Electric Poultry Fencing

[le neige homme]

Quote:
I cannot actually "recommend" one per se, but I would look at Premier.

I don't know the brand we have here, but they're not Premier and I don't like the sagginess they have between posts. It's caused me to buy extra posts and it costs me precious time each time I have to fuss with it. I have a Premier catalog and it seems that they've addressed some key issues that plague other brands. Of course, people got paid to make that catalog sell, so who knows? I'd love to hear a review of 'em because I need more myself.

 

[le neige homme]

Quote:
Ah, I should have mentioned the gate! What we have is just a piece of goat mesh (is that what it's called?) cut to size and then zip-tied between two T-posts. For 7 years, there was only one flock and there were no issues with predators. But, wouldn't ya know it, as soon as I moved my cockerels to their bachelor pad out in the back of the farm, a rat-coon struck! I'm currently in the process of hot-wiring the gates. For the roosters, I attached some 3/4" PVC pipes horizontally across the gate, then zip-tied some shock tape to each one and attached the shock tape to the fence wires. It looks kinda like this:

__________ hot
__________ ground
__________
__________
__________
__________
__________ hot
__________ ground
__________ hot


The PVC pipe looks hokey, and it is, but it's what I had lying around. I'm going to wire all our gates with the pieces Ryan suggested.

Really though, you can totally get by without a gate. In my photo above, you can see my solar charger right outside the gate...the ON/OFF button is right there. I could just as easily turn it off and step over the fence, but if I do that over 700 times a year, chances are I'm going to screw up at some point.

 

[Clodbuster]

This quite a good idea for grass growing up into the net and also for the sagging fences. Some builders dampcourse cures the problem of weeds in more permanent nets.

http://www.agrisellex.co.uk/erecting-netting-1836-0.html

 

[le neige homme]

One more thing I wanted to mention...check out how often a thread comes up in which a dog has gotten into somebody's coop and just obliterated the entire flock, or close to it. What a bummer.

We don't have this problem around here thanks to the 'lectric netting. We have bird dogs next door that are over here all the time, chasing after gophers and such. We enjoy having them over, and we especially enjoy the peace of mind of knowing that the chickens are the absolute last thing those dogs are interested in. They know what's up.

 

[CMV]

I use the same type of fencing. I love it. I rotate my pens constantly to keep down the bugs and grass. Any negative issues I have had with fencing has already been mentioned, so you have a clear picture of the down sides from le neige homme. I've used that type of fencing with poultry and pigs, and a friend uses it with sheep and goats as well, so you can see it is great for a variety of containment purposes. I have a couple solar chargers for mine meaning I don't need access to electricity, either.

Great fences. I highly recommend them.