[lucylou]

hi there! we are in process of building WIR. The sides of the run are 6 foot tall but my girls will be able to launch themselves off their hen house onto the top of the fence and so i want to cover the area with gardeners netting - the shape of the run and where it is would make it difficult to cover with weldmesh so netting is i think my only option.  But what i am worried about is wether a fox will jump up onto the top of the fence and onto the netting which would probably give way to the fox's weight? - would a fox jump onto something insecure like this? - has anyone had experience of foxes climbing ontop of their walk in runs? i eagerly await your advice many thanks in advance, lucylou X

[karlooben]

i have used fruit cage netting its reasonable cheap as well , u can thread it together with garden wire as i have done and then staple it around the top of the run . mine has been in place for over a year and i have not had one bit of trouble with it  but it does help that i have placed 2 ft steel stakes around the roof with 4 strands of wire to stop any fox attempting to get on the top as well .
i can add pics if need be 

[Celtic Eagle]

Hmm not sure of this but IMHO foxes are like cats they will not attempt to get onto something which does not feel right . Our outdoor run has a pond net roof and out cats won't touch it they are very careful to walk on the wooden frame only.  It is only an opinion so no guarentees I'm afraid.

[webwahm]

By no means am I an expert - still learning...

But when I first saw the 'state' of another Allotmenteers 'roof' for their chickens I thought blimey, what a mess - a basic net covering that was all saggy and very low in the middle.

Then I realised that's probably the point - nothing can try walk on it because it's so unsteady it will feel like they are going to fall.

Someone did say though, that if anything did land on the netting, it would easily tear (and that might include heavy snow).

[karlooben]

fruit cage netting doesnt tear  u try pulling it apart with your hands then your hands will be torn to shreds  i tried it also there are different tpyes an strengths my netting has wire strands about 1 metre apart to stop it sagging.

[karlooben]

lucylou heres a link to the netting i brought  its a good price as well .

 http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/HarrodSite/product/Garden%20Netting_Animal%20Protection%20Netting/GDN-070.htm

[lucylou]

Karlooben, Celtic Eagle and Webwham, thankyou all so much for your advice, i am so pleased and have now decided to go ahead with it that is one problem out of the way! thanks Karlooben for your link, i will definately get it from there and that saves me pondering over which size to get etc so thankyou when it is finished i will post a photo of it (if it ever does get finished!) lucylou X

[karlooben]

lucy if u have enough hands to help then it wont take long to do  good luck .

[CWatters]

Perhaps you only need prevent the hens getting onto the hen house roof?  eg perhaps give it a steeply sloping smooth metal roof with anti pidgeon spikes on the ridge?

 

[death of rats]

I thought that animals would not walk in moving netting too. Tried to make the garden cat proof to keep my two in. Cat now uses the mesh to climb up and walks along it  using it as a bridge.
i would have thought that fruit cage netting with support wires would be adequate.
Unlilkely to keep out a fox though if it can chew through chicken wire.
If you make the house safe and fox proof though then your hens are protected.

[webwahm]

Unlilkely to keep out a fox though if it can chew through chicken wire

...I've just read this comment on another thread as well

Why is it called 'Chicken Wire' if it's no good for protecting one's chickens? 

[Ice]

Chicken wire I believe, was originally used to cover thatched roofs.  Don't have the foggiest why they called it that but it does catch out a lot of chicken keepers.

[doodoo]

We did our outside run with 6x3 trelis panels sunk into the ground then panels across the top of the roof the whole thing covered in chicken wire, very rigid and secure, as the strong wooden trellis has small squares that give it strength once the wire attached with a staple gun