Barbed wire deter dogs?

[patandchickens]

Uzuri, what is the actual distance involved? (away from the house/electric)

Pat

 

[Uzuri]

Never measured, but when I was building the run out there it took me two long and one short extension cord, so my guess is about 250'. One day Dad wants to run conduit and put in an outdoor plug because we have a shed back there. He's been saying that for 15 years, though, and I sure don't see any conduit yet.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
Quoting myself because all too often people don't actually look at the question being asked (and I've noticed this in plenty of other threads, so it's not like this is just about me. Read everything before you post, folks, it'll save time in the end run

). I'm aware that electric fence is the ideal option. I'm also painfully aware that 6 months from now I'm going to be in some serious financial trouble if I don't *make* some extra money. *Spending* huge amounts of money isn't an option at the moment. Plug in isn't an option due to distance. Solar chargers aren't cheap. This is what happens when you make promises to family members that result in large cash expenditures (learned my lesson there, but the money's already tied up).

Summing up, no one thinks barbed wire will help. Good, won't bother using it. But I also can't afford an electric charger and all that goes with it, so it's no good suggesting it.

Like I said above make it inaccessible at the top. And boy I know how it is to be without finances. Hope things go better for you I am on unemployment right now....

 

[fishman65]

my entire farm has a barbed wire fence surrounding it. The dogs go over AND under it. All it is good for is keeping horses and cattle in, not dogs out!! No use what so ever.

 

[ND]

Ok, but how far IS it to power?
What I'm getting at is you can use insulated wire to take your hot wire from the charger at an outlet to a LONG way away... providing you have somewhat of a decent charger. (rated to cover the distance of all wire used) Still FAR less than a solar powered charger.

I don't use hot wire on my chicken coop, but have woven horse hot tape utilized in various places on the property. I have run insulated wire, rated for burial actually, to places not near outlets and not connected to other parts of the fence. In a few places, I have buried it shallowly when necessary, but in other areas, I've 'stapled' it to the ground, and the grass has grown over it tight enough that it doesn't get snagged by the mowers.


I have no idea if this is an affordable option for you, but it's just another suggestion.


I'm also in the camp that barbed wire won't help you...

 

[nicelittlehens]

The dogs will keep coming back until they kill all your chickens. Shoot the dogs! You have legal right if the land is in your name. Your property, your livestock, your investment. The dog owners if any apparently are not taking responsibility for them so protect your birds.

 

[AlbionWood]

You' right about the solar, those are really expensive! But you can run electric fence wire cheaper than you might think. For dogs you don't need a real powerful charger, the cheap Fido-Zap units work fine on them if you put the wire at the right height (so they get zapped on the nose - once is all it takes). You don't put the charger out by the coop, you put it wherever you can plug it in, then run electric wire out to the coop. Aluminum fence wire is cheap, I think less than $20 for 1/4 mile. Bang in some T-posts, get some of the plastic stand-off insulators and run the wire out. You can even run it overhead if you have tall posts, or you can run it through PVC conduit laid on the ground; I have even run it through drip-irrigation tubing, which is super-cheap (use a vacuum to suck a string line through it, then tie the string to the wire to pull it through).

It is kind of a pain and costs maybe $100 or so, but it WILL keep dogs out. If you shoot the dogs, more will just come along eventually. Hot wire will also keep out the raccoons, skunks, foxes, and anything else with a central nervous system, if you set it up right. I can't imagine trying to keep chickens without a hot wire.