How to keep horses away from coop?

[megshen]

Hey All,

I have a problem with some curious horses that share a pasture with my chicken coop. They are beautiful animals, however, their curiosity in my coop is bending my hard-wire, creating a potential problem with damaging the run to where pests can get into the coop. They also scratch their bottoms to the corner of the coop and nearly tipped the entire thing over, the movement itself has ruined the hard-wire to the bottom of the run. I have had to replace chicken and hard wire twice since moving in 4 months ago. Any ideas on how to train the horses to either stay away from the coop or perhaps to not be so rough on it? The chickens squack and the horses surprisingly don't get spooked. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[1muttsfan]

There is almost no problem regarding nosy horses that can't be solved with a strand of hot wire.

 

[Folly's place]

The horses will demolish everything unless they are fenced away from your coop and run. Electric tape is the least expensive solution, but you must fix the problem before things really get out of hand. Mary

 

[Jesusfreak101]

Electric fencing honestly horses wont stop unless they get zapped sadly. I worked on a horse ranch and fences were broken on a daily basis because the fencing was wooden or regular wire.

 

[drumstick diva]

I agree - have you ever discussed this with your neighbor. You are getting all the damage and his horses are getting back & butt runs for free

 

[bobbi-j]

I agree with the others - electric fencing is a good option. That's about all that will stop them. Wire isn't that expensive, and you can get solar-powered or battery-powered fencers. We have one that we use around our sweet corn patch that runs off a car battery.

 

[texsuze]

An electric tape fence, probably two strands, is worth trying. It tends to be more visible than just wire. If your chickens are free-ranging, make the lowest strand high enough up so your girls can walk freely underneath. I wouldn't use wire, since, horses being horses, they can incur serious injuries if they decide to run through it. Depending upon soil conditions, you can use the fiberglass "step in" stakes for posts. Place fencing plenty far enough away from your coop so that nosy horses can't reach over and mess with the coop. Your electricity has to be reliable and ON all the time, 24/7. I've used solar chargers for 7 years for my horse pastures and they've done great, however, my horses have never challenged my electric tape. Your fence has to have enough juice to zap the heck out of the equines to provide a psychological as well as physical deterrent. There are fence charger websites that offer some good explanations about fencing, etc. Gallagher is a good brand of charger. Parmak is sold at Tractor Supply but I don't have experience with that brand.

Best to get the fencing up ASAP. Good luck and let us know how things turn out!

 

[rides2far]

People don't realize how destructive horses can be. They are also nosy & curious. My in laws got the bright idea to store their 5th wheel in our pasture. I told them my horses would trash it, but they didn't believe me. (What do I know? I was only raised on a cattle ranch). Well, they proceeded to strip all the trim in about 2 seconds. They took off the window screens & chewed on everything they could get their teeth on. I agree. A good electrical jolt is what those ponies will require. Good luck with your problem. Let us know how it works out.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Horses will "REACH" over the fence to pick up loose chicken feed. This will mash down the fence to where a horse (or small dog) can just step over it. Make that top strand high enough to prevent the horses from reaching over and bearing down on or pushing down on the top of your fence.

Horses are also prone to cribbing or gnawing on wood. Unless you see it first hand it is amazing.

The next time that you see one of those "pretty" white wooden horse fences check to see if there isn't a wire on the inside to keep the horses at bay. Ideally the horses should not be able to get within 3 feet of the wire keeping the horses in. I have lost horses who got their hooves tangled in the openings of field fencing. (hog wire)

 

[rides2far]

Boy are you right. Hogwire & horses do not mix. I had to board for awhile & the manager would not get the hogwire that was lying in the pasture picked up. I finally took a picture of my horse walking on it & sent it to the owner. That did the trick. Hogwire was gone.