Please Help Me

[Welshies]

Hi! So....
My chicks and quail ($300 worth) just got eaten by a fox. Since then I've been looking to fortify my runs to prevent this as well as getting a guard goose. The coops are completely predator proof.
My current run situation is double layered chicken wire strung taught between metal rods with a 6" apron staked down. The gates are plywood and I wanted to use pallets for my fence- but guess what! Parents said no. The coops are half a mile away from my house.
Anyhow, I plan on stringing garden netting overtop of the run or at the very least the small run (the larger run is connected to a three sided run-in shed). I hate using chicken wire but have no other alternative so PLEASE don't lecture me. This is what my parents have set out for me. I doubt they'll let me net the top of the runs but I plan on doing so- I am done losing what I consider my family.
How can i fortify the run without using any other alternate materials? I am not allowed because they'll look bad, apparently- but honestly, what looks worse than chicken wire strung between metal rods? Seriously? Oh well
The fence is 4'6" high.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Don't know what to tell you... there's no way to make chicken wire predator proof, period. Not sure what to suggest (other than to wait on new birds until you can fortify with something far better) if you can't get any other material to work with.

 

[Pyxis]

Not really sure how you could make it stronger without using new materials, sorry. A fox will chew right through chicken wire. So will a dog or coyote or anything else that wants to get in there. Without you using another fencing material, I'm not sure that there's much that can be done.

As for the goose, you need at least two. Getting just one goose is mean and cruel to the goose. They are flock animals and they need at least one other flock member of the same species. So don't get a goose unless you can get at least two.

 

[jeria]

Agreed maybe introduce your parents to hardware cloth, it looks better than chicken wire and a lot stronger. Lost about 50 chicks years ago to coyotes busting through chicken wire.

 

[aart]

So how/where/what time did the fox get them?

 

[Ravynscroft]

So how/where/what time did the fox get them?

Good question...

 

[jbrianchamberli]

Maybe check around with some local farmers to see if they can spare hardware cloth. Maybe this forum? Is anyone near you? I have a decent amount left, I'm about 40 min north of Baltimore.

 

[Welshies]

Agreed maybe introduce your parents to hardware cloth, it looks better than chicken wire and a lot stronger. Lost about 50 chicks years ago to coyotes busting through chicken wire.

Nah, that won't work as I don't have any money and they aren't going to let me get a job.

So how/where/what time did the fox get them?

Last year all I was using was the same fence material and NOTHING touched my ducks. The fox got my chickens (10 week olds) while they were free ranging during the day ( I was at school.) It got my quail a couple days later by digging a tunnel underneath the coop.

Maybe check around with some local farmers to see if they can spare hardware cloth. Maybe this forum? Is anyone near you? I have a decent amount left, I'm about 40 min north of Baltimore.

We're from Alberta.... I know absolutely nobody on here close to me...