Electric Net Fencing Question

[enggass]

I see a lot of people who use those 4ft electric netting fences and wonder why the chickens do not just fly out over them. All chickens I've had will fly out or over any fencing below 6ft or more...

 

[TeeMom]

I see a lot of people who use those 4ft electric netting fences and wonder why the chickens do not just fly out over them. All chickens I've had will fly out or over any fencing below 6ft or more...

Chickens typically don't fly over things...They fly up, perch and then jump or flutter down. Electric prevents this behavior and conditions them to just stay away from it altogether.

 

[enggass]

Ok. That makes sense and is what I experienced. So, with electric net fencing will they try to fly up and perch before realizing its electric - and when they do will they reverse direction and remain in the pen? Or do some get out once then never again...

 

[TeeMom]

I think most figure it out by investigating (probably with their beaks) before ever making that leap.

 

[SueT]

A friend has the electric netting, I think hers in the 42". She clipped the hens' wings when she first put them in, and ever after they have assumed they can't fly over and don't try. Or maybe they did touch it. Whatever the case, they stay in.

 

[Den in Penn]

For most chickens they never seem to like to fly over something as unstable as the loose wire. I have had a bird that flew over the electric net. It never touched the top, straight up eight feet then glided out, much like a started pheasant does. Then there were the pullets escaped through the net every day. Chicken feathers insulate them from electric. Besides when they are using the medium size holes they would jump up leaving the ground and never would have completed the circuit anyway to get the shock. A bird perched on a live wire doesn't complete the electric circuit to get a shock, so they would just fly off when they want.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Expanding on what Den said, for something to get shocked with an electric netting, they have to be touching the ground and a hot wire at the same time. Otherwise the electric circuit is not complete.

Their feathers or a baby chick’s down will insulate them. But if they touch a hot wire with their comb or wattles while they are touching the ground the circuit is complete and they jump back. They kind of learn not to do that after a while but sometimes it takes some of them a while. My baby chicks can walk through the electric netting until they are about 7 or 8 weeks old, then they are too large to fit through the holes.

From what I’ve seen the electricity has nothing to do with them not flying over. The normal way chickens escape is by flying up to something solid to perch on and then they fly down on the other side. The top is not substantial enough for them to perch on so they don’t fly up there to start with. They certainly can fly over the fence if they are motivated enough, but usually they don’t. Mine fly up five feet to get to the roost at night so they could easily clear that 48” netting.

About the only time I ever have anything other than young chicks going through the fence escape mine is when a chicken gets trapped against the fence when they are being attacked. They go vertical to get away and accidentally come down on the wrong side of the fence. On very rare occasions this is a hen trying to get away from an amorous rooster. Most of the time it’s when I have cockerels in the flock and they are getting into their fighting.

A couple of tricks I’ve learned to help them not get caught against a fence is to flatten the corners. 90 degree corners aren’t too bad, but don’t make them any sharper. Flatter is even better. The other trick is to not make long narrow corridors. Spread it out more into a square than a narrow rectangle. Since I learned this, I seldom have even a cockerel escape, even with a lot of skirmishes.