Inexperienced chicken lover needs advice on fencing

[beckymom3]

Hey there, BYC!

Any favorite ideas on how to best protect against raccoons?

I have one large mobile coop I want to use for permaculture in the garden and around the house. I am considering poultry net fencing for that but know nothing about electric fencing, how to set it up, etc.

For my permanent yard/coop I want to run electric wire to supplement the welded apron fencing already in place. My problem is, again, I know nothing about setting that up (though want to learn

).

Also, I have a TON of trees both inside and just outside the yard which I know were access points for raccoons last year and I wonder if that will make the electric fencing useless. How to deal with that short of removing the trees? Would motion detectors help? the ones with flood lights and/or sound? or the owl that hoots and moves when motion is detected?

I'll see if I can get some pics up of the yard in question so y'all can see the problem with the trees.

Thanks!

 

[Tala]

I'm pretty sure this is a double post. You aren't allowed to post two threads on the same topic.

IF I WERE YOU I would worry less about your run, and more about raccoon proofing your coop. Then get a live trap, set it up outside your run and remove any predators that are even thinking about getting your birds. That's what I'd do.

 

[patandchickens]

If there are overhanging trees, such that raccoons can climb up them and drop into the run or access limbs of trees growing in the run, the only possible way to exclude raccoons is to make ALL those trees unclimbable (tall metal flashing, or electric wire)... which can be impossible if it is a sort of forested area where they can go from tree to tree to tree. It is usually much more sensible to make sure the flock is locked up securely in the coop before dusk EVERY night WITHOUT fail.

A live trap will do little good, usually, as there will always be more raccoons to come replace whatever you remove.

To set up electric fence, the general scheme is that your charger has a wire going to a good ground, and another wire going to the fence; when an animal touches the fence, current is conducted thru its body to the soil to the ground wire to the charger, completing the circuit and making the animal go "owww!" and scram. There are a lot of details that you need to get right -- see online tutorials, e.g. at www.premier1supplies.com -- but that's the basic outline. AND, you need to TEST your fence regularly with an ACCURATE fence-tester to make sure it is still carrying enough zap, so you can fix problemsa s they arise, before predators discover your fence is dead or near-dead.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[beckymom3]

Quote:
Arrgh, that's what I was afraid of.... needing to make the trees somehow unclimbable. I'm renting here, and my landlord wants to preserve the trees because they are live oaks and, though young, are valuable out here in the Texas Hill Country. what is metal "flashing"?

I think electricity is a good start. Maybe if they get zapped they won't even think about climbing the trees....

 

[patandchickens]

Flashing is the sheet metal that comes in the form of a roll, 3-24" wide depending on what you buy, they use it to waterproof roof valleys and edges under the shingles and around chimneys, and sometimes where siding goes around a door or window. It will be in the roofing aisle. You need flashing at LEAST 12" wide, 18+" is better; you nail it all around the treetrunk, about 3-4' up, making the seam as flat as possible so raccoons have nothing there they can get a grip on. This prevents raccoons (also squirrels, if you put the flashing high enough up on teh tree) from climbing up, b/c it is too slippery to get their claws into and too tall to reach up above.

Honestly, locking the chickens up at (or before) dusk is by far the best solution. The fence will still have to be dogproof, of course.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[elmo]

I can tell you from my dad's experience using motion detectors with sounds/lights that they are of no help discouraging racoons from something edible ... in his case, it was his corn patch.

 

[beckymom3]

Quote:
I'm not sure what you mean by the first bit except that I posted in both the predator/pest section and the coop design section hoping to get help. Is that what you mean by double posting? I'm new to BYC and I'm just trying to get help. Sorry.

My coop is great. I have 2, one a mobile coop that is fully contained that I want to put electric netting around so my chickens can free range. The other is a permanent coop with concrete foundation, fully enclosed with corrugated metal roofing. The only time anything got into the coop was when the door was left open. I'm not worried about that. It has proven solid for about 8 years. All violations were due to human error or raccon invasions during the daytime.

The run is the weak spot.

 

[beckymom3]

Yay! I found some electric fencing wire and materials left behind by a previous tenant (for his horses).

Every little bit helps, and you can't beat freebies. There may be enough to run the entire perimeter of my permanent run. That will be one big worry down. Still gotta figure out what to do with those trees.

What about pepper sprays and other deterrant solutions sprayed on the trees? Hmmmm. What scares a coon? Coyote? Bear

Maybe I'll just hire out some locals after a night at the bar to come "christen" my yard perimeter....

Thanks for all the advice!