Fox-Resistant Chicken Paddocks

I am in love with rotating chicken paddocks. We have kept chickens, quite unsuccessfully. We have arial predators, as well as a family of fox, and at least a weasel. The space I am eyeing for my first two paddocks will be in a young forest; it must have tress less than 10 years old, 30/40 ft high moderately dense canopy.

I'm guessing they will nearly 1/4 acre each. I'll be putting less than 10 Lakenvelder. They were only available in a straight run, and too many will turn out to be roos. I chose Lakenvelder because they are known to be a skittish breed.

There are tactics I have/will employ to keep them safe. But the biggest concern is a fox entering into the paddocks. I envision a secure paddock. A fox can jump 7 feet high and it can climb trees. I plan to have 7 ft high fencing with electric along the top and the bottom. Deer fencing to fill in the fence. I've also read that having an exterior fence can deter the fox.

I'm interested if anyone has experience with fox. Is this overkill? Are there other considerations I am missing?

PS I am not interested in capturing or killing the fox. I want to deter.

Hi Ashley,
Welcome to Permies.

I have a little experience with foxes and chickens. I think you are on the right track with electric. That was how I kept my chickens safe. The only ones that ever got eaten were the ones stupid enough to fly out of the pen and not back in. I used the Premier 1 poultry netting, and it worked great against dogs and foxes. Not sure what else might have been kept away that I did not see. I used a raised mobile coop, so they had cover from aerial predators as well. The fence was only 4 feet high, and I moved it every couple days. (It was a much smaller area, only 600 sqft, vs 1/4 acre)

Now I did do this in a field and field edge, so there was never a chance for climbing trees, but it was very effective for me. So for a field situation, what you are describing seems overkill. If you are doing this in a young forest... maybe not. I think placement of the fence away from any trees a fox could climb would be important. I have primarily only done smaller areas, so a roof was possible if needed. For a 1/4 acre, perhaps some sort of protector. A goose or LGD would help?

I greatly appreciate your response and sharing your experience. I'm wondering it an exterior poultry net fence would be the way. It'll be the cheapest option for fencing; it looks like the least painstaking installation as well. Then the interior fences don't have to be as secure.

The rotational paddock system would be the entire 1/4-ish acre which would enclose all the trees. Road on one edge, lawn on another, and a stream on the last edge. Therefore I'm not very worried about the fox climbing a tree into the fencing.

A 48" height really keeps away the fox? My anxiety says if the fence is only 4', as soon as they realized it has the ability to jump the fence, all the fencing would have been for not.

If you can maintain a strip of lawn around the perimeter, that would also help. Foxes and other predators will try to avoid being out in the open. A fox is certainly capable of leaping over a 4' fence, but they will hesitate to do so if what is on the other side is unfamiliar. Generally, they will sniff a fence before jumping over it.  That is why a single low electric wire can be effective against mammalian predators. These things don't guarantee success, but each reduces the chances of trouble.