Electric poultry netting good or bad?

Riparian

Songster
11 Years
Apr 21, 2008
137
6
131
Ontario Canada
I have a roll of electric netting set up right now that is not energized. I bought it last fall right before the heavy snow came so I just got it set up and let the chickens out for the first time in months. I do not have an energizer, but I figured it would keep them contained until I get one.

Now I notice that this might be potentially dangerous for the birds, as they are trying to push their way through it. I am concerned that one might try and fly over it, and get entangled and die.

And that got me thinking. If it was engergized and a chicken got entangled she would suffer a mighty painful death.

Whats everyones thoughts on this type of fence? I bought it because i did not want to construct a permanent fence and I liked the way it can be moved around and the ease of setup.

should I be concerned about chickens getting entangled in the net? or once it is engergized do they learn to steer clear away from it?
 
Electric fencing will not work with chickens because of the feathers prevent the wire from touching the skin thus not shocking them.
 
I am curious about this as well. I would like to get the fencing but would like to know it's going to help rather than hurt!
 
It work great for my geese and ducks. They will not touch it, have been penned inside it at night since they were 5 weeks old. A friend uses it with great success for his chickens. I would NOT use it if it was not energized, very dangerous if they get trapped. Use a wide-impedance charger (read about it on Premier's website) for poultry, it will work.
 
Well, I have electric fencing around the donkey pasture, and the chickens regularly let me know if it's working or not
lau.gif
just today my BR pullet flew across the pasture (yeah, flew
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) because she managed to hit it while it pulsed just right.

if the charger is strong enough, they feel it even through the feathers (I've felt it through my blue jeans, before - ouch).

meri
 
It's a real bad practice to run stock against mesh that you *will* energize but haven't yet, as they get into the habit of trying to reach through it (as you're seeing) and indeed that can cause problems once you put a charge on it.

It's not really meant to contain chickens so much as keep out ground predators, anyhow... although if electrified it *will* keep in chickens that don't feel like flying over it. People do use them lots for chickens with minimal or no fatalities.

If it were me I would either take it down or slap a good charger on it -- *today*, before they get any more firmly trained to believe they can poke their necks through it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat
 

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