Positive Negative Electric Netting

[ColoradoPip]

Does anyone have experience with positive negative electric netting and the pros and cons? Have read a lot of online information and believe I thoroughly, in theory, understand how they work and a lot of the pros and cons. What I'm looking for is practical experience using these type of electric netting. Things like...

Do you have shorting issues?
Does it help with taller grass not shorting the entire fence?
Winter/Snow experience?
It would be extra nice to find fencing that is only electrified starting ~6" up so that grass less than that would not cause any issue. Has anyone modified their electric netting in this way?

I'm planning to run perimeter electric fence lines (low and high attached to existing chain link and woven wire fences) and the netting will be portable to move the chickens around and act as a secondary barrier.

Thank you for any advice and experiences!

 

[Howard E]

Purpose of the + / - wire is for areas where the soil conditions are so dry you may not get a reliable shock using the soil alone, so theory is an animal will run their head through the netting, come into contact with the + and - at the same time and get shocked that way. If your soil conditions are not that dry, you up your odds of getting a good shock if all the strands are hot (+).

An alternative to the netting is to build your own portable fences out of components. Same fence charger but using step in posts, poly tape, poly wire or even aluminum fence wire. Much more flexability and cheaper to boot.

I'd share a photo of one of mine, but apparently the file photos are all gone???????

 

[Howard E]

Lets try this.......

That single strand of poly tape fence kept that flock of 22 pullets inside that enclosure all summer. A single strand works for crowd control to keep chickens in or out of an area like this.

For predators......run an additional 2 or 3 hot wires so they cant simply step over it....you want them to try to crawl under or through...........and bait it.

 

[ColoradoPip]

How are those step in posts holding up? Do you replace them often?

They look similar to the ones I've seen. Not sure they are the same brand but when I read about a lot of them they didn't seem to hold up to UV or cold weather. The reviews here
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/american-farmworks-4-ft-white-step-in-fence-postare pretty bad.

I'm saving costs in a lot of other areas to spend for predator control and a few other nice-to-haves.

The thing I like about the netting are all of the ease of use an time savings aspects....unroll it as you set it up, roll it up as you take it down, carry it 20 yards, set it back up as you unroll it.

Poly rope or tape may work but wire would definitely not. How do you move yours (what are the steps)? Do you have issues with snow catching on them and sagging in winter?

I have noticed that not many people around here use poly products, based on my initial research this was due to snow and wind causing sagging and maintenance,, so I'm a little hesitant.

 

[Howard E]

Mine are by Parmak.......I thought they were Baygard.....this now says Big Foot. Most are in their 3rd year and still going. They cost about $2.50 each, so not the end of the world if one gets broken. Some have.....most being my fault.

https://parmakusa.com/product/bigfoot-step-in-post-2/
Parmak was sold at our local farm coop......most products in the box stores will be by Fi-shock. From what I can tell, those are inferior.

Parmak also sells two different versions of fiberglass rod posts.....I have one of those and they work pretty well too, but I still prefer the white poly posts.

I also have two different rolls of poultry netting and almost never use either of them. The taller stuff sags horribly and the corners are never where I want them.

I far and away prefer to use the poly tape fences. Poly rope would be similar........either can be moved the same or even easier than the netting rolls.

 

[Howard E]

On the issue of sagging, unless the poultry netting corners are braced.......the weight alone will pull them over, causing them to sag. And mine even have double spikes. Both mine are the heavy Kencove netting, however. One is 160' of the tall stuff.......the other 80' of the 20 inch. Due to the overall degree of sagging, keeping them from grounding out is a problem.

On the concern of sagging under weight of snow or ice.......affects both equally and is a short term issue only and it will pop back up after the wet heavy snow or ice melts off.

Poly tape or rope can be stretched very tight just by hand. I space my posts about 20' apart on level land and it will maintain an even height of about 5" or so above the soil.

 

[ColoradoPip]

Thank you very much! This has given me something to consider. I planned to use wire around the property perimeter and will rethink the portable fence a bit.