Electric poultry netting

[Sisters chickens]

I’m trying to figure out the best way to go for my run I will have foxes and critters being a problem where I live and I don’t know if it would be better for me to get the electric poultry netting or stick with the regular chicken wire. Any suggestions

 

[joneschickenmama]

I’m trying to figure out the best way to go for my run I will have foxes and critters being a problem where I live and I don’t know if it would be better for me to get the electric poultry netting or stick with the regular chicken wire. Any suggestions

I live on 20 acres just outside of OKC. I bought 2 10x10 dog kennels & made a 10x20 run with a 4x8 coop inside. I wrapped the whole thing in 1/2 & 1/4 inch hardware cloth & a 18 in hardware cloth apron inside & out as well & with a corrugated metal roof. I wanted it to be the Fort Knox of chicken coops. lol. Everyone has told me that hardware cloth is the strongest thing that you can use. Chicken wire or poultry wire only keeps chickens in, not predators out. I've wondered if the electric netting works well or not? I haven't tested my coop & run yet as my girls are only 2 weeks old. My biggest concerns I think will be coyotes, raccoons & snakes. I'll be a nervous wreck the first few nights that they will be in their coop, I'll probably pitch a tent & sleep next to them for awhile. lol

 

[Sisters chickens]

I live on 20 acres just outside of OKC. I bought 2 10x10 dog kennels & made a 10x20 run with a 4x8 coop inside. I wrapped the whole thing in 1/2 & 1/4 inch hardware cloth & a 18 in hardware cloth apron inside & out as well & with a corrugated metal roof. I wanted it to be the Fort Knox of chicken coops. lol. Everyone has told me that hardware cloth is the strongest thing that you can use. Chicken wire or poultry wire only keeps chickens in, not predators out. I've wondered if the electric netting works well or not? I haven't tested my coop & run yet as my girls are only 2 weeks old. My biggest concerns I think will be coyotes, raccoons & snakes. I'll be a nervous wreck the first few nights that they will be in their coop, I'll probably pitch a tent & sleep next to them for awhile. lol[/

I live on 20 acres just outside of OKC. I bought 2 10x10 dog kennels & made a 10x20 run with a 4x8 coop inside. I wrapped the whole thing in 1/2 & 1/4 inch hardware cloth & a 18 in hardware cloth apron inside & out as well & with a corrugated metal roof. I wanted it to be the Fort Knox of chicken coops. lol. Everyone has told me that hardware cloth is the strongest thing that you can use. Chicken wire or poultry wire only keeps chickens in, not predators out. I've wondered if the electric netting works well or not? I haven't tested my coop & run yet as my girls are only 2 weeks old. My biggest concerns I think will be coyotes, raccoons & snakes. I'll be a nervous wreck the first few nights that they will be in their coop, I'll probably pitch a tent & sleep next to them for awhile. lol

 

[Sisters chickens]

I live in OKC actually and I will have the same predator problems too... I will have a metal roof as well and I think I’m leaning more towards having a regular run instead of electric I just need to find out how much it will cost because I’ll need it to be probably around 15x10

 

[joneschickenmama]

Hardware cloth is a little more expensive but geez, it's tough stuff. It's all I can do to unroll it sometimes.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Chicken wire is next to worthless for predator protection so anything is better than that.

 

[wamtazlady]

I have never lost a bird to a fox or dog when I've had my electric poultry netting set up. Unfortunately, early last winter a buck got his antlers caught in the fencing. I had to call Fish and Game to get him loose. The netting was ruined. It was too late in the season to set up new netting. This spring I lost all my birds but one to a 4 legged predator.

 

[Howard E]

Fenced runs and electric netting serve two different purposes. Think of a fenced run like a corral for cattle or horses. Keeps them confined in a small area. A pasture fence allows them to roam around over a larger area. As large of an area as you have or can afford to have.

Run is very tight and secure, but is expensive to build, so you can only do so much of it. By comparison, electric fencing is relatively cheap to install. Of the two options, poultry netting is expensive compared to E fences made from wire, poly rope, etc. In my experience, the latter are equally effective and a whole lot easier to maintain and install, and cost far, far less.

Wire fences are physical barriers. As such, to be effective, it has to be of the right size to limit passage by a whole lot of animals. Coons and other varmints can slip through some small cracks, can climb and dig. And are strong enough to rip through stuff to open up holes where they can't slip through. So creating physical barriers can be a challenge. Fort Knox was not cheap to build or maintain.

E fences present almost nothing in the way of physical barriers. The only thing they need to do is limit size and shape to such an extent that the target animals will touch it. Only touch it. In doing so, they get a violent (not small, not slight, but VIOLENT) electric shock.

Imagine telling your kid to stay out of the cookie jar. They don't, so you put it up higher and they climb. So you hide it and they find it. You keep doing things to keep them out, but they want a cookie and the reward if they find it is a cookie, with no consequences to them if they do.

But imagine you put that cookie on the counter, and to get it, they have to risk touching a fence with 8,000 volts running through it. Every time they touch it they get a sensation like their arm was just jerked off their shoulder. After a couple jolts of that, that cookie will be left alone.

Animals get this too, but as smart as they are and as determined as they are, that is something beyond their comprehension. They have not clue what an electric fence is, but they know the consequences when they touch it, and quickly decide that whatever is on the other side of that fence is not worth touching that. Avoidance is the key word. So your birds, like that cookie, remains safely tucked away, out of harm's way.

 

[Kat2141]

We have a run with the wire we used on the dog fence - 4' high with 2x4" squares. Then I ran a shorter wire with small holes along the bottom of that to keep the chicks in while they were little. The primary predator we've encountered here is fox and this works well for that.

 

[Molpet]

On the east and north sides I have 400' of electric netting, four foot tall
on the west and south side I have 2" x4" , six foot tall fencing
the coons climb right over the six foot tall fencing.. I would run a hot wire on top to keep them out, but they also move through the tree canopy.
The coyotes look at the chickens through all the fencing, but so far none have gotten in.