So sick of this. Electric fence question

[cottontail farm]

you mean this guy? yep, we have him to deal with too.

 

[cottontail farm]

Yes.
I think another problem you will have is that 4' is a cake walk for a coyote to jump. If he never touches the fence to get in and out, he'll keep coming until the buffet is empty. Let's say you run a hot wire high on the fence. (A) I know of no solar charger with enough punch to deter an animal the size of a coyote. (B) Even if the coyote hit the high wire, it won't give him a zap as his feet will be off the ground and therefore, the circuit will not connect.

ugh, great to think about. thanks for the advice. this hadn't occurred to me.

 

[llombardo]

This would still leave the geese and ducks outside. Waterfowl party all night long if you let them.
So is everyone saying that they lock coops every night even WITH electric fencing?

I have a walk in run that is hardware cloth top to bottom and out 2 ft all the way around, a heavy duty net and and electric fence and I lock up all chickens and ducks at night.

 

[Trish1974]

So is everyone saying that they lock coops every night even WITH electric fencing?

I do. Better safe than sorry.

 

[cottontail farm]

Awesome, thanks everyone!

 

[cmom]

I have game cameras. Anything that gets near my coops, get their picture/video taken. I have electric wire around my coops and pens because of a bobcat and a possum that dug under the fence, concrete under my gates because of a fox and a skunk that dug under a gate and heavy duty netting covering all of the pens because of an owl and hawk that killed some birds, and a coyote that jumped over a 5' fence into a pen and killed some birds. The owl was a hard one to figure out until I put up a game camera and caught it in action. I was standing right next to where the hawk game down and killed a bird. I have seen a coon on a camera, but so far the coon has kept it's distance from the coops. The electric wire will make your heart skip a beat if touched. Especially when I first put the electric wire up, I heard a few critters test it and they don't test it out again. I have accidentally touched it when I have forgotten to turn it off when working out around the pens. I don't like to take people out near my coops, but when I have taken a visitor out, I tell them the wire is electric and if they touch it they will get a shock. I do not close my pop doors at night. I have had no issues with anything since. The predators are here. You can eliminate some but more will come and replace them. We have a lot of coyotes, but they have nothing natural that prays on them. The coyote in the first picture has an injured right front foot that didn't heal right. I see it now and then on the cameras.

 

[Ridgerunner]

For electric fencing to work the animal has to complete the electric circuit. With electric netting you have several horizontal hot wires and you set the soil up as the ground by driving a ground stake in and wiring them up properly. That's the kind I had. My electric netting was 48" high. Many critters can jump over that if they want to, that's true. But they don't. Typically a critter checks the fence out first, usually using a tongue or nose while their feet are firmly on the ground. That results in a very nice zap. They just leave and don't even think about jumping it. They don't want to get close to that fence again.

An electric fence is different. You stretch horizontal wires on insulators a certain distance apart to keep them away from the electric mesh fence but spaced so a critter will touch a hot wire. You wire it up so the fencing wire mesh or the soil is the ground. So if the critter touches a hot wire and the soil or touches a hot wire and the metal mesh fence at the same time they get a nice zap. Some people set them up with just the soil as a ground, and don't use a metal mesh fence, but I figure a metal mesh fence is an added layer of protection.

They have issues. If weeds or grass grows up into the hot wires that can short them out, especially if it is wet. Weed eaters are kind of dangerous to the netting. Snow can prevent the soil acting as a ground. Things like dried leaves can blow up against the netting or fence, pile up, and short it out when they get wet. Netting and fencing require maintenance. But even if they are not charged once an animal has been zapped they stay away. It's the new animals you have to sorry about.

These do nothing for owls or hawks. I've had an owl go into a coop and drag a chicken out, but I hardly ever lose a chicken to a flying predator. Some people have a lot of problems with those.

So my recommendation is to still lock the pop door at night, it is an added layer of protection. And when you don't manage to lock it, electric netting or electric fencing, even if it is not currently working, makes them a lot safer as long as the local critters have been zapped.

 

[ocap]

I tried solar, didn't work.

plug in worked, 10000 volt, nine wire, four inches apart, tighten with Jake (link below)
weed killer is necessary "Roundup 365"

my birds learned to run to the edge of a building to get away from hawks

http://www.jakeswiretighteners.com/

 

[cmom]

I have touched the wire with my leg and then touch the fence with my hand and get a zap. Most predators do use their noses first and smell. If their snout touches the wire they get a zap. I have the wires approximately 6" apart. I run a single wire in some places behind the coops and in other places behind the coops there is double wire. Around the pens is triple wire on the sides most of the predators come from, other places is double wire. I have had my wire up for many years. Over the years as we have added more coops, the wire was extended for the protection of the new coops and pens. I have a couple of ground rods. The longer I think is better. You can have multiple grounds. I test the wire daily. I do use roundup under the wire to keep the weeds/grass away from the wire. Some wire can accommodate some weeds/grass touching it. There is another pen/run on the other side of the coop that does't show in the video. I think the coyote is aware of the electric wire.
This is a grow-out coop.

 

[RoosterML]

When you buy an electric fence controller buy much bigger than you need. For example I currently have about 200’ of wire and the controller is rated for 30miles of wire. The stronger controller will keep the current strong in the wire even if you have weeds growing into it. I have touched the wire recently using a blade of grass and got way to close. I received a serious zap pushed through the blade of grass. Biggest thing is if you have an area that is normally wet that is where you want to drive your grounding rod in. Dry soil is not good for electric fence. Good luck