option specifically for wild animals so if I am to lock out foxes I also lock out neighbors etc). I also was clever enough to put the rabbit stump very close to the chicken coop with the alarm on it, so the rabbits are automatically protected by the coop alarm.The alarm starts blaring as soon as a fox goes thru the gate, and it immediately turns and walk away, keeping both rabbits and chicken safe....I also had to lock my front door for chickens tho, since they kept walking into my kitchen. They're tasty, but... ;)I had a chicken return home 'Scared by Fox', so I locked the gate to keep them in. Unfortunately, that unlocked the gate for random Sims, one of whom decided to come in and knock over the trash. For once, my Sim was right there and after a 'Rude Introduction', proceeded to have a dust-up with the troublemaker.So, I've ended up keeping the gate locked for everyone but my Sim and employees, which was the point of having a gate around the property, anyway. I think it's rather cute when the chickens wander into the house and look up at my Sim wanting attention.

My experience with free range chickens is that they simply wander around, even off the lot, kinda drawing your sims lot into the surrounding environment...I thinks that's kinda cool!

Fences for chicken or not? | EA Forums

16 Replies

Simmingal
Hero
4 years ago
I have my chickens fenced in cause I'm paranoid they'll go missing otherwise

haven't used the fox alarm cause I'm having problem with upgrading the coop cause it keeps thinking i don't have 2 upgrade parts when i do though :/

Anyway I just decided to turn off the fox challenge for few lots cause I don't think every lot needs to have it :sweat_smile:
GalacticGal
Legend
4 years ago
"Beardedgeek;c-17994083" wrote:
"GalacticGal;c-17994078" wrote:
There's an alarm?

Under "Actions" for the coop you have "Upgrade". One of the upgrades is an automatic Fox Detection Alarm that rings and scares off any foxes.

LOL I mostly have Roosters in my Coop. For some reason the chicks that hatch have been mostly Rooster Chicks. Who needs an alarm when you've got a majority of Roosters? Besides, the entire property is behind a security fence. Gates are locked. Can't have the Stan or other Obsessed fans coming and going now, can we? :open_mouth: Seems to keep the foxes out, too.
amapola76
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
"bshag4lv;c-17996103" wrote:
In rl, there's absolutely no way a chicken would go wandering around my house, for one, you can't housebreak a chicken...enough said.

I may or may not know people who raise backyard chickens IRL, and it turns out, while you cannot housebreak a chicken, there are companies that sell chicken diapers. Yes, I can confirm that I could not stop laughing for several minutes when I first heard about this.
babajayne
4 years ago
"Sindocat;c-17998016" wrote:
Fences keep chickens from straying. Gates won't necessarily exclude foxes. And while the alarm drives foxes away, I have yet to determine if it responds to foxes in the enclosure or only if they enter the henhouse itself.

Roosters will defend their turf - but can also be killed.

https://i.imgur.com/uaBLNKL.png

I agree that a gate won’t keep a fox out. In my experience, the coop alarm only goes off when the fox gets close to it. My gate is a few paces away and it’s not enough of a breach to set off the alarm.
MasonGamerBoi
4 years ago
My chickens are double gated, and I’ve yet to see a fox get into the enclosure.
bshag4lv
Seasoned Ace
4 years ago
"Amapola76;c-17998198" wrote:
"bshag4lv;c-17996103" wrote:
In rl, there's absolutely no way a chicken would go wandering around my house, for one, you can't housebreak a chicken...enough said.

I may or may not know people who raise backyard chickens IRL, and it turns out, while you cannot housebreak a chicken, there are companies that sell chicken diapers. Yes, I can confirm that I could not stop laughing for several minutes when I first heard about this.

:D :D :D

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Fences for chicken or not?

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