Electric Fencing

[paula307]

i am using Premier1 PoultryNetPlus. It's 48". It has double spiked posts and the posts are only about 6' apart which keeps the netting from sagging. It cost a little more than some of the other netting but for me it was worth the extra price. I also bought the gate.

The main problem I have heard about using Kencove netting is that it sags a lot. However, there was one person who thought their Premier1 sagged more than Kencove so do your research. Use "electric fencing" or "electric netting" for your search term here in the forums to read what others say about electric netting and Premier1 versus Kencove.

The idea with the netting is that a predator will sniff the fence before jumping over. They are curious and check out anything new. After the tender nose gets zapped they won't try again. Foxes could jump over my fencing. They don't because they have been zapped by it. They won't take the chance that the whole area might also be painful. We have fox and skunks on a nightly basis here and they all stay away from the chicken area. The 6 local dogs that sometimes run loose also avoid the chickens now and I have one neighbor's big black lab that we know is a chicken killer.

No one can guarantee that nothing will harm your chickens if you use the electric netting. I'm just saying that it's unlikely anything will harm your chickens. I'm saying that because many people in the forums are using it with excellent results. I am completely satisfied with my netting. It's worked even better than I'd hoped.

You might want to go to YouTube. There is a video there where they put food inside electric wire and electric netting. The bears really wanted that food but couldn't get it because they didn't want to get zapped. There are also videos on how to set up your fencing. YouTube is great for researching.

I will absolutely search as you suggested. There is so much information on this site, sometimes it is hard to wade through and find what you are looking for. I appreciate you taking the time to share your experience, a lot.

 

[sdm111]

A 1 anything won't keep out everything defense in layers I have the old school elec fence then inside I have dome pens with welded wire and most have a 12" high wrap of hardware cloth. I have had big problems with possums coons dogs and Fox before the fence so far after a few yrs nothing has gotten in. Also have cameras on them so when I'm home I can monitor from my couch

 

[Coop de Grass]

I use it to fence in an area where my pens are and it works excellent. I have coons, possoms, Fox, neighbors dogs etc no problems had big problems before

That is a nice set up! How many birds do you have, and how many in each pen?

 

[sdm111]

That is a nice set up! How many birds do you have, and how many in each pen?

thanks I have 2 alleys of pens plus some round growout pens along the back total of 27 pens, birds are singles or pairs and I have about 60-65 right now but I have about 1/2 this year's hatch. By the fall it should be down to about 45ish

 

[sach chicks]

Has anyone used the Gallagher Smart Fence to keep predators away from their chickens? I want to be able to allow the hens to leave the coop when I'm not there and I know we have coyotes and raccoons. Thank you so much ! I am a novice and am just getting started. My coop arrives today and the hens are about 6 weeks old so Im trying to figure out how and when to move them out side. Any and all help is much appreciated.

 

[wamtazlady]

Has anyone used the Gallagher Smart Fence to keep predators away from their chickens? I want to be able to allow the hens to leave the coop when I'm not there and I know we have coyotes and raccoons. Thank you so much ! I am a novice and am just getting started. My coop arrives today and the hens are about 6 weeks old so Im trying to figure out how and when to move them out side. Any and all help is much appreciated.

I haven't used or even heard of that brand of fence. If it is similar to Premier1 or Kencove it should do the job.

Your birds should be completely feathered out between 6-8 weeks old. You do need to get them used to being outside. You might try putting them out during the daytime and then putting them in at night for several days. You can put them out for increasingly longer periods of time. Now would be a perfect time to start that. In 2 weeks they'd be ready to be in their coop full time.

 

[sach chicks]

thank you! I have started to put them out but was not sure when they could be out all the time so I appreciate that! I have another question. I want to be able to move the coop around on my 25 acres and let the birds out of the coop on their own when Im not at the farm. Does anyone think that the "red eyes" predator lights ( called Predator guard)that they sell on Amazon work to deter predators. They have a lot of positive reviews?

 

[Egghead_Jr]

The gallagher smart fence is not intended for poultry. Predators of poultry can be small and birds can get out of a fence made of only 4 horizontal strands. Electric poultry netting is what works. To use only strands you'd need a fence then add the strands to it and that's not a portable option.

Electirc poultry netting works perfectly as long as you maintain the fence from grounding out. It's needed to have dual prong posts and extra posts to keep the netting tight and up from the ground. You move the fence some to mow the grass short then put it back in place or mow another area and move the entire net and coop every ten days or so. High grass and sagging nets will ground out and loose most of your shock making them useless for keep predators out. So look at a quality fence with extra post package, Premier has those package deals and makes a better fence. I also recommend a hotgate.

 

[sach chicks]

Great I'm looking tonight for a package because the coop arrived (snap lock ) but I don't have an enclosure yet! I appreciate the help!! Now I just need to get it organized and read about moving them in

we have some kind of hawks in the sky also so do I need to have them under cover all the time??

 

[Howard E]

Has anyone used the Gallagher Smart Fence to keep predators away from their chickens? I want to be able to allow the hens to leave the coop when I'm not there and I know we have coyotes and raccoons. Thank you so much ! I am a novice and am just getting started. My coop arrives today and the hens are about 6 weeks old so Im trying to figure out how and when to move them out side. Any and all help is much appreciated.

Actually, I use something similar to the Smart Fence, except it is stuff I have pulled together on my own. A 4 wire system that looks like this:







You look at that and think "no way that is going to work", but it does. It is not a physical barrier, but a psychological one. The birds get zapped and stay in. Varmints get zapped and stay out. There is a learning curve as they learn what happens when the touch it and after that, they will avoid it. This harmless looking fence pretty much shuts down all traffic across it. Safe and highly effective.

These simple wire fences are much less expensive and easier to maintain than the netting fences ( I also have two of those).

You can get all your components at MFA or Orschlen or TSC. All mine came from MFA.