How to Fox-Proof a Chicken Pen

If you keep chickens, you have probably noticed that all kinds of predators try to attack them. Rats, hawks, weasels and birds of prey are all a danger to your chickens, but one of the more determined predators is the fox. Putting down certain types of poison that won't affect the chickens or children is a great remedy for predators like rats, but for foxes it is better to employ some more evasive methods to keep them out of your chicken pen.

Things You'll Need

  • Lawnmower
  • Garden shears
  • Padlock
  • Chicken wire
  • Nails or thick cable
  • Hammer
  • Barbed wire
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Instructions

    • 1

      Clear the area around your chicken pen. Remove anything that foxes could use to hide when sneaking up on the chickens. This includes tall grass, junk, machinery and lumber. Cut back any nearby shrubs to remove any possible cover for the foxes.

    • 2

      Construct your chicken pen in a secure , fox-proof manner. This means you must put on a weld-mesh front door, provide a solid floor so that foxes can't burrow underneath and put a padlock on the front and not a latch than can easily be loosened.

    • 3

      Erect a fence of chicken wire and high wooden posts, ensuring you submerge it at least two feet into the ground. This will prevent foxes from digging under the fence. Attach the chicken wire to the wooden posts with nails or thick cables.

    • 4

      String barbed wire along the top of the fence to prevent foxes from climbing over the top. As with the chicken wire, attached the barbed wire to the wooden posts with nails or thick cables. This is necessary if there is a high surface near your fence that will enable foxes to attempt to go over a fence rather than beneath it, which is their preferred route.