Electric fence and feed questons?

[Heyoehkah]

I have never owned a chicken. There I said it.....

Your comments are greatly encouraged.

I am preparing an area totaling one acre into three irrigated pastures. I plan to have my fenced and stationary coop in the center of the three pastures. I am planning for approximately a dozen chickens and two goats. The intent is to rotate the chickens and goat through the pastures.

I plan to feed the chickens very little as I believe the quality of the eggs will be far superior if the chickens are truly free range. Here in coastal San Diego with a little irrigation the pastures will stay green year round. In addition to what they find on their own, they will get all the snails we harvest from the orchard and kitchen scraps. Texas Grass Fed Meats feeds their laying hens alfalfa pellets only when seasonal pressure limits the food supply and I plan to follow their practice.

Questions:

1) I am planning electric fence for the goats who will share the area. Will this harm the chickens or will they quickly understand the wires and stay away?
2) Is chicken wire for the first 24" with the electrified wire above up to 42" enough to keep the chickens in their pasture section with only the occasional escapee?
3) Is a dozen chickens too many for rotation on an acre? Perhaps fewer competing for food would make for happier healthier chickens.

Thanks again for your comments.

 

[elmo]

Sorry, can't help with your questions, but I do have a suggestion for you. Research the different breeds of chickens carefully before you decide on which ones to get. Some chickens do better than others free ranging for all or nearly all of their nutritional needs.

This will also help you answer your question about how high your fence needs to be to contain your chickens, since different breeds have different propensities for flight.

What's your predator control strategy? You can design the electric fence to keep predators out and away from your chickens; just do a search here on the subject and you'll find plenty of good information.

Of course your chickens will be vulnerable to hawks in an open pen. You can help them survive by giving them places to dive for cover, either natural or artificial.

I'm assuming you're going to coop them at night in a predator proof coop? You've probably already know that chicken wire only keeps chickens in, you'll need 1/2" by 1/2" maximum grid hardware cloth to keep predators out. And, ventilation is the key thing for a coop, particularly in a warm weather climate like yours.

Sounds like a great project you're planning.

 

[RendonRoo]

Chicken wire will contain chickens(but they can fly over 4 ft. in most breeds. I would use hardware cloth at the least. The electric fence will not harm them and they will learn very fast to stay away.

Welcome to BYC and chickens.