Is this run fox proof?

Hello!

So, I’m moving house (and won’t be able to have the rabbits free range) and thinking something like this for them with their two story hutch inside:

https://www.4mypet.co.uk/chicken-ru...ft-x-9ft-16g-fox-proof-cat-dog-rabbit-chicken

A 16g mesh seems to be fox proof but lots of sites say 12 or 14 is preferable. (I can’t find a run with 12 or 14 though.)

There are almost definitely going to be foxes in the new garden, so I want to be really sure. The run will be on concrete (I was thinking with a tray of soil to dig in) so I’m not worried about having a mesh skirt around the run, because a fox won’t be able to dig underneath.

Honest thoughts please My budget is about £400 for the run.

If you are sure that Foxes will visit your new garden then your Bunnies are going to be very frightened. Can you keep them indoors?

CloverParsley said:

Hello!

So, I’m moving house (and won’t be able to have the rabbits free range) and thinking something like this for them with their two story hutch inside:

https://www.4mypet.co.uk/chicken-ru...ft-x-9ft-16g-fox-proof-cat-dog-rabbit-chicken

A 16g mesh seems to be fox proof but lots of sites say 12 or 14 is preferable. (I can’t find a run with 12 or 14 though.)

There are almost definitely going to be foxes in the new garden, so I want to be really sure. The run will be on concrete (I was thinking with a tray of soil to dig in) so I’m not worried about having a mesh skirt around the run, because a fox won’t be able to dig underneath.

Honest thoughts please My budget is about £400 for the run.

Click to expand...

Idk for sure, but it looks pretty good to me!

I had this same struggle I couldn't find anywhere that did 12 gauge mesh. Ended up getting someone to make me one with the gauge weld mesh I wanted, but wasn't easy to find someone willing to do it, the thick stuff is hard to work with apparently [emoji51]

Maybe you could find someone doing custom rabbit runs? Tricky though.

With foxes a lot of it is about making sure they have easier decent food elsewhere: they're smart creatures so won't take on a hard meal, but they'll try and that's what you need to prevent. I'm not advocating feeding the foxes (although my parents did it with our rabbit in the 1990s) but if there's shops or similar nearby they'll go for that. You'll hopefully just see them transiting your garden, not stopping

If in doubt, you could get this one and then mesh the inside/outside (whichever isn't done) yourself with better gauge mesh: you'll just need the mesh, some decent wire cutters/clippers and a relatively heavy duty staple gun

I was wondering about double meshing as well. Assuming the mesh is on the inside of the frame to stop the wood being chewed, you can put some much heavier duty (and bigger hole) mesh on the lower half on the outside of the frame. I use panel pins knocked in half way and them hammered over to hold the mesh. You can also use U shape nails, but you thicker wood than would normally be used on aviary panels.

You could also use eg exterior ply or perspex sheets on the bottom of some sides to keep the weather out as well as the foxes.