Flighty chickens and electrical netting

[wamtazlady]

By the time the flight feathers grow back, your chickens may be too heavy to start flying again. Also, they will have forgotten how much fun they had while escaping. I've never had to clip wings a second time.

 

[vka2b]

I'm afraid my declaration of victory was premature. My chickens started escaping again a few weeks ago. I thought it was no big deal since I had only clipped the flight feathers on just one wing -- the solution would be to also clip the feathers on the other wing. So, I did that, and things were good for a few days. But then, more escaping. What's the deal? How could they possibly still be escaping? I really don't think they could be flying given the state of their wings now. I have measured the current in the fence, and it is definitely sufficiently electrified, so I'm assuming they aren't crawling underneath or something. But could that be it? Unfortunately I haven't caught them in the act, so I don't know exactly what is happening -- I only notice when I see one or more of them running around outside the fenced area. I even expanded it to include more grassy areas (so that it would be less tempting to escape). Does anybody have any other thoughts on what could be going on, and what I could do to prevent the escaping? I am particularly worried because it is prime predator season -- I have already seen a skunk and a raccoon in the yard -- I am certain the only reason my chickens have not become a meal is due to being inside the fence!

 

[wamtazlady]

I have seen one jump up at the fence then with a combination of flapping and jumping I had one that figured out how to get out. She didn't do that for long before she became too heavy to do it anymore. Also make sure there is no place where they could get under that fence. That bottom line is not electrified. I have a couple places where I used a plastic stake to make sure nothing could get under the fence.

 

[Howard E]

Curious to know the size of the area you have enclosed, and what is within the enclosure, and what is outside they keep escaping to.

My birds are inside an electric fence and to my knowledge, none has been outside the wire in well over a year and a half. It is only 20 inches high....and isn't even netting. It is just 4 strands of wire.

 

[vka2b]

wamtazlady -- That's something that always confused me. I know that the bottom strand isn't electrified -- what prevents a predator from crawling underneath the bottom strand if it isn't electrified? Also, I assume you are using plastic stakes to pin the fence down (as opposed to metal) due to the electricity, but does that matter if the bottom strand isn't electrified?

Howard E -- The size of the area is just over 1,000 square ft, and it's only for 2 chickens, so plenty of space. It is a grassy area, the same as the grassy area outside of the fence. Granted, parts of it have been reduced to dirt due to all the scratching, but still a lot of nice grass. Also, when they do escape, they don't even venture to anything more interesting (e.g. garden beds), they just stick right around the perimeter of the fence on the same patch of grass that extends into the fenced area. It's almost as if they know they should be back in there and don't venture too far away from it (and the coop).

 

[wamtazlady]

I use plastic stakes because I read somewhere to keep any metal a few inches away from the electricity. Also, sometimes my fence has sagged like when snow is on it or the wild turkeys have decided to test it. Don't want metal near the electrified parts. What prevents predators from going underneath is that the bottom one should be on the ground or nearly so and the second, electrified strand should only be a couple inches up. A skunk or fox or dog would surely touch that electrified strand. Also, the whole idea is that most predators will sniff the fence with their nose to see what is it. They get zapped. They don't come back. When using electric netting I think it's best to not shoot the predators. You want to keep the ones that are wary of the netting there rather than some new predator that just might figure out how to get in.

A neighbor of mine saw a rabbit touch my netting. Poor thing let out an awful scream, ran across the street, down her driveway, and didn't stop until it was about 100 yards from my place.

 

[Howard E]

vka2b:

At 1,000 SF, you are roughly a little over 30 feet square or some variation like 20' x 50', etc. Normally that should suffice, but if the ground is bare or sterile, it may not be to their liking. You can help this a lot with plantings of heavy bushes, landscaping grasses, garden plants, etc. Things providing cover and foraging opportunities.

The other thing is they may not respect the fence if they don't touch it. One concern I have about poultry netting electric fences is they are seen as a physical barrier fence. If so, they may just fly over it not realizing what they are missing.

The other bad thing about netting is that if trapped outside, if they are being persued, they tend to stick their heads in the netting, looking more like darts in a dart board and getting shocked while doing it. But easy prey either way.

So I used the light wire fencing and train them to it at an early age. To train the birds, only 1 or 2 wires about 5 inches off the deck. All mine would step on it and then launch when it bit them on the bottom of their foot. They quickly realized when the approached that wire, it was about to become hurting time. So they go near it, but not over it. Later on, I include a 2nd, 3rd or 4th wire to keep predators out.

You may want to try a training session by including that single hot wire.......either a real wire or even the poly tape or rope. Just a single strand about 5 inches off the deck and inside the netting about 2 or 3 feet. It might look like this:



See what happens once they step on it. If that works, you may be able to retire the netting and use just the tape, wire or poly rope. That is all I use.

 

[vka2b]

Just wanted to provide some updates. I have now staked down the entire fenced area with plastic stakes -- there is NO WAY any chicken is able to crawl underneath now. Yet, there have been 2 escapes in the past few weeks! So, my suspicion is that they are still somehow flying over. I'm wondering if perhaps I didn't clip enough of their flight feathers. I followed the guidance I saw online and just clipped them in-line with their secondary feathers. However, I also read somewhere that you should clip about 2/3 of the feather, and I certainly didn't clip that much. They are still able to easily hop/fly up a couple of feet to the top of the coop -- I thought this was normal and they still wouldn't be able to launch themselves out of the fenced area, but I guess they still can. I'm wondering if I should clip some more? Regarding the other suggestion about training them -- I have seen them get zapped before and run away like crazy, so I'm pretty sure they know not to mess with the fence (hence flying over)!

 

[wamtazlady]

Actually, a chicken can land on the electric netting and not get zapped at all. It takes one body part on the ground while another body part is touching the netting to complete the circuit. That ground rod you pound in makes the ground part of the system. I had one hen that would jump up at the fence, and with her clipped wings flapping, be able to flap herself up to the top and over to get out. That was one determined hen. She didn't last long spending the nights in a tree. If your birds can fly over the fence without touching it then you probably didn't clip enough off the wings.