HENthusiastic Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 WHY OH WHY do they call it chicken wire if its no good at protecting chickens??? I live fairly rurally, no sign or sound of foxes near our house. Our neigbour has lived there for her whole life and has only seen foxes once about five years ago. Ive built our coop with chicken wire. Assuming CHICKEN wire is for CHICKENS??? Sunk it into the ground to stop digging under, put a roof on etc. Thought I was fox proof. But after reading more on this forum, I'm worried. I dont' know what to do now. It seems a huge and expensive job to re-do all the chicken wire with weld mesh. And the chances are, my girls will be okay in there as it is............ but how will I feel if Mr Fox does come??? I just dont know what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Difficult for you. You have to weigh all the evidence up and make a decision based on that. Personally I wouldn't take the risk, but I live in an urban setting ,with foxes aplenty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meezers Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Why not buy a roll of weld mesh off ebay ( usually the cheapest place ) and just go around the bottom of your run - the roll is usually 3 ft wide, so that would stop a fox from chewing through where he could reach. I bought a huge 30m roll off ebay ( still loads left over) think it was about £45 inc delivery, I think it would be worth it for piece of mind. Like you, we are rural, I've been here 12 yrs and seen 2 foxes - 1 of those was dead, the other was a mile away from the houses, but I would worry 'just incase' one came visiting . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tessa the Duchess Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 I was going to make the same suggestion as Meezers, it's all about peace of mind. Maybe the reason you have never seen foxes is because you have never had chickens before, not trying to worry you or anything, but it is a possibility. Rural foxes are much more timid than the nightmare foxes we get here in the city, so they probably hide away from humans. Tessa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FruitandNutCake Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 I also wouldn't be happy with chicken wire - I've had foxes chew through it before. I also wouldn't be happy with one layer of mesh as I have had foxes attack through the wire (amazing how much damage a fox can do through the wire without actually gettin in the run!). My solution is to have an extra layer on the other side of the frame, just around the bottom half, with a gap of about 1 inch between the two layers. I have thinner weld mesh attached to inside of frame, with heavy weld mesh on outside of frame up to a height of 3ft. then just a single layer of weld mesh on top half and roof. then a layer of corrugated plastic on roof. I've lost too many rabbits and guinea pigs to foxes over the years, my locks have got stronger and bigger, and my run is as safe as I can possible make it. OK, maybe I have gone OTT but, I couldn't face losing my rabbits, or getting my chickens and then losing them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjules Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 You only need to weldmesh up to a height of 3 feet and you could staple it over the top of the chicken wire, as others have suggested. Just imagine how you'd feel if anything happened and you already knew you were taking a risk.....it's very different to not knowing and getting caught out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsm_jones Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 I did the very same thing! An OH has only just finished building the run with extension and already I'm pestering him for a new walk-in run with weldmesh! Not fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WitchHazel Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 WHY OH WHY do they call it chicken wire if its no good at protecting chickens??? Because it's designed to protect things FROM chickens, rather than protecting the chickens themselves. So you might use chicken wire around your veg patch, to stop the chickens getting to it. Definitely get some from Ebay. I used 16 guage, and got it from an Ebay shop called Animal Kingdom, next day delivery. He has all sorts of guages, mesh sizes and lengths. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Webmuppet Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 I would second the suggestion of putting extra weld mesh on the run . My run has two layers of mesh, the light weight stuff it came with and a layer of weld mesh that Mr Webmuppet put on top of it to be on the safe side. He also secured some plastic roofing on top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyren Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 Because it's designed to protect things FROM chickens, rather than protecting the chickens themselves. So you might use chicken wire around your veg patch, to stop the chickens getting to it. Exactly - I use it for just that and it's brilliant! Keeps the collared doves off my raised beds as well - now I'm planning on using the leftover part of the roll on my allotment to keep the wood pigeons off my brassicas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HENthusiastic Posted April 16, 2008 Author Share Posted April 16, 2008 Thanks for all your answers guys. You are all right, of course! Ignorance is one thing, but knowingly taking such a risk is just not on. I would be devestated and consumed with guilt if anything happened to them because I'd not taken precautions. I will invest in some weldmesh and do the lower 3 feet. Then, maybe at a later date (when I've got a bit of money to spare) I could do more. Maybe it should be called Chicken-proof wire!! Right, I'm off to ebay... Thanks guys. Sound advice..... as usual! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abwsco Posted April 16, 2008 Share Posted April 16, 2008 I got my weldmesh from Hills of Devon Ordered it late Monday afternoon and it arrived yesterday!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
