Chickens not stopped by electric netting

[JeffandLori]

I picked up four additional hens from the local chicken whisperer, and have integrated them in with the flock. There’s still some occasional chasing going on, but I think it’s settling down. The coop itself is 4x6 with 12 linear feet of perch space, the attached run where food and one water is is 6x12 and the whole thing is surrounded by about a 30x30 area of electrified poultry netting with another waterer. All under the shade of a big Live Oak tree. When I open the coop just prior to dawn, I open the run as well so they have plenty of room.

The problem is the new ones just walk right through the poultry netting. They’ve figured out the pulse timing somehow and even if they get caught they just act like nothing happens. The remaining seven are happy to stay inside the fence.

The issue is once they are beyond the shade of the tree, they could get picked off by a hawk. The more immediate problem is they’ve started wandering into the watermelon patch and I know they will tear up the lawn. And over toward the neighbor’s fence.

I’m currently using a solar charger because I wanted the flexibility and not have to string wires. It’s a .17 joule model. It works, I’ve tested it with a fence tester and my right knuckle.

I‘m wondering if I should get an AC model in the .7-1.0 joule range if that will work? Step in posts and electric poly tape to confuse them from the netting? If I go with an AC charger, can I run two wire romex from the porch to plug the charger in the 30’ to the run?

thx

 

[TillyPeeps]

Put deer netting and 6ft post around to stop chickens. I have hot wires to protect them from predators, and 4ft snow fence to keep chickens in. My chickens are not flighty, so 4ft fence is enough. Some chickens need 6ft fence.

 

[aart]

Electric netting is more for keeping predators out than keeping chickens in.

 

[Penpal]

Their feathers protect them from the current. My chicks do the same thing. I put them in a dog crate at night for their own protection (inside the el netting), but seeing the kind of el netting you have, it will be a while before they are too big to walk right out. Poultry netting is narrower at the bottom than what you have. I expect once they get too big to walk out, they will simply fly out.

 

[JeffandLori]

Yep. You guys are right. I bought the wrong fence. It worked fine for the older ones, but I think because they went from coop/run to coop/run/fenced run they were happy to have the room. The new ones came from a place where the run was a solid 1/4 acre.

The vertical stringers are spaced 6 3/4". The horizontal ones are about 3 1/2 at the bottom. So, $150 down the drain. Maybe I can use it around the garden later for possums and such.

Or....just tolerate them having the freedom like so many "free range" chickens do.

 

[JeffandLori]

I don't think it's a "learning" thing. They legit don't care. If I chase them in and turn my back, within a minute they are back out.

Is it possible that they've figured out that as long as their head goes through the hole ok, the shock won't penetrate the feathers?

I was all set to give them a pass until they started going in the melon patch. I'm just getting a couple of good watermelons going and there's a ton of blooms.

 

[SmiYa0126]

I don't think it's a "learning" thing. They legit don't care. If I chase them in and turn my back, within a minute they are back out.

Is it possible that they've figured out that as long as their head goes through the hole ok, the shock won't penetrate the feathers?

I was all set to give them a pass until they started going in the melon patch. I'm just getting a couple of good watermelons going and there's a ton of blooms.

Further proof that chickens aren't dumb .

 

[JeffandLori]

Electric netting is more for keeping predators out than keeping chickens in.

Any thoughts on keeping them in? This is my backyard. You can see them hanging out in the middle of the beds as well as the fenced in area where they SHOULD be.

 

[Ridgerunner]

For a critter (chicken or something else) to get shocked they have to complete the electrical circuit. They have to touch a hot wire and a ground at the same time. In the electric netting every horizontal wire except the bottom one is hot. The soil is your ground. So they have to touch a horizontal wire while also touching the ground with something that is not insulated. With chickens their feathers insulate them but their feet, legs, comb, wattles, beak, and areas around the head are not insulated. So they have to have at least one foot on the ground when they touch a hot wire with their head to get shocked.

The holes in the Premiere1 electric netting get larger as you go up the netting. It looks like yours does too. If you watch your chickens, they are hopping up to a higher hole so they can go through. They are not touching the soil (the electrical ground) when they are also touching the hot wire. So they don't get shocked. It is not the insulation from their feathers, it's that they never complete the circuit.

I don't know how big your chickens are. My full-sized fowl chicks can get through the Premiere1 electric netting by hopping up to a higher hole until they are 7 to 8 weeks old. Some bantams may never get big enough.

I expect once they get too big to walk out, they will simply fly out.

Then can you please explain why so many of us use electric netting to protect chickens and are happy with it? The simple answer, they generally don't fly out.

Most chickens can easily fly over the netting if they want to. You can find a few posts on here where people say that at least one of their chickens has learned to fly out and do regularly. I've never had one of those but I don't doubt a few people have. For electric netting to be so popular it can't be a big problem. There can be a difference in what they can do and what they actually do.

I do occasionally have a chicken get out. If a chicken gets trapped against the netting and can't get away any other way they go vertical. Sometimes they land on the wrong side of the netting. I've had a hen do that once, I think she was trying to get away from an amorous rooster. It happens a lot more often when I have cockerels going through puberty with their fights. I found that if I don't use sharp corners (nothing less than 90 degrees) and avoid small areas that doesn't happen very often. I once set the netting up to form a passage about 10' to 15' wide so they could get to a new area. The number of escapees skyrocketed to 3 a day. When I reconfigured it to form more of a square so there were no tight areas they stopped getting out. Once they got out they did not know to fly over the netting to get back in although they were desperate to get back with their buddies. I had to put them back in.

 

[Penpal]

Ridgerunner, I was looking at the photo posted. The netting does not look like the poultry netting I have used. If it is as short as it looks, it is too short. If it as short as it looks, or much taller, a chick will be able to walk through for quite some time. Poultry netting has smaller squares/rectangles nearer the ground. I have used poultry netting and it is 48" high.