Electric poultry netting question:-/

[BECCS2014]

I purchased a 165 foot roll of poultry netting and set it up around the coop. It's working great, both our dogs have gotten the education that the chickens bite , so does the fence. We heard something get learned around 2:30am the other morning and it sounded like a whale call crashing through the brush. Horray!!!!!!! Right????? Not quite, problem is the chickens(2 so far) are getting zapped, one had her head stuck in the fence mesh and was getting a bad education. What can I do or should I do to fix this problem? I don't want my chickens getting hurt or killed because of the fence, but with 3000 acres of dense forest and bog behind my property, if I don't fence in the yard they would get carried away by predators.

 

[centrarchid]

2:30 AM? Where do birds roost?


If not roosting near fencing, then they had a visitor last night that scared them into fence. Owl?

 

[BECCS2014]

Oh they are in the coop at night, it's locked down. I let the out around 7 am to free range within the fenced area, then they go back in at dusk. They are getting caught in the fence during the daytime.

 

[JackE]

You must have a couple of hardheaded chickens. My birds learned within a couple of days, that the fence bites. They all go right up to the fenceline, but they don't stick their heads into it. If they keep it up, maybe you could get some of that cheap plastic mesh fencing, cut it down to 1 foot strips, and place it on the inside of the poultry net, to keep the "Special" ones out of it.

 

[centrarchid]

Something is driving birds into neting. I know producers of Cornish X that run cohorts of several hundred each in poultry netting and they do not have chronic problems with even those mentally challenges birds. Challenge is due to youth.

Sit out with them and see what is going on. Post some pictures as well. You do not want a setup that stresses your birds.

 

[JackE]

Something is driving birds into neting. I know producers of Cornish X that run cohorts of several hundred each in poultry netting and they do not have chronic problems with even those mentally challenges birds. Challenge is due to youth.

Sit out with them and see what is going on. Post some pictures as well. You do not want a setup that stresses your birds.

That's a good point there. If a hawk is divebombing them, the chickens, in a panic, may be just running into the fence, and getting stuck.

 

[BECCS2014]

We spent quite a bit of time watching them, and they walk up and peck at the netting, get zapped and run right into the fence, one was scary because I was inside the house and she was caught around her neck in the fence.

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[BECCS2014]

Picture if the fence netting, I'm wondering if it's going to be just a learning period?? They've only been outside since Monday. But I can't stand watching them all day waiting to rescue them from the fence. I'm quite sure that one of them would have died in the fence had we not been right here when it happened. Thinking I'll try the inexpensive plastic netting around the inside perimeter idea

 

[centrarchid]

They should learn after one zap.

 

[BECCS2014]

They should learn after one zap.

I'm beginning to think they did just that, coop is wide open and no one has stepped a foot out the door today. Would love to free range them without the fence but with that huge forest out there I may as well just go buy rotisserie chickens at the supermarket for the predators