[sugartown farm]

Google strangford agencies. 
Was wondering would the side netting pen mesh.. would 2 metres high work to keep hens in. To keep foxy at bay run an electric fencer outside the perimeter.  Its moveable and  encloses a large area. Hens always have the benefit of being on grass. Opinions  and comments please.

[fairhaven]

What... this stuff?   Should be reasonably ok,  but a fox will still quite happily dig under any fencing - What size / type of hens have you got?   

[sugartown farm]

That's the stuff fairhavenfarm. I was thinking that the electric fence (mains powered) run close to the ground just outside the perimeter of that mesh would keep foxy at bay.

[fairhaven]

It should work, Do you have many foxes where you are?
 Hopefully someone with more experience of foxes will give an opinion soon - We've had more problems with things getting out rather than getting in 

[Marches Farmer]

If not using electric wires best to put a 50 cm "skirt" of wire on the ground at the base of the fence and an outward angled overhang at the top to stop them climbing up and over.  Never underestimate a hungry fox! 

[hughesy]

We use pens made from heras fence panels, the sort of thing you see used for security around building sites. They're about 2 metres high and 3.5 metres long. They're pretty strong and long lasting. We tie ours together instead of using the clamps that come with them so there's no gap at the joint. We also use them upside down so there's no gap underneath. The whole thing is finished off with a single strand of electric wire about 6 inches out from the fence and 4 inches or so off the ground, all around the outside. You still need to be vigilant and make sure everything is secure and the electric fence is working but the only time we've had a problem it was my fault as I hadn't secured the fence properly.
When we had the snow a while back we had loads of fox tracks about the place so I know they're about but they couldn't get at the chickens.

[plt102]

Never underestimate a hungry fox OR a chicken that can fly. :-) my bantams have no respect for boundaries so they are now free range. Foxes and rats dig really well so maybe sink the wire into the ground to deter them. Leccy fence never stopped a fox where we are.

[hughesy]

In our set up the electric fence is only there to deter them from digging under. Seems to work.

[Reg henderson]

one thing i found out is a wild fox out in the country ( not urban ) have a set feeding area , this will take around 7-14 days for the fox to go around , it might take one chicken and move on but will know it can get another there when its back to that area . best thing to do it try shooting it or set a live trap ( if you don,t want to wait up all night) bait the trap and follow live trapping rules ( make sure there is food and water in the trap and check every 12 hours) once you have it in a trap then shoot it . remember the fox is on the pest list and can be disposed of , but has to be done humanly . also remember that as it is a pest it is illegal  to release it on someones property without consent ( and would you give consent to someone releasing pests on your ground ?)

[Clarebelle]

Thanks for that Reg, we are having a problem at the moment with a fox hanging around our house, at the moment i don't *think* it can get into the garden after my rabbits as we back on to other peoples gardens and the fences are quite high. However, the other morning my OH went out to work early in the morning and saw our cat being chased up the road by this fox, obviously he let the cat in and the fox ran off but it was a bit of a shock!

We talked about shooting it if we caught it trying to get our animals again but weren't sure of the legalities.

[taz08]

get a un-netered dog  to pee around the run,, or failing that ,, get a un-netuerd man to pee in a bottle and sprat it around

[hughesy]

I always take a leak around my chicken pens. Seems to be working .