[marygall]

I lock my girls up in the run at about 7-8pm but they don't want to go in to the coop till later, so I pop back out and tuck them in. Last night I was a bit late and it was dark, so I just shut the door when I heard them singing to me.
This morning I realised that Jenny had slept outside all night! There's been a coup in the coop recently and Jenny has been deposed, so maybe she was not comfortable with the others?
So do I let them sleep where they want to and keep the coop door open or make sure Jenny's tucked up with the other two girls?
The run is in an old stone ruin with high walls (12' - 15') on three sides and a low wall (3.5' - 4') with chicken wire fencing on the top on the fourth. I've only seen one old dog fox in the five years we've been here and that was soon after we moved in.
Any advice?

[meterman]

I leave mine open all year and they take turns in sleeping outside but my run is totally fox proof but chicken wire is not fox proof.

[raeburg]

I know there are foxes near to us.  My neighbour has lost all his hens 3 times this year.

[marygall]

Thanks very much for your responses - I'm hoping that Stirling is far enough away from your neighbourhood, raeburg, to avoid contact with that fox!
Do foxes climb? I know that chicken wire is not fox proof, but I assumed that the four feet of stone below it might do the trick in deterring them. From the outside it's actually more like 6' from the ground.
I can't attach a picture of the run, I keep getting an error message, but the chicken wire is actually to stop the hens from getting into the garden when my unreliable whippet is about (maybe he'll help with fox deterring). The garden beyond the run is walled and secure and the girls get out for a few hours every day.
Do you think that this is safe enough or should I invest in some high security wire?

[andreadon]

hi!
first things first - try to get some 1/2" by 1/2" welded mesh (I found loads on Ebay) - you want to have at least the first metre of the height of the run done in this.
A fox can chew through "chicken wire" and you quite rightly state, it's good at keeping the chickens off the garden! but not a lot else.
and yes, unfortunately, they do climb.
Best to have an overhang facing outwards, or even better, a complete roof covering.
 
next!  the sleeping thing - ours have a habit of roosting up on the high shelf every night, so when we go to lock everything up, we just pick them up and pop them into the house.  then do a head count and shut the pop-hole.
Actually, shut the pop-hole first and load them in through the roof, if yours lifts up! 
and those that don't use the shels usually find somewhere else to hide come night fall.  Not stupid, just obstinate! 

[Debz]

Foxes are cheeky beggars and I would never risk leaving my girls outside.  It would break my heart to find they had been got at.  I close my girls in every night although I am quite lucky that they will take themselves off to bed and all I have to do is close the door behind them and I lift their dishes every night to wash them and try and minimise the rodent issue.

[marygall]

Thanks for that, andreadon and debz; I'll get an overhang sorted out for the low wall.
I'm glad I'm not the only one with a hen that likes to sleep out under the stars! I sleep much better when I know they're all tucked up in the coop, though.

[raeburg]

Thanks very much for your responses - I'm hoping that Stirling is far enough away from your neighbourhood, raeburg, to avoid contact with that fox!

You're safe from him unless he manages to get on an express heading north   My hens  (touch wood) have been OK, lot's of wire, a roofed run and locked in securely just before dusk every night.