post your chicken coop pictures here!

[Flock Master64]

Hi

 

[MeepBeep]

There are two things I would like to touch upon in regards to electric...

1. It's far from the 'fool proof' solution many claim... Regardless of the claims of the contrary it does have drawbacks that need to be considered... One as touched upon above is grounding issues, yes if you don't get good earth ground the obvious solution is two use a ground wire and that helps but it's not fool proof as it requires both wires to be contacted to get a shock, now with good spacing you can increase the chances that two wires will normally be contacted but it's never a sure thing... Also as touched upon you need to clear and keep away weeds, now if you are only fencing in a small run in your backyard, not a problem but as you fence it acres or even 100s of linear feet of fence with low wires that will slow down the smaller predators this can become a daily maintenance issue as weeds and or other debris can short out those lower wires very easily and thus disabling them... This also begs the question of how low do you go for that bottom wire, small predators like weasels will require two wires that are essentially at ground level, meaning you realistically can't have any vegetation in the area... Then you have a consider how high you are going to run the wires, remembering that a coyote or bobcat can clear jump a 6 foot fence... You also have to realize that regardless of the claims of the contrary some larger animals are just bone headed and will charge right through an electric fence and or they simply won't get shocked by it due to their heavy fur coats... I personally have experience with this, the previous owner of my llamas (a horse farm owner) warned me that electric wire fences won't contain my two as they learned that their fur isolates them against shock and learned how to squeeze between strands to get to the greener grass outside the pasture... The same could happen with many other heavily furred animals especially in their winter coats... And last but not least charges sometimes fail and/or there is some other kind of system short that could easily go unnoticed...

2. Check the legality, seriously check it just to be sure so you can avoid legal or even liable issues down the line... I know for a fact almost every community around me prohibits 'charged' fences of any kind unless you are zoned for agriculture and it could lead to fines or worse...

 

[perchie.girl]

To add to that Mountain lions can drag 250 pounds up and over that six foot fence....

Thats why having a good stout enclosure is a must.

I personally have seen a Percheron gelding stand with his lip on the wire twitching with every zap.... He kind of liked it.

I have boarded at a big stables with hotwire a strand around the pastures at the top and lower to keep the horses from chewing on the fence. Half mile track around the outside and one acre divisions on the inside. The wire was roebust at least sixteen gauge and the charger was stout. I leaned over to pet my horse and it zapped me and subsequentially the horse on the nose. So if you are running miles of fencing you may need one big charger or maybe even two.

The bipolar fencing I want to use is intregal within a tape. a bit more expensive to run because the insulators are different




But nothihg is going to contain an animal that has learned to defeat the wire.

fortunately here the weeds are a small concern.... and my mare respects hot wire.

deb

 

[MeepBeep]

fortunately here the weeds are a small concern....

In my area, if I was to install a 'low' wire I would have to spend every day walking the fence line trimming back weeds, some weeds like dandelions will grow up into a low wire overnight, every night... I could nuke the area with herbicides but since my goats and llamas graze in the pasture and the birds scratch in it, I'm not about to spray herbicides all over the food they eat... Also I have to deal with snow all winter and I see no realistic way to deal with low predator wires and snow unless you are going to go out there all the time and clear it away from the wires, I spend enough time clearing my driveway as it is... And it's not just when it snows, drifting is another concern and on a windy day drifting could easily short out wires every few minutes along a fence line if the wires are low...

I can only imagine mesh like that would be a nightmare in a wet snow storm and even after as it cakes with snow and ice shorting itself out, I imagine it would even short itself out in heavy rains...

 

[Intheswamp]

No snow issues down here, so these things are relative to your local. If I was concerned with snow I would have a cut-off switch wired into the fence circuit to disconnect the bottom wire and rely on the fence apron to take care of the bottom of the fence. A bottom, mid, and top wire setup would work well in that with the bottom wire covered in snow the mid-height wire would more or less take it's place.

As for weeds, most of the electric fences used in my area are used to fence in cattle. The fence boxes for these setups will burn the weeds as they grow into the wire...basically self clearing the weeds. Dandelions should not be an issue with a strong fence box. A low-impedance fence box should handle weeds quiet well. They're also rated in miles of fencing...normally from 20 to 50 miles. For the short runs that we are speaking of they pack a very good jolt that should have no problem shocking through weeds. The small solar chargers don't have near the power, but for an isolated setup would work pretty good as long as the stretch of wire isn't too overly long.

Naturally, even the "Weed-Cutter" type of fence box can get shorted out when limbs and trees fall on them, around here that is usually what stops the fences from working....simple weeds do not cause too much of a problem unless they're allowed to grow into jungle-like stature, which I doubt they will be allowed to if running around a chicken coop or run. All electric fences need monitoring and the fence line needs walking occasionally to take care of problems and potential problems...an ounce of prevention.

I truly believe that a couple or three strands of good aluminum wire and a strong fence box will enhance any enclosure.

Ed

 

[Cockon Candi]

My coop is almost ready yay! 12' x 14', I have a large chain link dog run, but they'll free-range much of the time too. Lotsa neighbors with chickens, proly lotsa sleepovers!

 

[Beekissed]

You may want to add some good sized vents at your roof peak and under the eaves for better ventilation....you can't ever have too much ventilation and your chickens will stay healthier with more airflow where they sleep and those windows just won't be enough in the long run. Another thing you might consider adding....a lip on your nesting boxes. They will kick out any bedding you place there and eggs will also get kicked out onto the floor...just wise thinking to provide a deeper lip on them to prevent such things.

 

[Gundawg]

I have another update on the coop and run build. I got the hen house roof installed the ridge is a continuous vent with 1/8" gutter screen blocking the bug access the sofits on the top roof are also open with the 1/8" screen.

Mike

 

[Latestarter]

Hey Mike, I know you want to/have to put some sort of screening over the open vent areas, but just so you know, I have 1/2" hardware cloth over my open areas, and the amount of dust these birds produce is amazing! I have to spray the HWC with the garden hose on jet to clear the dust off it about twice a year. Just thought you might want to know that so you can plan accordingly. Maybe removable screens so they can be cleaned? I don't really know... Something I will be keeping in mind for my next build as well. It's looking like a chicken mahal!

 

[MeepBeep]

If I was concerned with snow I would have a cut-off switch wired into the fence circuit to disconnect the bottom wire and rely on the fence apron to take care of the bottom of the fence.

Well in many places it could mean disabling much more than just the bottom wire, 3 foot or larger drifts are quite common in my area, and I know standing snow and bigger drifts are quite common in others...

Dandelions should not be an issue with a strong fence box.

What should not be a problem does not equate to it not being a problem, I just tossed up dandelions as an example there is no shortage of other weeds some much more substantial that grow up quite fast as well... The reality is the weeds during the summer months (especially when raining) will overcome the electrical fence, it will happen... Plus this assumes you have a box strong enough, lets be realistic most people charging electric around chickens are not investing in huge charger systems...

I truly believe that a couple or three strands of good aluminum wire and a strong fence box will enhance any enclosure.

No doubt it's an enhanced layer of security, but it's not the fool proof end all many claim it to be...