Redfox Fowl started as a shared notebook between three smallholders who kept losing chicks to the same avoidable mistakes. The catalogue is still written by people who muck out coops, not by a marketing desk.
Breeds and incubation
Runs a mixed flock of Potchefstroom Koekoek and Boschveld birds outside Pietermaritzburg. Keeps the hatch records that feed our incubation and brooding schedules, including the coastal humidity corrections most guides skip.
Housing and coop plans
Carpenter by trade, poultry keeper by habit. Draws the dimensional plans and tests them through Free State winters, where a badly placed vent costs you a broody hen overnight. Checks every floor-space figure against real birds.
Biosecurity and supplies
Handles the health and fencing side, from predator mesh specs to footbath routines for small runs. Spent years advising backyard keepers on disease control and writes our stock notes for actual South African conditions.
Redfox Fowl grew out of a smallholding outside town, a run of dual-purpose hens and a long list of mistakes we would rather you skip.
The catalogue is written by people who muck out coops, count floor space per bird and argue about ventilation in July. We keep heritage and dual-purpose breeds, hatch chicks in a spare room when the power is down, and rebuild mesh after a jackal finds the weak corner. Everything listed here has been used, repaired or replaced on our own setup before it earns a place on the shelf.
We work for backyard keepers with four hens, smallholders running a few dozen layers, and breeders who need a brooder that still works at stage six. If a plan only suits a Highveld winter, we say so. If a drinker rusts on the coast, that note goes in the listing.
Ventilation, floor space, feed storage and brooder options are written the way we would explain them to a neighbour at the gate.
Frosty inland nights, humid coastal air, load-shedding and predator pressure all shape what we stock and how we describe it.
Chick, grower, layer or breeder: listings sit where you need them, so an order can be built around the flock you already have.
The catalogue only carries what we can stand behind. That means suppliers, hatcheries and co-op partners we have dealt with ourselves, or whose stock has been tested by keepers we know. Below are the names that keep Redfox Fowl stocked and honest.
Karoo Hatchery Co-op
Day-old chicks and hatching eggs for our dual-purpose and heritage lines. They run their own breeding pens near Beaufort West and keep records on laying consistency across seasons.
Vaal Wire & Mesh
Welded mesh, tension wire and corner posts for the predator fencing kits. Hot-dip galvanised stock that holds up on the coast and inland where the frost bites.
Thandiport Feed Mill
Layer, grower and chick mash in sealed bags. They mix to our spec so the feed store notes on the site match what actually lands in the bag.
Bergview Timber
Treated pine and marine ply cut for the coop plans. They supply the dimensional stock we list, so the drawings and the timber you buy line up.
Coastal Vet Supplies
Vaccines, disinfectants and basic biosecurity items. They advise on dosing for small flocks rather than commercial sheds, which is the scale we work at.
Highveld Poultry Club
Breeders who share flock notes, culling records and winter housing feedback. Their experience feeds straight into the notes we publish on each listing.