Fort Friggin Knox???

[Trisseh]

I have electric around my duck house, chicken coop, and their pens. Mine is close to the house so I’m sure that offers some protection as well. I have no raccoons around so don’t have to worry about that. But my electric is 2 hot “positive” wires coupled with 2 “Negative” or ground wires to create a pos/neg fence. The purpose of this is to boost the juice when an animal touches the hot wire and the ground wire at the same time; works well with rocky or sandy soil that doesn’t hold lots of moisture. I have one 6” above the ground, and the other a couple inches below the top of the fence, with the ground wires in between. The fence is 42” tall, made of pallets and wood snow fencing. I also lock the birds up at night. I’ve never had a predator breach that fencing - the lower wire gets them if they think about going under, and since the fencing that the wire is attached to is a little hard to see through, nothing has tried to just jump over; they put their paws up on the top edge and shock themselves that way. Definitely speak with a fencing expert to ensure that your system is going to work for you, and for the predators you’re trying to deter. Good luck!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I have electric around my duck house, chicken coop, and their pens. Mine is close to the house so I’m sure that offers some protection as well. I have no raccoons around so don’t have to worry about that. But my electric is 2 hot “positive” wires coupled with 2 “Negative” or ground wires to create a pos/neg fence. The purpose of this is to boost the juice when an animal touches the hot wire and the ground wire at the same time; works well with rocky or sandy soil that doesn’t hold lots of moisture. I have one 6” above the ground, and the other a couple inches below the top of the fence, with the ground wires in between. The fence is 42” tall, made of pallets and wood snow fencing. I also lock the birds up at night. I’ve never had a predator breach that fencing - the lower wire gets them if they think about going under, and since the fencing that the wire is attached to is a little hard to see through, nothing has tried to just jump over; they put their paws up on the top edge and shock themselves that way. Definitely speak with a fencing expert to ensure that your system is going to work for you, and for the predators you’re trying to deter. Good luck!

Fantastic description! And thanks. I'm going to need all the luck I can get.

 

[StinkinFeathers]

I'm west of you here in California so I have a lot of the same predators you have. I'm building my own 'fort knox' now and just finished putting the 1/2" X 1" welded wire on the top and sides and even down into the ground for the 'apron' today. Looks really good but not so much for a bear. My buddy had a bear decimate his whole flock so he put the electric wire around his whole coop and run...5 wires, 2 ground rods, 25mile solar Parmak charger...works like a charm. So that's what I'll be doing too. Our soil is clay here so I think that will work fine without the addition of the ground wire.

 

[Vickischics]

Exactly! Wire around the coop/run. This is great info. I am thinking now about getting netting, too. I am a lil nervous about it, being new to living in the foothills. I've lived in ag area, but open and flat. At the new property, it's quite wooded.

I think a lot of this anxiety results from talking to one of the neighbors yesterday. I told him I was bringing chickens, and he says, "Oh the coyotes are gonna love you!" Thanks, neighbor, for making me feel like a bad guy for bringing my girls to chicken hell!

Wow! I guess he is straight up Telling the Truth!

 

[TARDIS37379]

I’m in the process of installing electric fence around the 1 acre I have fenced with chain link. The coops are inside the chain link and their covered runs are as well.
The electric fence will have wire at 3 levels on the fence to stop a wide array of predators.
I’ve reduced the coyote population and I haven’t had a fox visit in a while.
My most common visitor has been possums and they’ve not been successful.
The fence will be for coyotes, foxes, dogs, and anything else that climbs the fence.
I covered my runs and am putting up another this week. I had a huge issue with aerial assaults from hawks, falcons, owls, and the occasional eagle.
after the electric fence, I’ll get a dog to stay with the chickens.
my biggest losses have been from stray dogs but that issue has subsided with help from the local animal control.

 

[getaclue]

I have this one. While it says INDOORS, it's under the awning of the coop, so not overly exposed to sun or rain. https://www.amazon.com/Impedance-12...ds=parmak+fence+charger&qid=1595858623&sr=8-5 The biggest key to electric fencing, is grounding. Don't spare on the grounding rods, and make sure the area where you put them does not get overly dry (like in the desert). I'd go with 4 inches, 8 inches, and around 12 - 14 inches for the bottom, then a strand or two, higher up.

Get an inexpensive surveillance camera, watch for about 2 weeks, and adjust accordingly. Something to keep in mind, electric fencing is sometimes not an instant deterrent. When I set mine up, the first night, everyone got zapped, and fled quickly. The second night, they got zapped and fled, but one racoon was determined. You could see him flinching, and some recoil when he would get zapped, but he bulldozered on. For about 4 nights, I would get on the tractor, head out to the coop, and he would run off. It was around the fifth night, that he figured out he was always going to get zapped, and it wasn't worth it. There is a training curve involved, with some of the wildlife. Once they understand though, it's a lifetime lesson.

One of the thing it suggests in the instructions, is to make tinfoil type pouches, put a bit of food in them, and hang them on the wire. When critters go to eat, it zaps their noses. This is especially helpful with bears. Bears tend to have enough fur, they don't get zapped easily, and will plow through an electric fence, along with other types of fencing too. Hanging the food in the pouches, ensures they get zapped on their noses. They learn really quick not to mess with the fence. In addition, they will teach their offspring not to mess with your electric fence too.

 

[getaclue]

BTW, I did not do the entire property, just around my coop area.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I ordered electric netting from Premier1 (the PermaNet). Pricey! But with it, I hope. It is arriving next week. My flock is still at my mom's until I can get everything ready. Coop is set up (for the most part). It's just a long 2x3 for a roost on one side and 4 nesting boxes on the other. I took the glass window out if the shed I'm converting and covered it with hardware cloth. I will add another 2 windows (hardware cloth covered holes) to increase ventilation.

Run is up, but needs fortification, and I need to redo the roof. The run is a big welded wire dog kennel, and the roof is awkward and heavy. I want to take it down and use hardware cloth supported by wood framing. I'll put a tarp over that. And I still need to get the apron down. There are gaps where the kennel panels meet. I will get those covered with hardware cloth, too. I'm using hog rings and wire to attach everything. It ain't pretty, but it's functional. I'll post pics tomorrow.

The plan is to set up the netting around the coop/run area and keep it hot. They will be let out of the run for supervised "free time" but stay contained inside the netting. 100 feet of fencing will provide 625 sq ft of space. It's not the same level of freedom they are used to, but I want to keep them safe. I may order more netting later. We'll see. The plan is to fence about 1.5 acres around the house at some point to try to keep some of the wildlife at bay. But wevegot a lot of work to do before that can happen.

And not a night has gone by that I haven't had nightmares about chicken massacres. Beginning to think I'm not cut out for chickening.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Forgot to add that the shed was dry walled. Had to pull all of that down. So much fun.

 

[TARDIS37379]

I ordered electric netting from Premier1 (the PermaNet). Pricey! But with it, I hope. It is arriving next week. My flock is still at my mom's until I can get everything ready. Coop is set up (for the most part). It's just a long 2x3 for a roost on one side and 4 nesting boxes on the other. I took the glass window out if the shed I'm converting and covered it with hardware cloth. I will add another 2 windows (hardware cloth covered holes) to increase ventilation.

Run is up, but needs fortification, and I need to redo the roof. The run is a big welded wire dog kennel, and the roof is awkward and heavy. I want to take it down and use hardware cloth supported by wood framing. I'll put a tarp over that. And I still need to get the apron down. There are gaps where the kennel panels meet. I will get those covered with hardware cloth, too. I'm using hog rings and wire to attach everything. It ain't pretty, but it's functional. I'll post pics tomorrow.

The plan is to set up the netting around the coop/run area and keep it hot. They will be let out of the run for supervised "free time" but stay contained inside the netting. 100 feet of fencing will provide 625 sq ft of space. It's not the same level of freedom they are used to, but I want to keep them safe. I may order more netting later. We'll see. The plan is to fence about 1.5 acres around the house at some point to try to keep some of the wildlife at bay. But wevegot a lot of work to do before that can happen.

And not a night has gone by that I haven't had nightmares about chicken massacres. Beginning to think I'm not cut out for chickening.

With a good plan and a good execution, you can prevent nighttime predators. My biggest problem both day and night has been stray dogs. Fencing and a coop that is hard to penetrate has stopped the dogs. I use an automated door that pulls shit and cannot be easily pulled open. If opened after the closing for the night, I am alerted by the smart technology I added to the coop.
Spend the time, the effort, and the money to secure your chickens. They will reward you.