Allotments 4 All

as some of you will know I only just got my Lotty and I am busy sorting the shed but next will be the fences. In the spring I intend to have a few hens and will be fencing that area with corrugated metal sheeting.
I inherited a large pile of the stuff with the plot, to be honest I don't really like it but its there and if I use it it wont go to the landfill.
I reckon I can go about 6-7 foot high with a good 10inches  dug down, is this likely to keep the pesky foxes at bay?

a fox can climb so I would still add netting over the top

I was hoping to give the hens as larger area as possible so a net or mesh top wouldn't really work with my plans.
I have spoken to some of the other Lotty holders and many have lost hens to the fox but they all say the guy across the way has not lost one to the fox in over 10 years as yet I have not sen his run and I have not spoken to him yet but when I do I will be asking his advise also.

I get some really good advice from downthelane website, I'm sure they said a fox can get over 6' but, also if there are sheds, trees etc, they will climb up and jump into the compound  :)

One of our plot-holders keeps chickens. She has the whole area fenced off with an electric fence, powered by a battery. And at night, the hens are locked away.

We certainly have foxes on-site, but this seems to keep them safe.

Run the underground bit fencing at the bottom sloping outwards, away from the run, not just downwards. Means they have to dig further to get in and discourages them.

We have a 6ft fence that I've seen a fox jump up to - so long as they can get their forepaws on top they'll  haul themselves the rest of the way.

PS Has anyone tried outward sloping wire at the top?

Six of us clubbed together and builta coop and run around 6 weeks ago, and have added to this just this week, for the 7 new chickens(16 in total).

Foxes are endemic in quasi-urban Surrey, and we have seen them sitting on top of sheds and now the wire covered runs.

I am surprised at the number of times I hear of chickens being taken by Mr Fox, that some of us don't cover over the runs with plastic coated wire or similar, like we have done.

We are paranoid about losing our chickens, so the coops and runs are a bit like Fort Knox.

Foxes seem to be able to leap up at least 6 or maybe 7 feet with ease, and when they get into a run/coop they will slaughter all available chickens before starting to think of eating one!

Hi Al37!

Just a thought but if you were doing the corrugated iron vertically you could bend the top 1ft outwards to make it more difficult for a fox to jump into the run - or am I being stupid?!  Not sure really but it may be feasible and save you netting it in!

Old Bird  ;D

I was talking about this to a student gamekeeper about this yesterday. Apparantley it is common knowledge in the gamekeeping fraternity of mr fox's ability to scale fences, He spoke of a fox that had been shut in a basketball court on a playground, it got out with ease!!

Quote from: delboy on December 12, 2008, 09:23:18
We are paranoid about losing our chickens, so the coops and runs are a bit like Fort Knox.

Hope it will turn out to be "Knort Fox".

I you think of the height/obstacles a police dog, f'rinstance, can scale/overcome, then you're starting to get into the right mind-set :-\ I'm reckoning TrevorD's lottie neighbour's got the realistic solution?

our chicken shed is next to 2 other sheds and surrounded by trees so we had to cover the top  :)

Thanks for all the  replies, Been up there all day again today rebuilding the shed and thinking about the fencing for the hens.
Still didn't manage to catch the guy who hasn't lost a hen in ages. Anyway, there is a thick hedgerow at one end of the area that I had designated for the hens and I reckon Mr fox would use that to climb over my fence >:(
Old bird I do like the idea of bending the top of the fence out over but where the hedgerow is this would probably help him.
still got lots to do before I get to that so I will just ponder a while longer ;D