I need an alternative to poultry netting

[cmom]

My land is pretty much all open pasture. I do see predators roaming on my cameras pretty often mostly at night here.
A bobcat just a little over a month ago next to my chick/grow-out coop.

 

[cmom]

I'm sure it knows that the hot wires are there.

 

[Howard E]

I have a ton of poly wire.
Since I moved, I haven't seen traces of any predators...the facebook group talks about bobcats and coyotes though, but the land around me is cleared so my worst issues are the dog next door and both dogs have had a taste of the electric fence already.

Does this mean your existing netting fence worked and dogs are no longer coming around......all you want it something that is lower maintenance? And are concerned about equal effectiveness?

Or are they still coming round?

If still coming round, and they don't respect it, then what you have is not setup right. A tickle is not effective. A jolt that knocks there socks off is what you want.

As for the poly rope and such, if all you are concerned about is dogs......then move the strands up. Instead of 4 strands on bottom four clip positions on step in posts, use #2, 4, 6 and 8. Creates spacing they will try to crawl under or through, and zap them that way. And bait it!

Once a dog gets a dose of 7,000 volts on the nose or tip of their tongue, you can't even make them go near it again. They stop testing it and start avoiding it at all costs.

 

[cmom]

Does this mean your existing netting fence worked and dogs are no longer coming around......all you want it something that is lower maintenance? And are concerned about equal effectiveness?

Or are they still coming round?

If still coming round, and they don't respect it, then what you have is not setup right. A tickle is not effective. A jolt that knocks there socks off is what you want.

As for the poly rope and such, if all you are concerned about is dogs......then move the strands up. Instead of 4 strands on bottom four clip positions on step in posts, use #2, 4, 6 and 8. Creates spacing they will try to crawl under or through, and zap them that way. And bait it!

Once a dog gets a dose of 7,000 volts on the nose or tip of their tongue, you can't even make them go near it again. They stop testing it and start avoiding it at all costs.

So true... I also believe that predators will teach their young to avoid the HOT wires/fence. No chicken/livestock is worth getting a good zap.

 

[hayley3]

Does this mean your existing netting fence worked and dogs are no longer coming around......all you want it something that is lower maintenance? And are concerned about equal effectiveness?

Or are they still coming round?

If still coming round, and they don't respect it, then what you have is not setup right. A tickle is not effective. A jolt that knocks there socks off is what you want.

As for the poly rope and such, if all you are concerned about is dogs......then move the strands up. Instead of 4 strands on bottom four clip positions on step in posts, use #2, 4, 6 and 8. Creates spacing they will try to crawl under or through, and zap them that way. And bait it!

Once a dog gets a dose of 7,000 volts on the nose or tip of their tongue, you can't even make them go near it again. They stop testing it and start avoiding it at all costs.

I need something lower maintenance and would like to give them more space. The fence works fine keeping the chickens in and the dogs out but it has become a drudgery.

I may give that a try with the step in posts...but just use it on one side to see how it does....next to my neighbor's side and then put up the camera to see if anything touches it.

 

[hayley3]

Also I didn't get the rope before because it looked cumbersome to tie the poly rope vs the poly wire. How do you attach it on the end posts?

 

[Howard E]

Simple little donut insulators. TCS or farm and home that sells e-fence supplies. Yellow or white. The poly rope works very well for this.

As for expansion, it is as easy and flexible as it gets. Decide where you want to make corners.......or bends in the fence......and set steel posts at these locations. You then install the donuts.....and run the poly rope through them.

Then before you get too far into the next step, you may want to get out the lawnmower and cut down the grass that is under the pathway you have selected. As in right down tight.....scalp the ground with it. This time of year that will buy you at least 3 months time until grass starts growing, at which time you can start working on it with vinegar/salt/soap mix to keep it burned down.

Once you have made the entire loop you want to enclose, start working to tension up the fence so each of the straight line runs straighten out. That then becomes your fenceline. At that point, you can then install your step in insulated posts, step them in right beside the line on the ground. Then simply slip the poly rope into the clip that is the height where you want it. Once you have added all the strands you want, then go back to the beginning/end starting place. With poly rope, you can simply grab the poly rope by hand and start to pull......the tension will flow through the entire run. When you got it where you want it, tie it off.

Connect all strands with a short jumper wire......start at top and work your way down. When done, all of your strands will be hot. When you terminate (end) at the same post as the beginning, to test it is easy. Test it right where it leaves......and test it again right where it returns. If both are hot, you can be assured it has made the entire loop and it hot all the way around.

And if you want or need gates to get equipment inside the enclosed area, you can have those too. Spring loaded handles make them easy to open.

Didn't reproduce all the graphics here, but all this is included in my e-fence threads.

 

[Howard E]

Make the area as big as you want it. 100sf, 1,000 sf, 1 acre....10 acres. Process is the same. Layout your path and go. If you encounter rough terrain, you can even deal with dips, rises and obstacles. Just takes a few tricks, but none are hard.

 

[hayley3]

Simple little donut insulators. TCS or farm and home that sells e-fence supplies. Yellow or white. The poly rope works very well for this.

As for expansion, it is as easy and flexible as it gets. Decide where you want to make corners.......or bends in the fence......and set steel posts at these locations. You then install the donuts.....and run the poly rope through them.

Then before you get too far into the next step, you may want to get out the lawnmower and cut down the grass that is under the pathway you have selected. As in right down tight.....scalp the ground with it. This time of year that will buy you at least 3 months time until grass starts growing, at which time you can start working on it with vinegar/salt/soap mix to keep it burned down.

Once you have made the entire loop you want to enclose, start working to tension up the fence so each of the straight line runs straighten out. That then becomes your fenceline. At that point, you can then install your step in insulated posts, step them in right beside the line on the ground. Then simply slip the poly rope into the clip that is the height where you want it. Once you have added all the strands you want, then go back to the beginning/end starting place. With poly rope, you can simply grab the poly rope by hand and start to pull......the tension will flow through the entire run. When you got it where you want it, tie it off.

Connect all strands with a short jumper wire......start at top and work your way down. When done, all of your strands will be hot. When you terminate (end) at the same post as the beginning, to test it is easy. Test it right where it leaves......and test it again right where it returns. If both are hot, you can be assured it has made the entire loop and it hot all the way around.

And if you want or need gates to get equipment inside the enclosed area, you can have those too. Spring loaded handles make them easy to open.

Didn't reproduce all the graphics here, but all this is included in my e-fence threads.

I couldn't tie off the rope tight enough which is why I got the poly wire. What are you tying the ends of the rope to, the donut??
How do you install donuts to a tpost?
You made one circle with the rope, how am I putting it in 2, 4 6 and 8?
This is just more complicated than I can do...thanks for that great explanation though. Videos on youtube just leave so much out.

 

[cmom]

If you use step-in posts you don't have to worry about the corners, put a step-in post in. Works for me.