Chicken Coop Tractors

by chicken house plans on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 | Comments Off

How to fox proof your chicken coop

If you've ever had a fox attack your chickens before, you'll no doubt be very keen to make sure your current chicken coop is fox proof. It is horrible to see what a fox can do in just a short period of time inside your coop. Unfortunately many people think that foxes only live in rural areas and are unlikely to be a problem in the suburbs. This may be the case in your area, but don't be too sure.

As owners of 'Royal Rooster', manufacturers of chicken coops, we've heard many stories of cheeky foxes in urban areas. We've heard of one particular fox that sat happily on a customer's back porch one early morning - and this was in a metropolitan area! Luckily this was before this customer got Backyard Chickens. I would strongly suggest that all owners of backyard chickens safeguard their chickens, before, not after a fox is noticed in the area.

Keeping foxes out of a mobile chicken coop

Fox proofing is undertaken slightly differently if you have a mobile chicken coop compared with a fixed chicken shed and run. If you have a mobile chicken coop that has a run attached to a housing section, it's important to make sure that foxes can't tunnel underneath the outer edges of your coop. Even if you're on reasonably hard soil, foxes can be quite determined to access your coop.

One of the best things to do in this case is to wire a large mesh floor to the base of your coop. Attaching this mesh floor to the base of the coop, means that you'll easily be able to move the floor along with the rest of the coop. Chickens love to have area to scratch, so you want to make sure that this mesh floor has large enough squares to still allow your chickens to scratch, but small enough that a fox won't be able to enter. In our experience, mesh that is 10cm x 15cm works really well. Installed correctly, we've not had any reports of foxing entering a coop with mesh of this size fixed to the base of the coop.

Another option is to fix a mesh 'skirt' around the outside of your coop. This gives your chickens more freedom to scratch, but makes moving your coop a bit more difficult We've tried both methods and the skirt is very cumbersome, but may be the preferred option by some.

Another important consideration is the strength of the mesh that is used on the sides of your coop. Unfortunately, some of the imported coops that I've seen on the market are made using very light 'aviary' style mesh. We've been told of foxes that have chewed through this thin mesh to gain access to the chicken coop. So it's worth checking that the mesh of your coop is of adequate strength to keep foxes out. We use mesh that 2.5mm thick and this works well. We've found that this cannot be damaged by foxes trying to chew through, or children who love chickens and clamber all over the chicken coop!

Keeping foxes out of a fixed chicken coop

If you've got a chicken coop that stays in a fixed position, the main issue is making sure that the run area is fox proof. Most people with a traditional chicken shed and run erect a permitter of high chicken wire to form the run. This wire should have holes no larger than 80mm in diameter. As fixed chicken coops with runs, generally have no roof on the run itself, another important consideration is the height of the run walls. Chickens can't fly very high, but given a few 'stepping stones' inside your run such as a tree branch, they can potentially escape. Of course this height also needs to be high enough that a fox can't climb over. Generally fences of 1.8m high is found to be adequate to keep chickens in and foxes out.

When your run fence is erected, you also need to make sure that the wire at the bottom of the fence is dug into the ground, not too far below the surface, to a distance of about 50cm. As mentioned, foxes will dig to gain access to your chicken coop. When the foxes come across this wire time and time again, they'll eventually give up trying to access your chicken coop. Another way of achieving this barrier is to but something heavy like wooden or concrete sleeps on top of the mesh at the bottom of your fence.

About the Author

If you're after a mobile chicken coop that keeps your chickens safe and protected from foxes, be sure to have a look at Royal Rooster's range of mobile chicken coops. These are made from aluminum, are durable and look great!

What item that one might find in their home can be made to be a very small chicken trough?

I am looking for something I can use to glue or attach inside the wall of the chicken tractor (portable coop). I'm thinking that I'm probably just overlooking something I possibly already own and have around the house (not construct).

Plastic milk jug. Cut it to the size and shape you need, either down the side or across the bottom, and tack it to the wall with a staple or nail.

Happy Valley Hen House Building Guide: Clear, step-by-step plans that anyone can follow to build their own Happy Valley Hen House chicken coop of tractor
Sale Price: $16.49