Advice on fox proofing coop

[kat79]

Hi everyone,
I have just lost my last 2 ducks ( female and a drake muscovy), 2 silkies and a mixed breed to what i believe was a fox. As I never had trouble with foxes before til now( I live in the suburbs) What does everyone use to lay under their coops? normal chicken wire or wire with smaller holes?

 

[Fishkeeper]

Sorry for your loss.
Chicken wire does nothing to keep predators out. They can reach through, tear through, or in the case of snakes and rats can just squeeze through.
You want hardware cloth. It's a metal mesh, very durable. Buy it at your nearest hardware store, wrap the entire structure in hardware cloth. If you dig a trench outside the pen and put the hardware cloth about 10 inches straight down, then out in all directions a couple feet from there, that should keep digging animals out.

 

[kat79]

Thank you fishkeeper.

Fantastic. Thank you so much you saved me making a huge mistake.

 

[aart]

Hi everyone,
I have just lost my last 2 ducks ( female and a drake muscovy), 2 silkies and a mixed breed to what i believe was a fox. As I never had trouble with foxes before til now( I live in the suburbs) What does everyone use to lay under their coops? normal chicken wire or wire with smaller holes?

Did the predator get into your coop...at night?
Post pics of coop and we can help you bolster it.

 

[JackE]

You can surround a much larger area for less $$$, with electrified poultry net. It's a whole lot easier to install, also. No digging and setting posts, and wrestling with yards of high dollar hardware cloth. I have my coop surrounded with 650' of it, and have not lost a bird to a ground predator, in 6yrs. This is where I got my netting.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/c/...MIn9nbt4uN2wIVEVmGCh0rRg24EAAYASAAEgL6EPD_BwE

 

[Duckstail]

You can surround a much larger area for less $$$, with electrified poultry net. It's a whole lot easier to install, also. No digging and setting posts, and wrestling with yards of high dollar hardware cloth. I have my coop surrounded with 650' of it, and have not lost a bird to a ground predator, in 6yrs. This is where I got my netting.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/c/...MIn9nbt4uN2wIVEVmGCh0rRg24EAAYASAAEgL6EPD_BwE

500 $ electric fences cheaper than hardware cloth? I knew new hardware cloth was expensive but dang!!!

Ifu live in the suburbs I'm thinking it's more of a raccoon or a coyote

 

[JackE]

Yes, as I said, a MUCH larger area, for LESS. Try fencing the area I have, with hardware cloth, for less money. And, I did not buy it all at once. Started with 300', bought the rest over a couple years. After a couple of near total wipeouts by the local foxes, installing this fence was one of the best things I've done for my birds.

 

[rita2paul]

You can surround a much larger area for less $$$, with electrified poultry net. It's a whole lot easier to install, also. No digging and setting posts, and wrestling with yards of high dollar hardware cloth. I have my coop surrounded with 650' of it, and have not lost a bird to a ground predator, in 6yrs. This is where I got my netting.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/c/...MIn9nbt4uN2wIVEVmGCh0rRg24EAAYASAAEgL6EPD_BwE

i totally agree, electric fencing all the time, i have kept poultry for 30 years and never lost a bird to a fox.