[WhippetMaster]

What do i need to build a run?? Chicken wire and treated wood?? Anyone got any pictures they can share?

[raeburg]

I'd recommend weld mesh as opposed to chicken wire.  Foxes and rats can bite through chicken wire.

[matilda duck]

Another little tip put it up off the ground on say 3 bricks high.  We did this for our shed it gives it extra height and its too open for rats to live under.  You just make a little ramp for the girlies easy!!!!   Also this way you are making it easier to build a run that you can access yourself without trying to  limbo in and out!!

[andreadon]

that'a nice house - i like the way the vent at the top is open-and-closeable (we have to put wood under the roof to lift it off in the summer!

If you can, with your run, make it as a frame and then put the weld mesh (1cm squares is best) on the outside of the frame.  that's so foxes can't get in by pushing against it!
and bury the weld mesh into the ground, with about 18inches downwards and the same outwards like an L shape against the bottom of the frame.
that's so that the fox thinks there's a proper bottom and will give up. (outwards, not inwards, or it'll think it's getting somewhere and keep trying....)

read Fantastic Mr Fox for hints of what the fox is thinking and what it's capable of.
(you'd be surprised how accurate it is!)

[WhippetMaster]

Thanks all for your suggestions. I live in the middle of an estate and my garden is surrounded by 6 feet of wood panels. We have seen foxes in the park only 100 metres down the road but my whippet usually sees them off!!! Unless fantastic Mr Fox can climb 6 foot panels I should be fairly fox proof!! Looks like you all have chosen mr coop and run for me. I like the brick suggestion and will build a ramp as I am no fan of politicians, oh sorry I mean ......rats!!

[noshed]

I was sitting outside my shed yesterday and there was a bit of a racket near the fence at the back  of my plot. It divides us off from the surrounding houses and is about 6' of panelling with 18" of wire on the top. After a bit of scrabbling an adult fox leapt over and trotted casually through the site. I wouldn't assume anything about foxes, they are clever and resourceful, and quite big.

[WhippetMaster]

Damm GM foxes up your way!!! 
My wife has just been offered some chicks for free what age can I get them from and when do they become "point of lay"

[andreadon]

i know! 

they don't jump up anything that looks flimsy (in theory....), butthe only way to stop them coming in is to mae a barrier on all 6 sides....

chickens become POL at about 18-24 weeks (but it does vary wildly on breed).
if they've not been sexed by the breeder, you can't guarantee they'll all be girls...
would be a "nice" surprise one day to wake up to cockadoodledoo instead of egg....

[WhippetMaster]

Oh crumbs hadn't thought of that!!! My neighbours would be happy!! not!!!!!!!

[mumsy]

Best to get POL at first 

[Jane-M]

Im taking your advice and buying a hen hut suitable for up to 4-6 birds but am only keeping 4.

You reckon? I refer you to my earlier post. 

[desandchez]

hi
we just bought a house like that for our new girls i would recomend that you raise the perches as they tend to sleep in the nest box as it is higher than the perches

[cathangirl]

Hello WhippetMaster,
We have a large movable rfree range run, made of chicken wire which works well so far.  We have to tent peg every where down as the little darlings are escape artists, but it is worth the time and trouble!
We also have a secure, weld mesh run adjoined to the hen house, with weld mesh all over the floor to keep meeces and rats out, and another secure outer run for when they cannot free range.  Our garden looks a bit like the OK Corrall, but we don't mind one bit.  Our girls are worth it and they are happy and well.
cathangirl

[cathangirl]

We started with something similar. Two tips though:
1..... Put it up on stilts, if you can.  My OH boarded ours in with hinged flaps, where we can get access if necessary.
2..... Raise the perches, as thay are at present lower than the nest box.
Good luck.
cathangirl

[andreadon]

i do agree with the others about higher perches - unfortunately, our girls don't even realise there is a perch and sleep on the floor (in their own droppings - nice!)
but the originals sleep on a high shelf in the run when the weather's better  (it started last night....)
the newbies sleep in the nest box, so when we go to close the pop-hole, everyone gets shifted back to where they should be.