Horses and Electric Fences

[The Brick Coop]

WElcome. I intro'd years ago. I just have little time to post. Ex-4H poultry club leader/current 4H volunteer, embryology educator and poultry exhibitor (Wh Yokohama, Blk Jersey Giant, Blk & BTW Japanese, BCMarans) of ~20 years, always ready to learn more. This is a good place. Be ready to research the fantastic archives. Just from my experience, today I'll reiterate 2 items: 1) electric poultry fence: if you have horses also, Don't use it, or any electric Net, nearby OR for horses. One day I had to cut a horse free from it in a camp. She tangled and fell struggling with a step-in post pointed 1/2 inch from her belly. I was the only rider with a pocketknife so all ended ok but the fence owner swore off those things with large animals. The tricks: it got grounded by a fallen branch and was Nearly Invisible against the scrub. That horse was trained on her own electric wire, would probably have respected electric tape (more visible) even if it was not on. Warned. Second item: 2)well-trained dogs were mentioned here several times but not enough... polls (?). From seeing some certain show breeders' coop/range situations (wooded or meadow), their trained dogs seem to be THE reason most really large (100 bird) free-range flocks of experienced poultry people are successful. Some "trained" dogs cannot be trusted (gay-tail breeds & crosses, especially, but not limited to them) to chase/maim/kill birds when you're not around. Any breed may learn how to sneak eggs away whole for a snack. Still, training seems worth a try if you have a dog that obeys perfectly and you want to try free-ranging birds within your dog's wireless system.

 

[ronott1]

WElcome. I intro'd years ago. I just have little time to post. Ex-4H poultry club leader/current 4H volunteer, embryology educator and poultry exhibitor (Wh Yokohama, Blk Jersey Giant, Blk & BTW Japanese, BCMarans) of ~20 years, always ready to learn more. This is a good place. Be ready to research the fantastic archives. Just from my experience, today I'll reiterate 2 items: 1) electric poultry fence: if you have horses also, Don't use it, or any electric Net, nearby OR for horses. One day I had to cut a horse free from it in a camp. She tangled and fell struggling with a step-in post pointed 1/2 inch from her belly. I was the only rider with a pocketknife so all ended ok but the fence owner swore off those things with large animals. The tricks: it got grounded by a fallen branch and was Nearly Invisible against the scrub. That horse was trained on her own electric wire, would probably have respected electric tape (more visible) even if it was not on. Warned. Second item: 2)well-trained dogs were mentioned here several times but not enough... polls (?). From seeing some certain show breeders' coop/range situations (wooded or meadow), their trained dogs seem to be THE reason most really large (100 bird) free-range flocks of experienced poultry people are successful. Some "trained" dogs cannot be trusted (gay-tail breeds & crosses, especially, but not limited to them) to chase/maim/kill birds when you're not around. Any breed may learn how to sneak eggs away whole for a snack. Still, training seems worth a try if you have a dog that obeys perfectly and you want to try free-ranging birds within your dog's wireless system.

 

[cassie]

I am certainly no expert on this subject but I have used electric fences for horses and other large livestock and I know other people who do. However, we made sure the horses knew where the fence was and in addition we used flags (actually bright ribbons tied on the wire that fluttered in the breeze) that they could see. Don't know if that made a difference but I can tell you the horses never came closer than a few feet from the wire.

 

[Willowspirit]

I am certainly no expert on this subject but I have used electric fences for horses and other large livestock and I know other people who do. However, we made sure the horses knew where the fence was and in addition we used flags (actually bright ribbons tied on the wire that fluttered in the breeze) that they could see. Don't know if that made a difference but I can tell you the horses never came closer than a few feet from the wire.

Our horses also respect the tape even if it’s not on.

 

[res]

I have used electric fencing with horses for over 40 years, including Premier1 electric netting in recent years. Never an issue, but like others have said, my horses know and respect electric fencing (even when it is off!). I certainly would not throw a horse that was new to electric fence into a field fenced with mesh....

Horses will find a way to injure and even kill themselves on every single kind of fence out there. Owners just need to be aware of their horses "quirks" when it comes to fencing and make sure they also maintain the fencing so it is as safe as possible.

 

[Peaches Lee]

What is a gay-tail breed?