Do you shock your chickens?

[Wisher1000]

For all of you who use hot wire around your coops...do you turn it off when they free range or leave it on? Will the birds learn to stay away from it? I am considering using one to protect a guinea who is on a nest and to also run it around the bottom of the coop. Can I leave it on 24/7?

 

[chickened]

I have no electric fence but I have considered shocking them when they are acting insane.

 

[AKsmama]

We turn ours off. They're just not smart enough to stay away from it- ours aren't, anyway.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Odds are they won't bother it much anyway.

Turning it off and on is setting yourself up to forget and risk it being off when you need it most

 

[Dogfish]

On 24/7/365. They get a small jolt, then stay away.

 

[harveyhorses]

Mine do not seem to notice it, I have a low strand around the bottom of the run and I have seen them brushing up against it and not even twitching. Maybe their feathers do not conduct very well. Huh, now I am curious.

 

[Wisher1000]

My husband said he thought I meant that I was going to the coop in my birthday suit...now that would shock them! But seriously, I don't want to hurt them or confuse them but I agree that on and off may lead to forgetting and unnecessary losses. Anyone have any stories of their chickens getting into the hot wire?

 

[kemclaughlin]

Quote:

It just doesn't seem very nice to shock them 500 times a day!

 

[bryan99705]

It rarely evens seems to get them, guess the feathers insulate them but when it does, the bird squacks, runs a little, then goes right back to walking thru it. If you are truly worried about escapees, drape deer neting over it.

It's kinda hard to protect birds when they don't listen to the rules!

 

[Wisher1000]

Okay, so there's no one out there who has lost a chicken to a hot wire? We found some song birds hanging from the one around the pasture when I was younger, but it was for stock, not dogs.