High Tensile Fencing for ducks? Anyone use it? What spacing?

[Workinthedream]

Hey everyone I am about to be the proud owner of 12 Black Swedes and need to start looking at fencing options. First let me say that they will be in an area of about 227'x330'x330'x511'...kind of a trapezoid. Anyway, there is a pond in the middle of about 1/2 acre and some of it is wooded as well. We were thinking of putting high tensile fence around the rest of the property which already has 3 board fencing and electrifying it to keep the other animals off once we get them (this could take more than a year since the property is leased to a farmer that has it in soybeans until November - about 16 acres). So I was wondering if the high tensile electrified option would work for the ducks/geese? What spacing and how many electrified? Maybe do electric and use a light chicken wire near the bottom? I did a search for fencing but not many people have written about high tensile wire (maybe there is a reason for that!). As you can see fencing that large an area would be expensive for woven wire. What do ya'll think? Thanks for the help!

On another note can turkeys and ducks/geese be kept together? What about goats and ducks/geese? My wife wants some goats to milk and since the area we are fencing initially has some wooded areas I was thinking of putting the goats in there to help clear it out but don't want them hurting the ducks. What do you think?

 

[Amiga]

I suspect most of us need to both keep predators out and ducks in, so we go with the woven wire.

Just an initial idea - could you have a duck area within the high-tensile area? I like the electrified h-t fence idea, if you can set it up tall enough to keep canines from making a running leap over it.

Maybe a rotational foraging system, where the ducks have some temporary fence around an area for a day or three, and maybe even a shelter on wheels to go with it to provide a little something extra.

Nice how I make all this work for you, yes?

I know of people who have both goats and ducks around. Hope they check in.

 

[Workinthedream]

Hey Amiga thanks for fixing all of my probs

The main reason for the high tensile is that the area the ducks will be in is going to have other animals around it so I am trying to dual purpose the fencing. One side will have rotational cattle and the other will have pigs. So I really need something to keep the ducks in and the bigger animals out! Anyone do this?

 

[Amiga]

Just want to say my buffs n runners will squeeze under or through anything wider than maybe 4 or 5 inches. So if I were determined, I would either line the bottom inside with chicken wire three feet high and not electrify the lower wires to prevent shorts and cooked birds.

 

[Workinthedream]

this might help...or not

 

[Amiga]

Nice to see the layout. Very helpful.

What do you think of the chicken wire across the bottom?

 

[Workinthedream]

I think it might work...the only thing I would worry about is the other animals just...stepping through it you know. It is so flimsy that I would worry someone...especially them dang goats getting a hoof stuck in it. I think I would still have to electrify it with the high tensile stuff. Maybe do a 2' chicken wire on the inside to keep the ducks/geese in with high tensile electric on the "outside"/ other side for the bigger animals/predators. (?)

 

[Amiga]

Yes, I am hoping someone who's done more fencing than I can come in. I have worked on farms, by the way, and have seen a bit of fence in my life, but at my own tiny place, woven wire and a few strands of equine tape do it.

 

[Workinthedream]

No it is ok thanks for replying! I just looked up the amount of wire I would need...wow woven wire is just too expensive! About $1200 for the perimeter that I would need (not including the posts!) compared to high tensile wire at about $200 and 1/3 the number of posts. Might have to try it (just space the wires closer together in the duck pen than other places just due to costs!

 

[Workinthedream]

Any concerns with the ducks being able to go into the woods? I would clear the perimeter around the woods so no predators could get in "tree to tree" to get over the fence. Would I lose some ducks just letting them go in the "woods" or would it be good protection for them from hawks and stuff?