Poultry netting from premier 1

[Crittercrzy]

I was wondering if anyone uses the Poultry Netting from Premier 1? I ordered a roll and can't wait to get it up and running..I do worry about electric fencing and chickens?

 

[wildorchid053]

what keeps the hawks out? and it said to remove it , mow then replace it. kind of a pain.. and if you hit it with your mower it said you will regret it? sounds like alot of work to me..... and i wonder since it is plastic if the first thing zapped will break it. sorry to sound so negative, any idea on how high it is?

 

[fiddlebanshee]

I would also like to learn from people who have actually used it, since I was considering it as well.

 

[patandchickens]

Huh, I would swear I posted a reply to this yesterday, maybe I hit the close window button instead of submit

Anyhow...

The Premier type electronet is wonderful IF you respect its idiosyncrasies; it is worse than useless if you don't or if they don't fit with what you're trying to achieve.

You need to have a good charger hooked up to it (it requires more charger per length of fence than other kinds of electric fencing) and like any electric fence you need to install things correctly and monitor every day or two with a good digital fence-tester (the neon-lights ones are way too inaccurate) to ensure it keeps enough charge.

You need to be prepared to move it and mow (or spray herbicide, but I do not personally advocate that at all) where it goes WHENEVER the grass starts to grow more than a few inches high, which can be rather frequently in late spring or early summer. THis does not take long at ALL -- all ya do is pick up each stake, doink it into the ground a few feet to the left, run the mower where the fenceline was, then doink the stakes back in where they belong -- but you do have to DO it, or the fence becomes useless.

I highly recommend tying back at least the corners, also some run posts if it is a long fence, so strong winds don't flatten the fence or make it sag so much it grounds out; and the fence is essentially useless during times of ice or snow.

It is really intended as a growing-season fence for well-maintained rotational grazing purposes; for that, it is GREAT. As 'set and forget', it is useless

JMHO, good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[chicken_china_mom]

We've been eyeing the poutry netting from Premier for awhile now and finally took the plunge today and ordered it. Of course THEN I found this thread, lol. Always seems to work that way, eh? Anyway, I plan to use the fence for now without electrifying it. It's more to keep my birds from irritating my next door neighbor by coming into her yard on a daily basis like they like to do. And it's no fun chasing them out of her yard and back into my own. I will later get another one, if I like this one, and then from there work on electrifying them. I don't have a terrible problem with predators (knock on wood!), though we do have racoons, opposums, coyotes, and I have heard rumor of a weasel and the kids have seen it, but I never have, and thus far my birds have been fine. Only once did something get into my coop and kill a bird, but I thought it was unusual that it only killed one bird. When my neighbor across the street gets predators invading their coop they lose no less than 10 birds at a time. So I don't know. But I'm going to set it up as soon as it comes, and I hope it really is as easy to set up as they say it is.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Um, may I suggest that's a dangerous idea and you probably shouldn't do it.

If you want a temporary, nonelectrified barrier that will (mostly) keep the chickens on the right side of the fence, get you some 4-6' plastic garden netting, the cheap flimsy plastic stuff, and attach it to whatever poles are handy (bamboo stakes, plastic step-in posts, rebar, t-posts, whatever you prefer). It will be nicely portable by just pulling up the stakes, folding, and moving it, same as the electronet.

The reasons why this is a better idea are: 1) it reduces wear and tear on your expensive electronet; 2) it will be a better chicken-barrier; and very most importantly of all, 3) it will prevent your chickens from learning that the electronet is safe and can be reached through or squoze through.

It is really rather dangerous to leave a mesh fence unelectrified and then, at some future date, electrify it... because animals will get used to going through it (with part or all of their bodies) and then when it turns out to be electrified they will try it and get stuck and zapped to death. It happens. There is no REASON for it to happen, when it can be so simply avoided. I suggest avoiding it

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[BuzzyB]

I was wondering if anyone uses the Poultry Netting from Premier 1? I ordered a roll and can't wait to get it up and running..I do worry about electric fencing and chickens?

 

[BuzzyB]

We used it for 24 chickens and 2 tiny goats. We lived on the edge of woods and a creek and had bob cat, fox, weasels and all the other chicken eating critters. They had brush to hide under as well as access to the coop so hawks were never a problem although we had plenty. The netting worked great. The chickens respected it and never tried to fly over and the ground predators did not try to dig under.
We had it running through a dense growth of vines, bushes etc and it still packed a wollop.
You won't have raccoons ripping into it or foxes digging under. It sends a clear and painful message!