Chicken Prison

[Soon2BChixMom]

Aprons are great but a hot wire is more fun...

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JT

Do you have an apron too or just the hot wire? How far off the ground is the hot wire?

 

[jthornton]

Do you have an apron too or just the hot wire? How far off the ground is the hot wire?

I have 3 hot wires, one at about 2" for diggers, one at 12" for sniffers and one at the top for climbers.

Edit: No apron on the fence.

JT

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

I have 3 hot wires, one at about 2" for diggers, one at 12" for sniffers and one at the top for climbers.

JT

We put one at 2" and one at 6". I figured if they were climbing, they would start from the ground up? I was thinking of an apron as well, but wasn't sure if we needed it.

 

[aart]

I have 3 hot wires, one at about 2" for diggers, one at 12" for sniffers and one at the top for climbers.
JT

cracked me up for some reason!
Do you get much snow piling up on those wires?

We put one at 2" and one at 6". I figured if they were climbing, they would start from the ground up? I was thinking of an apron as well, but wasn't sure if we needed it.

 

[jthornton]

We put one at 2" and one at 6". I figured if they were climbing, they would start from the ground up? I was thinking of an apron as well, but wasn't sure if we needed it.

So long as it doesn't jump up on the fence like a cat or raccoon would easily jump over the 6" wire onto the fence.

JT

 

[jthornton]

cracked me up for some reason!
Do you get much snow piling up on those wires?

Very seldom do we get any accumulation of snow. In the 20 years we have lived here only a few times I have had to plow snow in the driveway... so for those rare days I'll just unplug it and get out the riot gun

JT

 

[aart]

Very seldom do we get any accumulation of snow.

Snow can kill an electric fence.

We put one at 2" and one at 6". I figured if they were climbing, they would start from the ground up? I was thinking of an apron as well, but wasn't sure if we needed it.

Might be good to have apron too.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

Snow can kill an electric fence.

Might be good to have apron too.

I believe if you ground the fence properly and set it up properly, you have less issues with snow. My inlaws who are farmers helped us to set ours up. I looked and actually I am up about 4" and 8". We might need a wire at two inches.
I am still debating the apron. Everyone is locked up well at night.

 

[jthornton]

Snow can kill an electric fence.

On those rare occasions when snow is expected I'll unplug the hot wire, the rocks held together by the tiny amount of dirt will be frozen solid anyway.

JT

 

[4 ever Orpington]

This was the very first project I have ever done on my own. My husband was out of town for work for a few months when we had a nice little fox family constantly visiting the yard. I had a freak out moment and bought 2 dog runs and Lowes and put them together. There is fencing around the perimeter and over the top. There is hard wire 2 ft high around the base as well. There is only one coop in the 200 sq ft run now. While this space is secure for my girls, the enclosure gives me anxiety every time it storms with lightning. Their space is not in the open, there are 100 year old pines that nearly reach the sky near it. I know the chance of lightning hitting them is slim but it's in the back of my mind. My family has now called it Chicken Prison, or Chicken Penitentiary. That is okay because I know when my girls are in 'lock up' they are 100% safe.
My girls get their free time in the yard everyday even on our busiest days we try to get them out for at least 2 hrs of yard time.

Don’t see a prison put a secure home for your birds. Well done.