Will this keep out a fox?

[IRL]

Hi
I am contemplating building a large run for my 8 chickens and three ducks soon. They currently reside in runs that only provide about 6 square feet of space per bird. This worked out perfectly for a year, since they free ranged during the day. Now we have a fox problem and can't let them range. Their run is built extremely well and I don't worry about a fox getting in, but i do worry about it during the day. If I build a run similar to an aviary, will it keep a fox out? I'm not worried about other predators really, and the birds will be locked in a secure coop at night. The aviary I am envisioning would be a wooden fence covered in welded wire with an apron. The coop would be inside and I would secure flight netting over everything. Pretty similar to some of the ones in the exotic aviary thread in the duck forum. So, will this Keep out a fox?
Thanks a lot!

 

[IRL]

Bump

 

[TwoCrows]

Foxes are normally pretty leary of human activity and suspicious creatures. But they are active during the day and are good diggers. So if you are having a fox problem and he knows you have chickens, I would build a run out of chain link fence panels, like a dog run. Then cover it with either chicken wire or hardware cloth. As for the digging that foxes do, you could bury railroad ties under the ground and attach the fencing to the ties or bury hardware cloth 6 inches or so under so that they won't dig. (My hubby built a similar avairy for my quail and I have NEVER in all the 3 years of keeping quail, have I had a single critter get in) Foxes can jump too. So I would build pretty high up. As far as the netting over the top, I have a similar situation over my chicken run and used aviary netting, (2 inch squares), mainly to keep the hawks out, however I would think that it would deter the foxes as long as they had no where to stand and chew on the netting.

Good luck!

 

[gavinandallison]

Also, get a radio and put it in there, foxes will hear voices and keep away.

 

[bryan99705]

Fox are diggers when they encounter fence. A skirt laid on the ground, with one edge attached to the base of the run and going out about 18", will stop them as long as the fence is 4+ feet tall.

Don't think fox are that shy of noise or people, many people on this site have had fox run right past them, in broad daylight and their yard, and grab a bird. The only reason the birds were dropped was because it was slowing the fox too much to comfortably escape.

 

[IRL]

Thanks