Premier Electric PoultryNet

[beetandsteet]

I just got 164' of Premier 1's Poultry Net 42 inch, with double spike posts. I also got an energizer kit with it. Does anyone have any tips for using Electric Net fencing? This is my first time using any kind of electric fencing at all. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Chuckcluck]

I put up mine in the spring and take it down in the late fall. This way it does not get "grown" into the ground. You can move it around which is great. I get bird netting and stretch it over some metal fence posts to make a sort of tent thing so the hawks stay out. Couple of things: Make sure you ground the fence with a ground stake driven into the ground a couple feet or more on the minus (-) side. Also, put up signs so no one gets zapped. I love my electro net, it allows the chooks to forage all summer and has cut my feed bill.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I got the same thing about three years ago. It works great but requires maintenance. The main problem is that grass and weeds will grow up in it and short it out. Depending on your weather and general climate that may need to be addressed once a week in warm wet periods or maybe you can go months between in winter. According to Premier weed-eaters and lawn mowers damage more electric netting than anything else. Also in high winds or if it is located where rainwater run-off goes through it, dead leaves or mowed grass may build up against it. If it is wet, that shorts it out.

If wind or floodwaters are the problem you just have to get out there and remove the debris. One way to handle the grass and weed problem is to take it down and mow that stuff. One person can do that, I do, but that netting is awkward to handle and a bit heavy. If you are using the netting to make a mobile run, that’s the only way I know of to handle stuff growing up in it, mow it and move it. If it is permanent, you can use round-up to kill the weeds and grass in the fence line if you wish, or take it down and mow each time. Even if you use round-up you’ll need to take it down and mow a couple of times a year unless you really drench a fairly wide area several times a year.

If you set up a stationary run, you will probably have to get in there a couple of times a year to mow. How this works will depend on how many chickens you have in there plus your weather and climate. Sometimes I have eight adults in there alone, my laying and breeding flock. Sometimes I have over 40 chickens, most young ones growing to butcher size. In the growing season 40 chickens and chicks cannot keep it mowed. In the winter eight chickens can make it look pretty desolate. Plus chickens don’t like some weeds and even some types of grasses, especially when they have a choice. This is not like a tiny little run where they wipe out all vegetation be eating or scratching up the roots. This can become an overgrown jungle of grass and weeds they won’t eat. I have to mow my stationary run two to three times a year to get rid of the stuff they won’t eat so the stuff they do eat can grow. So if you set up a stationary run have a way to get a lawn mower in there. If you have a mobile run, this is not a problem.

That netting stretches and especially if your ground is not perfectly level, it can lay over at the bottom and ground out. You just can’t pull it tight enough to stop that. You can get extra green poles that you can use as corner poles to help raise it, but I generally cut forked sticks and use them to prop up the netting to stop it from shorting out. You can hear it arcing when it is shorting out.

You might need to brace your corners to stop that sagging to a big extent. I use tent pegs and rope to sort of guy wire it back where I have a direction change. Learning the taut line hitch when my boys were in boy scouts has come in quite handy.

Even if you have full sized breeds, your chickens can easily fly over that netting if they want to. Mine don’t. What does happen occasionally, especially when I have a bunch of adolescent cockerels in there, is that one gets trapped against the netting or in a corner when they have a dispute and the loser cannot get away. So it goes vertical to make its escape. Sometimes they land on the wrong side of that fence. 90 degree corners aren’t bad, but if you can, make the corners flatter. Also try to avoid creating long narrow corridors when setting it up. Make it wide. They have to pass each other in a corridor and that sometime sets off disputes, especially among cockerels. I’ve had one hen get out, I think she was trapped against the fence by an amorous rooster or cockerel and went vertical to get away. Other than stuff like that, mine just don’t fly out.

The netting does not work in snow. A wet snow over a hot wire shorts it out. A dry snow will insulate the animal from the ground so it does not get shocked. Normally when a predator gets zapped once or twice it stays away from that netting forever and ever so it is still a deterrent. But new predators are being born all the time and set out to find new hunting territory. Or a dog gets abandoned or a pet gets loose. I don’t get a lot of snow here but I get some. It’s never been a problem for me, but in some snowy areas it could be a problem.

Young chicks can walk right through the netting. The down and feathers insulate it against the netting unless a chicken touches a hot wire with the comb or wattles. Of course it depends on your breeds but mine can get just walk through until they are somewhere around 6 to 7 weeks old. If you have bantams it can be longer.

Since I got mine I have not lost a chicken to a ground based predator in that netting. I’ve lost a few chicks when the broody hen lets them go to the other side of the netting. Not all broody hens let them, but some do. And occasionally a broody weans her chicks when they are small enough to get through the netting. The netting does not stop air based predators. I lost one chicken to an owl one night when I was late locking them up. That’s it to hawks and owls but some people have a lot more problems with that. Giving the places to hide under seems to help with that.

I may make it sound kind of negative, but overall I’m really pleased with mine. I no longer lose an occasional chicken to a fox and I have not had any more massacres when people abandon dogs out here. It requires maintenance but it is a huge plus for me.

 

[thomasboyle]

Make sure you have a good grounding rod for your charger. This is what determines the strength of the shock. I used an 8' copper grounding rod (Home Depot or Lowes) and drive it into the ground 6'. The voltage on the far end of my ence reads 8000 volts. If the soil where you live grounds poorly, you may need another grounding rod. It should be at least 10' away from the first rod.

If you remove the fence in the fall, make sure you do it before the ground freezes. I didn't do this one year, and the net was frozen to the ground, and was damaged as I ripped it out. The posts were harder to pull out as well.

Overall, the electric fence was the best upgrade I have made for my chickens.

 

[hayley3]

I'm looking for the same information. I hope it's okay to ask questions on this post.

Can you put the fence inside a barn and how hard is it to drive the posts in? My barn is divided and I have goats so I was wanting to put it on the inside of the barn because that's where my chickens got killed...Not their coop which is very safe. There's a side door so I could open that up and they could get sunshine.

Can you make a gate so you can open it to mow inside the run?

Thanks

 

[jyarnell]

here's my setup, i tried to show how i connected the fence and used the gate system.

 

[thomasboyle]

You could put it in a barn, but I am not sure it would be very effective. The fence cannot touch anything - walls, beams, posts within the barn etc. If it touches anything, the fence will be grounded and won't work. Plus in a barn setting, a predator can climb around the fence. I would try and secure the barn, so there are no openings for any predator to get in or out.

The posts on the fencing are easy to drive in. I have the posts with the double spikes, and they form a L shape so you can step on them and drive them into the ground.

I have a section of fencing nearest the house the is not electrified. I use that section to go in and out of the chicken yard to mow etc.

 

[nursesusanb]

Mine sags between poles in some places. Are there any support poles to pick up the middle between stakes that are full fence height?

 

[Chuckcluck]

Tractor supply has plastic posts with eight hooks on them that work well for sagging. As for in the barn use, the fence can touch dry wood which is an insulator. Also, you can put plastic bird netting over the top. That's what I do with my electro net and I have not lost a chicken from above or below.

 

[kerrylhanley]

I'm looking to get some electric fencing and trying to decide between the Premier Poultry net and the Poultry Net Plus. PoultryNet Plus has posts every 6.8 ft (vs. 10 ft for standard PoultryNet). It is quite a bit more expensive, so I'm wondering if it's worth the extra cost?

Also, solar vs wired electric charger? Thoughts?

Thanks!