6,000 volts of deterent

[Oldfort_mailman]

Went out to check the chickens this morning and wouldnt you know it, a buff laced polish juvenile was awol. My barn is two inches of the property border fence between my place and my uncle's and on his side I found a foot and a wing. We have solid siding on that side of the barn except the bottom four inches which has welded wire 2 in by 4 in. So we spent this morning running a strand of electric fencing three inches from the ground all along the barn and outside runs. My question is this: Do i need to run another strand say about five or six foot off the ground to prevent them from jumping that strand and climbing the 2 x 4 welded wire and entering the runs?

 

[mdbokc]

I did on mine.

 

[Shawnee_b]

It wouldn't hurt. Some corn farmers here do a single wire just off the ground but personally I'd run an extra, those coon are smart and determined. Well most are determined, coon just seem to smart

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
2X4 welded wire it way to large for a coop. Cover the 2X4 wire with 1/2 inch hardware wire, then add an electrical barrier.

 

[Oldfort_mailman]

It would cost over ten thousand dollars to buy enough hardware cloth to cover all the welded wire in my pens and on my runs. If i had that kind of money to spend on a chicken barn i would buy them a used single wide trailer and install air conditioning for them. Surely the 20 mile fence controller with two strands will deter them.

 

[knjinnm]

Several years ago I read an article by a fellow who got a free single-wide trailer he used to make a coop, all the owner wanted was the wheel carriages back once the unit was moved.

 

[Oldfort_mailman]

14 by 60 is a lot of square footage dependind on how many hens u got.

 

[Redcatcher]

A single strand up that high won't do any good unless you run a ground wire side by side so that the critter has to touch both.

 

[Oldfort_mailman]

Quote:
Shouldnt the six foot high welded wire that my runs are made of act as the ground? The electric wire is attached to it with plastic insulators. I know earlier today i was using a fence tester and touched the welded wire for ground and had 5000 volts. And Of course i got careless testing it and let..my finger touch the ground lead and thought at first it blew my arm off. It definitely deterred me from wanting to do anything except evacuate my bowels.

 

[Redcatcher]

Quote:
Shouldnt the six foot high welded wire that my runs are made of act as the ground? The electric wire is attached to it with plastic insulators. I know earlier today i was using a fence tester and touched the welded wire for ground and had 5000 volts. And Of course i got careless testing it and let..my finger touch the ground lead and thought at first it blew my arm off. It definitely deterred me from wanting to do anything except evacuate my bowels.

Ok, then it sounds as if your run has a good ground. Most don't. It depends on the soil and the moisture in the ground. Usually you have to sink a ground rod into the soil at LEAST three feet and attach it to that. What kind of a fence charger do you have? 6000 volts is kind of wimpy for a fence charger but then I'm sure you don't have 40 miles of fencing.