Is this kind of wire fox proof?

[Denisea3465]

The fox paid a visit last night and tried to dig into the enclosed run. Thankfully she did not succeed as she hit the skirt that we buried, but it was too close for comfort. I will be reinforcing the skirting (currently two layers of chicken wire) with hardware cloth. They need to eat too, but not my girls!

Thanks for the advice, I will be looking into yet some other idea to give them more safe space Maybe on my roof...

 

[NatJ]

Would replacing the wire with hardware cloth help? Or are there other issues?

I do not think an adult fox is going to go through the 2" by 4" holes of that wire fencing. I think the fox is much more likely to go over the fence panel or under it.

I do not know how small fox cubs are when they start to hunt. They may be small enough to go through that wire, or they may not be.

Racoons are known for reaching through holes to grab chickens and rip off pieces, but I have not heard of foxes doing that.

I was wondering about a skirt, that was why I was asking about digging.

That would be my first suggestion to improve it, before worrying about the size of the holes in the wire.

Obviously the fox could dig under it but how long does that take? Are we talking 20 minutes or do they come back and dig a little everyday?

A dog can dig a pretty big hole in 20 minutes, so I expect a fox could too.

I have seen times that a fox tried to dig into something, hit a barrier, and came back to try again a different time. But I think they try to do the whole job at once, rather than planning to do it a bit each day.

The fox paid a visit last night and tried to dig into the enclosed run. Thankfully she did not succeed as she hit the skirt that we buried, but it was too close for comfort. I will be reinforcing the skirting (currently two layers of chicken wire) with hardware cloth. They need to eat too, but not my girls!

Sounds like a good plan!