Help with making coop and run safe from foxes

[CCUK]

Thank you - what is a chain curtain ? Does it go over the entrance to the coop ? Can u buy from chicken shop?

I'm thinking its one of those things that kitchens have on the doors but smaller.

 

[CCUK]

I know how the fox or foxes got in as the enclosure gate was open as we let them run free on the grass as the enclosure area gets v muddy after rain but that is a sad lesson learnt - we have had chickens for 4 years and this is the first time foxes have got into the coop when there is light and noise coming from our house but they are obviously becoming more daring and maybe feeding cubs so we need to take preventative action !

So they were free ranging and went back in, that's when the fox got them. Could you fence of a larger area for them. Then they still have the coop and enclosure. Do you know any pest control or hunters in your area that could set a few traps and maybe catch the fox? Foxes are very sly and if they're hungry enough they will hunt in the day. I'd keep u he rest of your girls firmly locked up until you deal with it. It will come back now it knows they are there.

 

[cmom]

I see you have been a BYC member for awhile, but just started posting. .
Can you post some pictures of what your coop and pen looks like? I have foxes too. Earlier this year a fox grabbed my very special bird during the day but I had let her out and got distracted when the fox grabbed her. My heart was broken. I do have electric wire around my coops and pens, concrete under the gates and netting covering all of the pens. In some places I dug a trench along the bottom of the fence and hog ringed some wire to the bottom of the fence a foot deep. Here the predators come out mostly at night. During the spring when they are looking for mates and having their young, I tend to see them more during the day. I do have games cameras and most nights see a predator on at least one of the cameras and it's usually a coyote. A chick/grow-out coop. They know the electric wire is there.

 

[cmom]

This fox was coming out during the day. I'm pretty sure it is the one that killed my Gladys. I caught it. I put some traps out and kept them baited for a few days and let the fox take the bait then I set the traps and caught the fox.

 

[Perris]

what is a chain curtain ? Does it go over the entrance to the coop ?

I don't think you can buy them ready-made for chicken coops; they are made for human doors to keep out flies in summer. I made one for the pop door on the coop from surplus of one on our kitchen door; you can see it in this photo (two in fact, one on each coop pop hole). The aluminium links are easy to detach and reattach till you get exactly the right length for your pop hole, and easy to staple into a piece of wood across the top. Some people use one made of plastic strips; the principle is the same. They keep flies out of the coop as a bonus!