Anti dig skirts

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pepparaaraa

pepparaaraa

Chirping
May 4, 2015
83
5
96
London, UK
Hi!
Has anyone who has tried skirting their run ever had a fox/predator get in?
It seems the simplest option but I'm worried it won't be enough.
I have 2 x 9 week old chicks (are they still chicks as they are pretty big) that are currently on concrete with sand but I need to move them so that I can extend the run.
Also has anyone ever tried skirting the whole garden? I really wanted to be able to free range my chicks when I'm home but there are just too many foxes. We are urban and the foxes are a huge issue.
Any suggestions, advice, previous experience with this will be greatfully received.
Thanks x
 
Last edited:
I use a 2 ft wide skirt of 2x4 welded wire around all my pens and runs, permanent and portable. No predator has ever breached that. I am careful to overlap corners and work around obstacles to make it impossible for a digger to get closer than 2 ft when starting to dig.

I leave the sharp ends pointing out (I cut 4 ft wire down the middle, leaving a jagged edge to poke the would be digger if he does think to start 2 ft back. Also, I put wood on top of the skirts to weigh it down until the grass/weeds grow through it and hold it down. For portable pens, that weights get moved with the pen, that makes it a little more work to move them, but worth it for the peace of mind.
 
Your welded wire skirt sounds to be dig proof! I use a lesser version of this for my chicken tractor - I place pieces of slab wood around the perimeter. This will seal up any small gaps and prevent digging to some extent. Before I skirted the tractor I had a neighbor dog spy some little chicken feet under the edge and then dug enough to pull out a few birds and kill them - this was in broad daylight when we were out for a few hours. Since I started skirting the tractor with slab wood pieces I had no more digging losses. Of course if a black bear comes by, all bets are off.
 
I attach the welded wire skirts to my tractors with poultry netting staples in such a way that the entire piece can flip up against the side of the tractor and be secured with a piece of wire, string, or bungee cord. Then I add wood pieces laid on top to prevent the predator from lifting the skirt and going under. It's probably more than is really needed, but I won't have my birds taken easily by predators, they are far too valuable to me.
 
Haha I live in London, England so chances of a bear are non existent... Unless Paddington pops in for tea
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I'm worried about leaving any sticking out though as I have young children, 2 & 4 and they are pretty accident prone! Do you think it will work without the extra poke factor?
 
This is what we did. Buried 12' patio stones sideway all around the coop and run. It's a lot of work but after 3 years so far so good and we have very serious bobcat issues.

 
I use 4' 2x4 welded wire fencing. lay as close to the coop as possible and overlap corners, then I use yard staples to hold it flush to the ground so i can mow over it. Never had a breech. I did have a skunk trying to dig through it without luck.
 
coleco said:
I use 4' 2x4 welded wire fencing. lay as close to the coop as possible and overlap corners, then I use yard staples to hold it flush to the ground so i can mow over it. Never had a breech. I did have a skunk trying to dig through it without luck.
Click to expand...
What are "yard staples?" Are these the things that you use to hold down fabric to block weed growth? How far apart do you space them? Thanks.
 

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