Getting sick of dogs killing my chickens

centrarchid said:

If predator has expereinced shock and cannot determine if fence is hot or not then it generally will not challenge fence if it is standing. I get protection even with snow because predators have already learned to avoid it.

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Very true You get some protection.. But dogs are dropped off that have not been shocked before. Wild animals are born, raised, and weaned. They then go searching for their own hunting territory.

I'm still wondering why the fence did no stop the dogs. If the OP could figure that out there might be a very easy fix.

Ridgerunner said:

Very true You get some protection.. But dogs are dropped off that have not been shocked before. Wild animals are born, raised, and weaned. They then go searching for their own hunting territory.

I'm still wondering why the fence did no stop the dogs. If the OP could figure that out there might be a very easy fix.

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Most visitors to my perimeters are local and are familiar with the hazards. Their behavior can be deduced by tracks in the snow. The naive predators most likely to test netting are relatively infrequent in part do to efforts of the individuals of the same species keeping them out.

Fence not hot or not hot enough would be my first guesses. Another possibly I experienced is the dogs come in with someone taking care of your stock for the weekend.

I agree, fence is probably not hot or charger isn't strong enough/right type; have you checked with a fence tester?. My chargers will shock strong even with snow cover or overgrown fence; netting is no challenge at all. A lot of chargers you can find at hardware type stores don't have enough power, and never use the weedburner type for this application. Netting is flexible though, and an animal can run into it, get shocked, startle/jump/run forward and the netting can bend down and the animal is inside.

You might want to call Premier and chat with them about how effective their electric netting is in snow. I did. I think you are talking about netting, I'm not sure.

Fencing is different from netting. The animal needs to contact the ground to complete the circuit. With electric fencing the fence can be the ground.

You are correct, and that's why I'm not using Premier netting or chargers, among a couple of other reasons. Of course, if the snow gets so high the dogs can just walk over top, none of it is going to work. Kind of looks like the weather gods are working up to that here, which is not usual. Luckily, at my 3rd winter at the new place, I now have wood-post/wire mesh fencing with electric tape on the outside. Just to show you how good my chargers are, I can, if I want, electrify the entire fence, with posts in the ground and wire mesh touching, 3.5 acres perimeter. I'm smiling, because I know you won't believe me, but it's true.

Thank you all everyone. I really do appreciate all your inputs. My temporary fix will be to buy dog kennel panels and keep my chickens enclosed in those--I only have 4 now. When I'm home, and out in the yard I will let them free range outside the fence.

I have 3 peas and 2 turkeys living in a 20 x 20 enclosure together.

I'm getting 30 pullet Cornish rock crosses for butchering next week from Welp Hatchery. At 4 weeks I throw them on my garden plot to provide compost aeration and manure. When I butcher them in late April, my garden is ready for my first corn planting--assuming the weather cooperates too. I will enclose the Cornish Rock crosses in the electric netting. I will test the fence but I think I'm gonna get a beefier charger too. Thank you to the person who recommended those from West Virginia Co. I will look there first.

Really I do appreciate your sympathy and empathy with my plight. Sometimes reading your responses is all I need to pick myself back up. I've raised chickens for 40 years. And I'm 50. They started off as bantams, pets. Then when I retired from the service and moved here to Huntsville, I took up the Marans breed for many reasons. I enjoy the challenge of getting type and color right with this breed. I especially like the Whites, personal preference.

Take care and God bless you good people, Your words were the balm I needed.