Our fox issues have been keeping me up at night. Over the last three months we've had two fox raids, with a grand total of 12 hens lost. After the first attack which killed 12 on Easter Sunday, we installed an 8-strand electric fence around an acre of pasture and the barn. Everyone is locked in the barn around 6-7pm and let out again around 9am. The first strand is 4" off the ground and the the first four strands from the ground up are 4" apart. The last four go from 6" to 8" to 10". Because we also have goats in the pasture, we placed the wires on the inside for the wood fence posts. The second attack came after we installed the fence. Because of the location of the dead hens, my guess is that the fox got in under the fence where a cinderblock was missing (thanks to my sweet children :-/ ). That has since been fixed.
My concern is that a fox could scale one of the posts (they are nearly 6') or the gate. The wire mesh on the gate is electrified, the wood (obviously) is not. Is that possible? Could/would a fox get over this? The picture was taken BEFORE we added three additional wires in between the second and fourth strands. I can't handle missing sleep because I'm worried about foxes! We're setting a trap tonight, but I need to know how we could inexpensively improve our enclosure. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
My concern is that a fox could scale one of the posts (they are nearly 6') or the gate. The wire mesh on the gate is electrified, the wood (obviously) is not. Is that possible? Could/would a fox get over this? The picture was taken BEFORE we added three additional wires in between the second and fourth strands. I can't handle missing sleep because I'm worried about foxes! We're setting a trap tonight, but I need to know how we could inexpensively improve our enclosure. I'd love to hear your thoughts!