The Short Answer for a Khaki Campbell Duck
A Khaki Campbell duck stays in, and stays alive, behind fine hardware cloth rather than a tall fence. Build the run three to four feet high in mesh with openings small enough to block reaching paws, add a secure cover over the top, and run a ground skirt around the base. Khaki Campbells are light, busy layers that flutter and scramble more than heavy duck breeds, yet the fence's harder job is keeping predators from digging under, climbing over or reaching through, so mesh size and the roof matter more than an extra foot of height.
Why Chicken Wire Fails Khaki Campbells
Chicken wire keeps a Khaki Campbell in on a calm day and fails it on a bad night. The wide hexagons let a raccoon reach in and grab, flex enough for a determined fox to tear, and leave gaps a young or slim duck can squeeze at corners. Khaki Campbells also pile against a fence when startled, and a flimsy panel bows under a flock's combined push toward perceived safety. Hardware cloth, fixed firmly to a frame, resists all three failures at once. Choose mesh small enough that a duck cannot push its head through and become trapped, because this curious breed probes every opening at bill height while foraging along the run's edge.
Height, Fluttering and the Covered Run
Height still matters for a Khaki Campbell, just within limits. A three-foot uncovered fence may hold a settled flock until a dog charges the run and the ducks burst upward in panic, clearing a line they ignored for months. Four feet plus a netted or solid cover removes that panic exit and also blocks hawks and owls, which read an open duck run as an easy target. If the flock free-ranges, use the covered run as the secure base and supervise range time, because no open fence of practical height guarantees a light duck stays home once it discovers short, fluttering flight. Keep feed, water and the house inside the secure area so the ducks return willingly each evening.
Ground Skirts and Gate Gaps
Predators test a Khaki Campbell run at the ground, not the top. Extend a skirt of hardware cloth outward from the base, buried or pinned under turf and stones, so a digging fox meets mesh when it starts its tunnel at the fence line. Block the shaded gap under the duck house, close the space where a gate meets its post to less than a body width, and check corners where two mesh panels meet for a loosened seam. Ducks muddy their run quickly, and wet soil heaped against the base can rot fixings and lift an edge, so rake the perimeter back and re-pin any skirt corner the flock's own puddling has exposed after wet weather.
A Weekly Duck-Run Check That Catches Escapes Early
Check a Khaki Campbell run by crouching to predator height. Look for fresh digging outside the skirt, mesh polished where bills probe, a cover sagging under leaves or a branch, and feathers caught on a torn edge that shows where a duck pushed through. Replace rusted fixings before a panel loosens, because a single soft corner is the difference between containment and a night-time loss. If a duck is found outside, work out whether it flew, squeezed or was flushed over before changing the setup, since each answer points to a different repair. Keep the run's mesh size, skirt plan and cover condition logged in KinsLe using Family Sharing, so anyone locking up the Khaki Campbells checks the skirt, seams and roof as carefully as the gate.