Gasping for air

[cgreese]

The hot wire is only effective if it's installed a few inches out from another barrier such as a fence or building. A hot wire suspended in free air is useless as a critter gracefully jumps over or through the strands.View attachment 1311173 View attachment 1311174

This is so helpful. Thank you so much for the pics and information!

 

[cgreese]

Oh poor girl! I'm so sorry!

It really is so hard because we get so attached to them. I can't believe I've had my girls for less than a year because I can't imagine how I lived without them.

Sounds like you really loved your BO & she looked like such a sweetie in the video. At least now she's not suffering anymore.

Big hugs to you!

Thank you so much. She was really a very sweet girl. I will miss her so much. I learn a little more each time something happens to one or more of my girls. This incident was a HUGE lesson! My hardware cloth and other materials should be delivered today and we will start fortifying the pen and coop even more. I am also going to look into getting it hot wired as azygous suggested.

 

[cgreese]

One of the best deterrents is hot wire. 10,000 volts delivers a good solid message. I was just over there recommending it to an old friend.

I know nothing about buying hot wire, but I want to! Is there a brand that you recommend? And you recommend one with 10,000 voltage?

 

[azygous]

Hot wire can be found in hardware stores and feed stores. It comes in different gauges or thickness. I get the cheapest, about a sixteenth inch diameter. They all carry the 10,000 volt charge. The wire I use is more vulnerable to breakage is all.

The charge is produce by a fence charger. There are ones that cost under $100 that you must have a place handy to plug it into a power source. The kind I have is a solar charger that costs twice as much but they usually don't require being shielded from the rain like the plug in chargers. And a solar charger can be installed anywhere you need it regardless of a power source.

The charger must be grounded to a copper post sunk several feet into the soil. You attach the grounding wire of the charger to the grounding post and the power wire goes to your hot wire fencing. In my photo, you can see the overhead wire that I have hung onto the trees to clear my head going under it, and it literally ties into the wire you've installed around your coop and run.

The only thing to understand are the wire has to be insulated from anything that is touching the ground or it won't work because all the voltage is diverted into the soil. You can see the plastic insulators I have screwed into the coop holding the wire away from the building. If you have a wire fence, there are other types of insulators to fit it. Id a hot wire touch metal and you touch the metal, be prepared for it to hurt. A lot. But it's won't kill you because it's a pulse current not like in your house.

The store that sells the supplies will have someone to explain what you need. It seems mystifying at first, but really is very elementary.

 

[cgreese]

Hot wire can be found in hardware stores and feed stores. It comes in different gauges or thickness. I get the cheapest, about a sixteenth inch diameter. They all carry the 10,000 volt charge. The wire I use is more vulnerable to breakage is all.

The charge is produce by a fence charger. There are ones that cost under $100 that you must have a place handy to plug it into a power source. The kind I have is a solar charger that costs twice as much but they usually don't require being shielded from the rain like the plug in chargers. And a solar charger can be installed anywhere you need it regardless of a power source.

The charger must be grounded to a copper post sunk several feet into the soil. You attach the grounding wire of the charger to the grounding post and the power wire goes to your hot wire fencing. In my photo, you can see the overhead wire that I have hung onto the trees to clear my head going under it, and it literally ties into the wire you've installed around your coop and run.

The only thing to understand are the wire has to be insulated from anything that is touching the ground or it won't work because all the voltage is diverted into the soil. You can see the plastic insulators I have screwed into the coop holding the wire away from the building. If you have a wire fence, there are other types of insulators to fit it. Id a hot wire touch metal and you touch the metal, be prepared for it to hurt. A lot. But it's won't kill you because it's a pulse current not like in your house.

The store that sells the supplies will have someone to explain what you need. It seems mystifying at first, but really is very elementary.

This is soooo helpful. I can't thank you enough!! Going to get on this very soon!!