Advice needed to fox proof chicken run

WelshD said:
Re- read that - I sound really lazy but with about thirty separate runs/coops/sheds it all takes loads of time, there are over a hundred feeders and drinkers to fill daily too.....
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Lol yes, daughter has the same sort of numbers. The builders panels have worked really well for her, she has 5 or six enormous runs and they are easily moved up and down the field to allow for fresh grass. Well.. I say easily, is moving 100+ birds ever truly easy when there is always one who doesn't want to move thank you very much?

She also had a visiting stoat last year but luckily for the hens someone shot it for her. Vicious things!

If her border collie sees a fox he will chase it and has come very close to catching one several times before he decides that it might not be such a good idea and he backs off. But it does seem to deter them from coming back as often as they used to. Even though they can no longer get in, the very sight and smell of them upsets the hens and they stop laying.
 
My friend used to raise pheasants and the only way he kept the fox out was to have an electric fence low around the bottom of the run

First spray off all grass and other vegetation for about 6" from the fence line. Any grass that touches the electric fence will short it out.

My friend stapled outriggers to the posts supporting the chicken wire and then attached the electric fence cord to them - he used half hitches (knots).

Do the same to the top of the fence if the run is not fully enclosed.

Did he dig his way in? If so then bury some chicken wire just below the surface so that there is some on the inside and most on the outside. Securely attach the wall fencing to the buried wire.

Keep the area around the electric fence totally clear of vegetation so it never shorts as you can guarantee they will be waiting for that day and will act immediately.

Foxes are eveil when they attack your poultry, my friend lost a whol run of baby pheasants - only a couple missing the rest just murdered and left
 
Just to follow up on earlier post, yes a stoat can definitely kill and remove an adult chicken. Have seen it and also seen it dragging a massive buck rabbit along the track. I called out, it stopped, basically gave me the finger in the look it gave me, then dragged the rabbit all the way up and over a stone dyke.

Stoats are hard to protect against as they can get through a gap of an inch ish, they can flatten themselves.

Foxes - I think I would be calling in a man with a gun so long as it wasnt the time of year when there were young cubs in the picture....
 
Some Guinea fowl are said to be a fox deterrent.This seems to work for mine, as long as they stay in the fields. However, whenever one of them decides to go broody in the woods, it is doomed...
I recently acquired two lovely little lavender pekins, for fun, not eggs( they are so sweet!) and after reading this I am very worried about stoats
:(
 
I have a wonderful Omlet cube but built my own wooden run(a bit like a rabbit run to save money). Its nice and large so they can be out if I am out. I let them out when I am around but I do know the fox has been in even if I have been about 20 yards away.Fox eyesight is bad but they smell all that lovely chicken!

I do sometimes put it onto a hard standing and have used slabs to stop digging. Omlet do a run that has a skirt on it and it is moveable but costly. I do move it around the garden every so often I dont use chips(did all that not necessary). I have let the dog out to chase the fox looking into the chickens.

Re Electric fencing smallest holes and I have powered off normal 12v electric fencing remember to surround the house as fox will climb. I found electric fencing a pain when the grass grows it gets tangled up easily. It can fall over if not fixed properly.

If the chickens are roaming free unfortunately Russian roulette, big chance to get killed.
 
Guinea fowl don't seem to be a deterrent but definitely give you warning a fox is about. we have some on the farm and have often warned us to the presence of a fox.

All chickens are cross but safe and shut in today.

I think I am going to go down the electric fencing route combined with builders panels. We have people who shoot on the farm and it just seems for every one they get another one moves in.
 
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