Electronet experience RE raccoons and/or foxes

[beanmcnulty]

I just wanted to share some of the trial and error that has been happening with our electronet- I have had turkeys out at night since last summer and over winter had a 4 polywire fence (netting on the inside- kind of a my own version of electronet). I hadnt had any losses with my "redneck electronet." But now I think something has learned how to get under the actual electronet that I have now ponied up the dough for. They seem to test it frequently and if there are more than 2 blades of grass touching, the dew does the rest and grounds it out to enough where they can get in. I test the thing nightly and I dont rest well if it is under 8000 volts, but grass happens and wind happens so it is not fool proof. I know all this as i have lost a tom turkey, 6 meat birds (in the fence, in their tractor, it went under the tractor too), and a hen turkey in the past few months. I now use garden staples (I make my own with large diameter galv wire) to staple down the bottom of the fence in 2-3 places and test that it cannot be easily lifted. This and weekly mowing and keeping a dog tied up close by seem to have helped. What I think I really need is a low impedance charger, mine is strong (goes over 10kv) but the wet grass just kills it. I don't think I can get a LGD and have it loose unless it can be contained in the fence and not kill the birds. But that might be where I am headed! I feel like Captain Ahab! Argh!

 

[ChicKat]

So sorry for your problems.

Is there a chance you could trap what is taking your birds? If you have a dog, you can train the dog not to harm your birds....regardless of the dog. Here's a link for that.http://canterlc.com/StopChickenKillerDogs/site/pages/home/

 

[beanmcnulty]

hi chickat! I have trapped them in the past and my problem with it is, I do not have a gun to dispatch them and release is illegal. I could construct a "death chamber" with CO2 but really don't have the time or money atm. I figure my best bet is to exclude for now. I get the impression we have a LOT of coons around and really they would just reproduce more raccoons if I did kill them. I think I just really need a good fence and good dog- working on both I guess!

 

[ChicKat]

Your approach sounds like it will work. (It is going to have to).

Although I shot a raccoon to protect my chickens (guns and shooting are BIG in Texas)...I felt really awful afterward. I suppose that "animal control" won't dispatch them for people so you are left with no choice. (except drowning) -( I didn't say that).

Hope there are no more losses. one last thought, is there a wildlife management program or something. With feral cats, they discovered that getting rid of the cats resulted in greater or equal populations, and only neutering the cats and re-releasing them resulted in a decline in the cat population. Not sure where that was......

 

[beanmcnulty]

Yeah it just a constant battle- never let your guard down if you dont have a dog to do it for you I think! I did call the wildlife officer once and asked about what to do- he just said to dispatch using approved methods (he cited a humane society publication) so I don't think there are any programs, we live in a pretty rural area which means less government involvement on all levels (which is really just fine by me). I ordered a "low impedance" charger, it is almost the same specs as the one I have except for the low impedance part, and I am going to add wet grass and see what it does compared to my old one. Should be an interesting experiment! Or back to what you said about neutering, maybe I could learn to neuter male raccoons lol

 

[beanmcnulty]

Just a quick update- I got my new low impedance, 30 mile, 1.5 joule charger, and the grass is starting to touch the bottom wire, and it hasnt gone below 9500 volts even with dewy moring grass! And no evidence of predator infiltration the last 2 nights it's been in use. So far so good! It might be the best investment I've made so far!