Anyone have electrified Chicken netting to keep predators out?

[Devorah]

This article might help https://www.plamondon.com/wp/faq-simple-electric-fences-chickens/.

Thanks very much!

 

[McChooky]

Thanks very much!

You're welcome! A word of advise you may want to section one area completely off and cover it with netting to keep out Hawks and Owls . They're federally protected so we can't do anything but deter them. Nothing worse than having to keep you chickens locked up all day in the coop .An electric fence is your best friend for all the rest.

 

[Devorah]

You're welcome! A word of advise you may want to section one area completely off and cover it with netting to keep out Hawks and Owls . They're federally protected so we can't do anything but deter them. Nothing worse than having to keep you chickens locked up all day in the coop .An electric fence is your best friend for all the rest.

Thanks so much! I’m slightly freaking out here since this is my first time doing this and we are very rural (in fact, up against woods). I inherited a barn, coop and run from the prior owners so I’m planning on doing some renovation in the coop and run, including beefing up security (hardware cloth around the run instead of flimsy wire, hardware cloth with skirt around the paddock with other wire above that). The previous folks set up one wire that goes around the paddock but I don’t see how one wire is useful. The question is do I run two wires or just install electric netting inside the paddock. I do think electric is the way to go but I have zero experience and am way outside my confort zone … So much to figure out!

 

[RoyalChick]

Thanks so much! I’m slightly freaking out here since this is my first time doing this and we are very rural (in fact, up against woods). I inherited a barn, coop and run from the prior owners so I’m planning on doing some renovation in the coop and run, including beefing up security (hardware cloth around the run instead of flimsy wire, hardware cloth with skirt around the paddock with other wire above that). The previous folks set up one wire that goes around the paddock but I don’t see how one wire is useful. The question is do I run two wires or just install electric netting inside the paddock. I do think electric is the way to go but I have zero experience and am way outside my confort zone … So much to figure out!

I think you saw my post a few days ago where I was looking for some reassurance on my layout of poultry netting.
I have been using a hot wire for a while but decided to upgrade to a poultry netting fence.
I think ultimately it will be easier and more flexible than my wire. I went with a single wire initially to keep raccoons climbing the coop walls (which it does well) but I didn't try it to fence in a run area.
When I installed the wire I had zero experience and I found a lot of the information available on line quite confusing - but I jumped in and it turned out to be much easier than I expected.
I am up and running with my poultry net as of last night. I got the one from Kencove but it is essentially the same as the PremiereOne poultry net. My fencer/energizer thingy is from PremiereOne.
For me there is no dumb question when you are starting out on this journey - I remember I didn't even know if a fencer, charger and energizer were the same thing (I believe they are!) - so just ask away.
My sense is that if you have an area that has fixed solid fencing then a wire or 2 is probably the easiest way to go - just screw insulators into the existing fence. But if like me you are using temporary fencing and maybe moving it a bit from time to time, then poultry netting is the way to go.
Hope that helps.

 

[McChooky]

I live against the woods and fortified my coops with pallets and hardware cloth so it'll stop coyotes and keep out weasels. Its within 15-20 ft of my house in a fenced yard and has a game camera on it so I can monitor the presence of predators.Having motion lights or a street light and dogs helps as predators can lurk in dark areas totally undetected.My advice is run 2 wires outside your permanent run if thats the one you go with. Poultry netting is moved frequently to prevent grounding and used more by people who don't have a fence around their property.

 

[Devorah]

I live against the woods and fortified my coops with pallets and hardware cloth so it'll stop coyotes and keep out weasels. Its within 15-20 ft of my house in a fenced yard and has a game camera on it so I can monitor the presence of predators.Having motion lights or a street light and dogs helps as predators can lurk in dark areas totally undetected.My advice is run 2 wires outside your permanent run if thats the one you go with. Poultry netting is moved frequently to prevent grounding and used more by people who don't have a fence around their property.

Thanks very much! I have the sense that running two wires is what I’m going to do since we already have a paddock which encloses the run and will be getting a “facelift” with hardware cloth and skirt total 48” and other wire above that. There is already a mechanism for attaching one line of wire. I’ll have to create a second line. Btw - what is a game camera? If you detect predators on the camera, what do you do?

 

[McChooky]

If you decide to go with regular galvanized chicken wire and run 2 electric wires around it you can improve your ground by running a ground wire and connecting it to the metal chicken wire on the fence. This deters any climbers on the fence.If they touch any part of that fence and either hot wire they will be shocked.

 

[Devorah]

I think you saw my post a few days ago where I was looking for some reassurance on my layout of poultry netting.
I have been using a hot wire for a while but decided to upgrade to a poultry netting fence.
I think ultimately it will be easier and more flexible than my wire. I went with a single wire initially to keep raccoons climbing the coop walls (which it does well) but I didn't try it to fence in a run area.
When I installed the wire I had zero experience and I found a lot of the information available on line quite confusing - but I jumped in and it turned out to be much easier than I expected.
I am up and running with my poultry net as of last night. I got the one from Kencove but it is essentially the same as the PremiereOne poultry net. My fencer/energizer thingy is from PremiereOne.
For me there is no dumb question when you are starting out on this journey - I remember I didn't even know if a fencer, charger and energizer were the same thing (I believe they are!) - so just ask away.
My sense is that if you have an area that has fixed solid fencing then a wire or 2 is probably the easiest way to go - just screw insulators into the existing fence. But if like me you are using temporary fencing and maybe moving it a bit from time to time, then poultry netting is the way to go.
Hope that helps.

Thank you so much! I did see your post - and that got me thinking (and slightly freaking out). The netting sounds great but is more expensive than the wires and won’t cover the entire paddock (which encapsulates the run attached to the barn/coop). I am tending toward the wires but still considering all options. I literally know nothing about these things so all this advice is extremely helpful to me!

 

[McChooky]

You're better prepared to ward off predators if they're seen. Some will "case the joint" first before they attack (fox) I built a fort so I don't have to kill anything but that doesn't mean I can't go outside and make a lot of noise to run it off so it won't harass my chickens.Some people set traps to kill predator or kill them on the spot once detected.I can't shoot a gun as I have neighbors within 500 ft.

 

[Devorah]

You're better prepared to ward off predators if they're seen. Some will "case the joint" first before they attack (fox) I built a fort so I don't have to kill anything but that doesn't mean I can't go outside and make a lot of noise to run it off so it won't harass my chickens.Some people set traps to kill predator or kill them on the spot once detected.I can't shoot a gun as I have neighbors within 500 ft.

Thanks. This may sound absurd, but is there a motion detector that also sets off an alarm? I just think that most of the prowling would occur when I’m asleep. If noise helps, an annoying alarm would be the next best thing. (At least here in the country…)