Keeping crap off your deck or patio??? Good ideas?

[Primo]

Rereading your post,one wire won't cut it. Use 3 spaced about 4 to 6 inches apart. The more the better. Link the wire together to get power to them all

 

[Uncluckable]

That's an enviable result!

It's not a particularly huge area I'm trying to keep them away from (similar to your 30' long one story deck), so I'm pretty confident in asserting there aren't any weeds touching the wires. And the wires are well-insulated with plastic separators intended for the purpose.

I only have the one ground rod, and maybe that's insufficient (though like I said, it seriously zaps me if I'm not wearing shoes -- as in, the thought of maintaining contact for more than an instant is laughable). I've read elsewhere now that the makeup of chickens (light bodies, weird legs, feathers possibly) might make them a little more resilient than (for instance) most mammals. But I'm heartened by your success story.

The biggest weakness of my setup is probably that I currently only have one wire for most of the perimeter. It seemed like that ought to be sufficient to discourage them once they'd bumped against it and been zapped. But though they definitely come into contact with the wire, at least one of them just slips on under my 6-inch wire all casual-like, without any apparent discomfort.

I'll add one or two more wires, and maybe make the middle wire a ground wire. Are your three wires spaced out evenly over the 2 feet? So the top wire's at 24 inches, and the others are at like 8 and 16ish? Seems like they might sneak under the bottom wire at 8 inches.

Hope all the questions aren't too annoying, I'm just extremely eager to duplicate your success and finally claim back my patio for human use! And I don't want to fence the patio in as though WE were the cooped ones (and I really like letting the chickens roam around the yard instead of only having a little run).

 

[Primo]

No need to make one of the wires a ground. That is to zap something trying to climb the wires (completely off the ground) place your first wire 3 inches off the ground. Next four inches up. Next 4 to 6 inches above that. Pull the wires nice and tight. If you follow my advice it will work. No question about it.
Your 1 wire will not work. It is too high. If you lower it they Will hop over. They other wires give them pause and when they try to investigate a way through...zap

 

[Primo]

Also, I would at least add a second ground rod. If you go through a lengthy dry spell, you may need to water the area where the rods are in the ground. If you already have posts set up the work of repositioning and adding wires should only take about an hour.

 

[Uncluckable]

No need to make one of the wires a ground. That is to zap something trying to climb the wires (completely off the ground) place your first wire 3 inches off the ground. Next four inches up. Next 4 to 6 inches above that. Pull the wires nice and tight. If you follow my advice it will work. No question about it.
Your 1 wire will not work. It is too high. If you lower it they Will hop over. They other wires give them pause and when they try to investigate a way through...zap

Ok! Thanks, I'll do that then! Those chickens will finally meet their match.

I will also add a second rod as you suggest. First is already at the drip line in a shaded area where the ground stays moist for ages (plus I have flood irrigation).