Patridge bantam chicken poorly foot?

[dogmad]

Well my brother came and did a great job at building my chicken run for me last weekend.

 

My only niggles are that the weldmesh we have used is 1" by 1/2" but is only 20 gauge. Although I haven't seen any foxes I am sure there must be some nearby as we back onto farmland. Would a fox chew/claw its way through this?

 

Should I either buy some stonger weldmesh and put on a stonger mesh (just around the bottom of the run) or could I just put some more of the 20g on top of the stuff we have already put there?

 

Thanks

[Guest]

can you bend it easily with your fingers?

 

If you're worried then I would get stronger mesh and put a layer over the top.

[Guest]

actually, a dble layer of the 20 guage would probably be ok, i doubt the fox would have teeth left trying to chew thru 2 layers of mesh.

[FruitandNutCake]

I have weld mesh on either side of the frame - so it is a double layer with about 1/2-1 inch in-between layers. This helps stop a fox mauling through the mesh - which they can do if it is a single layer. I've had guinea pigs attacked through one layer of weld-mesh, and heard of chickens being attacked through the mesh.

 

Even my shed has an extra "wall" on the inside to give extra protection.

[dogmad]

OK, I have a week to go till I get my chickens hopefully. I have decided to put another layer of mesh on, but do you recommend leaving a gap as FruitandNutCake suggests or should I place it directly on top of the one already there. Which would best to prevent a fox attack?

 

Decisions, decisions!

 

Thanks

 

Debbie