Electric Poultry Netting Success?

[Welshies]

If I were to invest $150 in 150' of poultry netting how successful would it be? I have 4 hens, a rabbit, and possibly some guinea fowl coming up here (although, if I get electric netting I may skip the guinea fowl.). I recently lost 40 birds to a fox, and I don't want to risk losing any more. What success stories are there and what are the pros and cons?
I have 2' tall 1'' by 1'' chicken wire too I may set up along the bottom edge of the electric netting to act as an apron and a baby chicken barrier

 

[Benevolent Barn]

Forty in one night! I am assuming it buried underneath whatever fence you had. Justin Rhodes on YouTube used electric poultry netting and did not have problems. I would go for it, but am a little concerned that fox could still go under it. Best of luck.

 

[Welshies]

Forty in one night! I am assuming it buried underneath whatever fence you had. Justin Rhodes on YouTube used electric poultry netting and did not have problems. I would go for it, but am a little concerned that fox could still go under it. Best of luck.

No, it was during the day... the fox did not dig under the fence.
I was going to make an apron with the 2' tall chicken wire not only to keep the chicks in but the foxes out.

 

[aart]

The electric netting should keep the foxes out, if you keep ti good an hot.
Get a tester too so you can check for good zapping power.

Chicken wire attached to electric netting will probably short it out.

Check this thread out:
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1117877/a-treatise-on-electric-fencing
Howard is very well versed in hot wire of many types.

 

[Howard E]

Losing 40 birds all at once does not sound like something a fox would do. Maybe over a long period of time? What we do know is whatever was being done to prevent that kind of loss didn't work.

But on to the poultry netting........if properly maintained, the netting option is highly effective on it's own. The trick is setting it up over an area of clear ground so it does not ground out, then keeping that area clean. In that respect, it is high maintenance. If you are willing to use a contact herbicide like Roundup........or move it often, it will work well. It is both physical barrier (which is how I'm using both of mine), plus when hot, a level of protection not much is going to mess with. When kept inside a fence of electric poultry netting, about all that is going to get in are raptors who fly over it.

The downside is the netting is expensive for the area maintained. A 160' length is going to enclose an area of about 40' square. I think I calculated it once and my 4 wire hot fence, which is also effective, costs about 1/4th as much as the netting. So I can use it to expand into a much larger area for the same cost. It seems to work........my neighbors on both sides of me have described watching foxes in their yards......one in my horse pasture........but I never see them inside the fence, and my birds are out and about almost all day.......every day.......and I've not lost any.

Here is another chicken math trick.......double the linear feet of fence and you quadruple the area inside it.

 

[Welshies]

Losing 40 birds all at once does not sound like something a fox would do. Maybe over a long period of time? What we do know is whatever was being done to prevent that kind of loss didn't work.

But on to the poultry netting........if properly maintained, the netting option is highly effective on it's own. The trick is setting it up over an area of clear ground so it does not ground out, then keeping that area clean. In that respect, it is high maintenance. If you are willing to use a contact herbicide like Roundup........or move it often, it will work well. It is both physical barrier (which is how I'm using both of mine), plus when hot, a level of protection not much is going to mess with. When kept inside a fence of electric poultry netting, about all that is going to get in are raptors who fly over it.

The downside is the netting is expensive for the area maintained. A 160' length is going to enclose an area of about 40' square. I think I calculated it once and my 4 wire hot fence, which is also effective, costs about 1/4th as much as the netting. So I can use it to expand into a much larger area for the same cost. It seems to work........my neighbors on both sides of me have described watching foxes in their yards......one in my horse pasture........but I never see them inside the fence, and my birds are out and about almost all day.......every day.......and I've not lost any.

Here is another chicken math trick.......double the linear feet of fence and you quadruple the area inside it.

Okay... And yes it was 20 birds one day, the 20 others two days later

 

[JackE]

I lost a bunch of birds to the fox. In two separate, mid-day attacks. The electric poultry net, was the answer for me. I started with 300', liked it so much, I bought 350' more. Got my electronet from Premier. I have the PermaNet. It has bigger posts, and heavier ground spikes. I bought the Kube charger they sell on the site. I've had the fence up for 7yrs now, and have not had a loss to a ground based predator in that time. I have just about every ground pred you can get, outside of a bear, and none of them are a threat any more. The fence is in operation 24/7/365. The only time it is shut off, is when I have to get into the enclosure to cut the grass, and if I get more than a couple of inches of snow in the winter. And even then, nothing will challenge that fence. I guess getting 7000Vs to the face, sticks in the animal brain. I believe, buying this electronet fence was, outside of the coop, the best thing I have done, or bought, for my chickens.

 

[Welshies]

I lost a bunch of birds to the fox. In two separate, mid-day attacks. The electric poultry net, was the answer for me. I started with 300', liked it so much, I bought 350' more. Got my electronet from Premier. I have the PermaNet. It has bigger posts, and heavier ground spikes. I bought the Kube charger they sell on the site. I've had the fence up for 7yrs now, and have not had a loss to a ground based predator in that time. I have just about every ground pred you can get, outside of a bear, and none of them are a threat any more. The fence is in operation 24/7/365. The only time it is shut off, is when I have to get into the enclosure to cut the grass, and if I get more than a couple of inches of snow in the winter. And even then, nothing will challenge that fence. I guess getting 7000Vs to the face, sticks in the animal brain. I believe, buying this electronet fence was, outside of the coop, the best thing I have done, or bought, for my chickens.

See my problem is the cost... Plus, we get three feet or four feet of snow in winter.
However I think one or two hotwires run along the fence of double-layered chicken wire with an apron might be a cheaper, better solution for me.

 

[JackE]

Yeah, it's not the cheapest option. I think if you run the two hotwires, maybe 6" and 12" off the ground, that should do the job. Get the strongest charger you can buy, so the pred will forget about chicken dinner for the rest of it's life. Good luck with your birds. Believe me, I know what a nuisance the fox can be.

 

[Welshies]

Yeah, it's not the cheapest option. I think if you run the two hotwires, maybe 6" and 12" off the ground, that should do the job. Get the strongest charger you can buy, so the pred will forget about chicken dinner for the rest of it's life. Good luck with your birds. Believe me, I know what a nuisance the fox can be.

Thank you. They are like family to me and I want them to be as safe as possible. Would the hotwire have to be a few inches away from the rest of the fence (the chicken wire fence), or can it touch?