I need my Chicken Enclosure to be Fox Proof

[What_TheDuck]

Maybe Dad is from the North East?

He is! He's from White Plains in NY

 

[What_TheDuck]

It may depend on the goats.

But if you want goats, you should check on what kind of fences work well for goats--they are known to be escape artists. So you could end up wanting a covered run just to keep them in! (No personal experience, but I've read/heard too many stories...)

Our neighbor used the same wire as we did for the goat pen; just changed the gate to a more secure chain-and-lock one. And the goats wouldn't be too big, but not too small. I guess just some medium sized goats lol

 

[ColandTrev]

I'm pretty sure foxes can go over a 6 foot fence.

Something red with a bushy tail went over my 6-foot backyard fence (probably fox but it was moving fast), and I then searched and found videos of foxes going over fences. It looks like foxes are about as good as cats at getting over things.

You could test it-- build the fence, set up a camera to record, then put something tasty inside (like a hot dog, not a live chicken). If the fox goes in, you have your answer. If it doesn't go in, you don't know whether it cannot or just chose not to.

Some kind of a cover might be your best bet--either wire mesh or a solid roof.
Or perhaps a net of some sort might be enough cover, if the fox doesn't want to sit at the top of the fence and chew on the net until it makes a hole.

Hi NatJ. We live in Tasmania, Australia, and although we are lucky enough to not have any foxes in our island south of Australia, we do have small animals called Quolls and also Tasmanian Devils. That being so, we have totally enclosed our chicken house and outside run to protect them from anything that might be wandering in the neighbourhood at night - and even in the day time. We have also used small gauge wire on the enclosure to stop the Starlings and Sparrows from sneaking in and eating their food and also using their hut as their meeting place! So, we would thoroughly recommend enclosing the whole pen for peace of mind with your foxes around the place.

 

[wstephens]

I have two electrified wires around my chicken fence. One is about 6-8 inches above the ground and the other is over that at about 14 inches, to keep short and taller predators away from the fence. Tractor Supply has a solar fence box for about $39 that covers two miles. My chicken wire is buried about 10 inches in the ground. I used netting from Walmart over the entire fenced area, held up by 4x4s with a 2x4 on top to hold the netting up. The netting is cheap and keeps out all sorts of predators. About a week ago, a hawk flew down, hit the net and decided he didn't want any part of it. I also lined the top of the chicken wire fence with barbed wire. In addition, I set up wildlife cameras from Walmart.

 

[NatJ]

Hi NatJ. ... we would thoroughly recommend enclosing the whole pen for peace of mind with your foxes around the place.

The fence I saw the fox go over was a privacy fence around someone's yard, not a fence that is supposed to keep chickens safe. It just seemed a useful anecdote when the question was "can a fox go over...?"

I agree, completely enclosed chicken pens can be a very good idea!

 

[Thomas70]

Hi. We are just starting a chicken coop build for our new pullets. We are redoing their coop, and making a fenced run area (6 feet high, 250 feet perimeter) and we will attach it to our duck pen (6 feet high, 150 feet perimeter). We have a fox den about 200 yards from the coop and run, and every so often we see them running and playing around in our backyard. They don't attempt to climb the duck pen and get the ducks we have in the enclosed run. However, I know that foxes are much more interested in chickens than ducks. Will, the chicken run height be too tall for a fox to get in/climb over? I really would hate a fox to get into the chickens' fenced run area and do some damage to them. Again, it's 6 feet tall, I just need to know if that's secure enough to keep the foxes out. We already know about putting the chicken wire against the pen and into the ground to keep them from digging under, but not sure what to do about the open roof. Accepting any suggestions on improvement to the fence.

We had 2 foxes and I killed both. They would show around 9-10 in the morning and I kept a watch and blasted them with my shotgun. We had a duck that stayed in the run at night but I let her out during the day and one of the foxes got her. But they were never able to get into the run because we framed up a roof over the run with 1 inch PVC pipe. A guy told me afterwards I should have used electrical conduit because it was stronger than PVC. He was right because it is started to sag in 2 places and I had to put another pipe under it to sure it up so if I do another one I with use electrical conduit. We then covered it with wildlife netting. Then we covered it with 6 mil clear plastic to keep the chickens out of the rain. If you know where the den is you can set a trap near it and use dry cat food for bait. You have to use gloves to set it up and bait because foxes can smell human scent and will avoid it. You have camouflage it really well because foxes will avoid a cage they will know it is not natural and out of place.

 

[joydix]

I saw somewhere that if I could put some chicken wire going parallel to the fence, up a bit, and then sticking out over the outside of the fence that this would make them discouraged and keep them out. Like, have it sticking out on the outside of the fence, parallel to the ground so it blocks the fox from jumping out. But I don't know how well that would work.

I think I’d rather have it going the other way to keep it out rather than keep it in! We started to do something like that in our backyard we were having bobcat issues. I had a fox once but it always dug in it never went over the fence. They live in our backyard to.There is absolutely no way I can cover our area it would be impossible. Our fence is probably now 12 feet high with all the gaps zip tied. It was getting in through a gap in the joining of the fence to the gate. Since we did this the bobcat has been back but was just watching and have not seen it since that day I think it has determined it’s just a little too much hassle but that doesn’t mean it will never be back

 

[NatJ]

have it sticking out on the outside of the fence, parallel to the ground so it blocks the fox from jumping out.

I think I’d rather have it going the other way to keep it out rather than keep it in!

I think that's a typo or an autocorrect error.
Wire sticking out is meant to keep the fox from jumping up, or jumping over (i.e. keep the fox out.)

 

[countryladyNH]

I would trap the foxes in the den on your property and shoot them. Knowingly having them there is completely unacceptable if you have chickens, etc. Get rid of the den by blocking it up too, and put some wolf urine around. I would not have a chicken run without a roof, period.