Premier-1 Poultry Fencing - WARNING

[DobieLover]

Once you do run current through the fence it becomes a hazard to the wildlife you are and are not trying to keep out of the pen.

To date countless frogs, a few toads, one big beautiful mother snapping turtle and a young buck have lost their lives in my fence. That's a difficult thing to come to terms with if you respect and love nature as I do.
I will never ever forget what it felt like to find the young buck laying in freezing cold water with the fence wrapped tightly around his antlers down on his head and face with blood coming from his eyes getting jolted with 10,000 volts over and over.
All.
Night.
Long.

He died about 4 hours after being freed from the fence and dragged from the freezing water. I wanted him shot immediately but don't have a gun and the neighbor wouldn't do it.

Horrifying.

 

[All4Eggz]

Once you do run current through the fence it becomes a hazard to the wildlife you are and are not trying to keep out of the pen.

To date countless frogs, a few toads, one big beautiful mother snapping turtle and a young buck have lost their lives in my fence. That's a difficult thing to come to terms with if you respect and love nature as I do.
I will never ever forget what it felt like to find the young buck laying in freezing cold water with the fence wrapped tightly around his antlers down on his head and face with blood coming from his eyes getting jolted with 10,000 volts over and over.
All.
Night.
Long.

He died about 4 hours after being freed from the fence and dragged from the freezing water. I wanted him shot immediately but don't have a gun and the neighbor wouldn't do it.

Horrifying.

This is one of the reasons I’ve been holding off on running currents through the fence. I do not get much wildlife here but I am afraid that I will harm the wildlife that does live around here (we get bears, squirrels, wild cats, foxes, etc.). It’ll help protect the chickens from other predators but it can also harm the wildlife that are not interested in the chickens.

Thanks for your response.

 

[3KillerBs]

This is one of the reasons I’ve been holding off on running currents through the fence. I do not get much wildlife here but I am afraid that I will harm the wildlife that does live around here (we get bears, squirrels, wild cats, foxes, etc.). It’ll help protect the chickens from other predators but it can also harm the wildlife that are not interested in the chickens.

Thanks for your response.

There are always tradeoffs to everything and accidents happen.

I lost a cockerel last summer because he got trapped between the fence and the inner curtain all night -- unable to figure out how to get out of that space the way he got in. Best I can figure is that he panicked and broke his neck.

There would have been room for him to sit without touching the fence -- I'd found pullets sitting in there in the daylight when I got home from work and they were fine once rescued -- but he didn't. Kung Pao was *always* panicking over something or the other he might well have managed to kill himself some other way before he got to the point of culling for the table.

I have to be realistic and know that my fence has protected my flock when a roaming dog killed all but 2 of a neighbor's flock.

All we can do is be careful and responsible about our setup and prepare for foreseeable events then fix the unforeseen problems after they occur.

 

[Alaskan]

I've never had one get that badly stuck, but in addition to keeping the charger on I also keep the fence pulled as tightly as I possibly can -- minimizing the amount of slack.

That!


I use lots of net...

Some of that premier 1 electric fence, and lots of different kinds of fishnet.

Pulled tight and everything is good.

Any slack, or bunched up net will catch all sorts of critters

 

[addctd2plnts]

It's actually worse to NOT electrify it to start with, because then they aren't taught to stay AWAY from it. Pull it tight and don't leave it sagging. Follow Premier 1s fencing instructions and you'll limit problems a lot.

 

[All4Eggz]

@Tre3hugger, @3KillerBs, @DobieLover, @Alaskan, and @addctd2plnts-
How do I make my fencing electric, yet safe for poultry? (links to products?)
Is it strong enough to kill the poultry?

I’m sick of the chickens getting into the flower garden…
Now I’m looking to make my fencing electric.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[theoldchick]

That kind of fencing is dangerous. Not only can your chickens get tangled, other animals can too.

 

[All4Eggz]

That kind of fencing is dangerous. Not only can your chickens get tangled, other animals can too.

It is.. but I believe if it is electric (as it was intended to be), it would prevent tangling.

 

[All4Eggz]

It's actually worse to NOT electrify it to start with, because then they aren't taught to stay AWAY from it. Pull it tight and don't leave it sagging. Follow Premier 1s fencing instructions and you'll limit problems a lot.

I am afraid over 15+ birds (bantams and chicks) have figured out how to squeeze through the fencing and run around in the area of our yard that is NOT intended for chickens. I don’t know what to do.
I think it’s worth it to electrify it. I get so frustrated when I come home to a messed up garden that takes me hours a day to maintain when the chickens get into it.

 

[All4Eggz]

@Ridgerunner