Building new coop&run, questions about electric fencing.

[45pro]

I am building a new run that's attached to my old shed and turning it into a coop. That being said I hear all different kinds of things being used to keep chickens in and predators out. My major threats are stray dogs, opossum, raccoon, and maybe fox. Before I knew what I was doing we had 3 chickens in a run with just chicken wire. That lasted about a year before a neighbors dog managed to get loose and went straight through it and killed all the chickens. The new coop that I'm building I'm trying to keep looking as good as possible since I live on the edge of a housing division next to a lake, i want to keep everything nice and orderly as to not be an eyesore, so I'm steering clear of hardware cloth and instead have built a run wrapped with 2x3 black coated welded wire. This stuff literally dissapears as you can look right through it and not notice it. Now i know this isn't 'ideal' or as good as hardware cloth, but it is what I'm doing and I know it will keep my chickens in and most harmful critters out. All that being said even though the welded wire is 14 gauge, I don't expect it to last long with a determined dog. That's why I'm going to put up an electric fence with wire every 6 inches along the bottom 3 feet. TSC recommended the 2 mile (smallest) solar powered low impediance electric fence,(I do not have power out there). I assume with all that i should be able to keep all predators that they will face out correct? The question I am wondering is, if a chicken happens to stick his head out between the wire and gets hit with the fence, will it learn to keep away or is it just going to kill It? If it will kill it im thinking of running a 18" span of chicken wire around the bottom on the inside to keep them from poking their heads out if I HAVE to. I'm really only wanting to do this as a last resort.

So will i be ok keeping out my local predators with my 2x3 welded wire and electric fence, and what kind of risk does the electric fence pose to my chickens? Can they handle being zapped and learn not to mess with it, or would it be goodbye chicken?

Pic of electric fence tsc reccomended me, and my half built coop/run.

 

[azygous]

First of all, if a chicken can stick its head through the welded wire, a raccoon will be able to stick its paws through and grab a chicken and pull it through the wire. I recommend hardware cloth on the lower three feet. If you like, paint it black to match the welded wire.

You also should bury hardware cloth below soil level angled outward to prevent diggers from entering under the fence.

Back to the solar charger. Yes, a chicken can get electrocuted if it touches the hot wire and the welded wire at the same time. This is another good reason to run hardware cloth around the lower portion.

I have hot wire around my coops and run. It does a superb job of discouraging predators from trying to come through the fence. The secret to success is baiting the hot wire with something like peanut butter so the predator takes a "taste", thus getting a strong message. I've watched while a bear took a taste of the peanut butter on the hot wire and did a graceful pirouette, running off faster than I've ever seen a bear move, never to return.

 

[cholland]

Never say never, but the electric fence should not kill the chickens when they come in contact with it. I've heard of it with electric net but that was more of an entanglement issue, not a single zap.
Mine have touched the wire. They squawk and run around a bit. I have touched the wire. I don't recommend it.

I have a similar set up but the run is larger and not covered. Mine is fenced with 2x4 welded wire and currently just a single electric wire around the bottom, outside. I also set 4-8 inch rocks all along the bottom of the fence. Nothing buried. That was effective at stopping a skunk and opossum problem I was having.
I assume it works for raccoons and fox too because they are out there but I don't see them hanging around anymore.
Also at night the chickens are all safe in the coop with an auto door (solar).

I have switched to using the longer extended clip insulators to keep the wire at least 4 inches away from the fence. Otherwise my birds kick litter out in places and easily ground the wire.
I will be adding 2 more wires as you described in the next few weeks as soon as the second run is finished.

 

[azygous]

My chickens have touched the hot wire, too, and all they get is a sharp "bite" and they don't ever do it again. However, I have managed to touch the hot wire while at the same time brushing the metal fence. Oh lordy! I could feel the charge go through my body, zipping in and out of my heart, lungs, and parts south, and the only thing that kept me from serious injury was the pulsing charge permitting me to let go.

If a chicken were to come into contact in the same manner, touching the hot wire while also touching the metal fence, there's no doubt in my mind it could kill them. I have a friend who had installed his hot wire around his run too close to the metal fencing, and he was always finding dead wild birds below the hot wire. He finally decided to take the time to install longer insulators so the wire sat father out from the metal fence, and he stopped finding song birds dead every other day. There's your clue that it can be dangerous

 

[45pro]

The welded wire is buried 6-"12" deep around the entire run depending on the slope of the yard. As far as chickens being pulled through the wire....they would all be in the coop at night and during the day I would think they would be smart enough to back away from the fence, or retreat to the coop if a predator was near correct?

I understand that this isn't the perfect scenario but I am trying to make what I'm doing work as well as possible.

As far as chickens getting zapped, it' good to hear they sound like they can take a hit and not die, not that I'm wanting that to happen, but if it did, at least it sounds like it shouldnt kill it. I can use the long insulators to keep the wire out of their reach.

Anything else I may be missing or any other opinions to take into account?

 

[45pro]

My chickens have touched the hot wire, too, and all they get is a sharp "bite" and they don't ever do it again. However, I have managed to touch the hot wire while at the same time brushing the metal fence. Oh lordy! I could feel the charge go through my body, zipping in and out of my heart, lungs, and parts south, and the only thing that kept me from serious injury was the pulsing charge permitting me to let go.

If a chicken were to come into contact in the same manner, touching the hot wire while also touching the metal fence, there's no doubt in my mind it could kill them. I have a friend who had installed his hot wire around his run too close to the metal fencing, and he was always finding dead wild birds below the hot wire. He finally decided to take the time to install longer insulators so the wire sat father out from the metal fence, and he stopped finding song birds dead every other day. There's your clue that it can be dangerous

My 2x3 welded wire is dipped in a black pvc coating, will that still have the same danger level or will the coating help neutralize that?

 

[jthornton]

You may not realize but an electric fence must be isolated from the ground. The two connections on the fence charger are for Fence and Ground. Ground is connected to ground rod(s) driven in the ground at least 4' into the ground and Fence is connected to the isolated fence. How they work is when an animal or human is in contact with the ground and touches the fence they complete the circuit and get a shock. Same way you complete a circuit if you put one hand on the lawn mower head and hold the spark plug wire in the other hand and some mean person pulls the rope... and you only do that once as well.

JT

 

[Cryss]

Dead songbirds! There's the info I need! I'm planking on electrified fence so now I'll be even more careful.
By the way OP, a predator will scare your birds enough to manipulate them to crowd into a corner of the run, then grab the closest one to the fence before the others move away allowing the trapped victim to escape.

 

[azygous]

@Cryss said what I was just going to say. You shouldn't underestimate the resourcefulness of wildlife or overestimate the intelligence of your chickens. When they panic, it's a circus of stupidity. Kind of reminds me of the US Congress.