I decided it would be a better idea to make my own thread, rather than hijacking the other that is discussing fencing. I've got a horse pasture of about an acre, with hot wire fencing. The fence is attached to a non-pulsing charger (I prefer these, personally, I know many do not). It packs a punch, and it is not a lot of fun to touch. The pony knows this, I know this, and my kids know this. My coop is situated in the back corner of this pasture, and I am interested in figuring out a way to free range my birds within this particular pasture. Predators are not a big concern, we are in a very urban area and the only critters we've got are cats out at night. I've had free ranging chickens in the past, and they did fine wandering aimlessly around the property, but I really need to contain this batch in that pasture so as not to risk upsetting my newer neighbors. My thought was, is it logical to run a couple extra wires below the bottom existing wire? It is a 3 strand fence now, and I thought 2-3 wires closely spaced together at chicken height might be enough to deter anyone from wandering out. But, I've never tried it, or really heard much about how well electric wire keeps chickens in. I'm not really expecting that this idea will work, and it would be a lot of worthless labor if not.
My second idea is doing a fenced area within the "horse squares" rolls of welded wire fence. Not sure how or if I'd cover it, being that they would only be out during the day and the area is protected by trees. I could run 3 strands of hot wire off my main fence, at the bottom, middle, and top of the welded wire. They would only be out for 5-6 hours a day.
I am not sure of whether the hot wire would seriously hurt an animal as small as a chicken, also. I don't want to prematurely "cook" them!
Do either of these ideas seem do-able? What will or will not work? What changes would you make?
Thanks in advance, I appreciate all the help I have gotten from reading and participating in this awesome forum!
My second idea is doing a fenced area within the "horse squares" rolls of welded wire fence. Not sure how or if I'd cover it, being that they would only be out during the day and the area is protected by trees. I could run 3 strands of hot wire off my main fence, at the bottom, middle, and top of the welded wire. They would only be out for 5-6 hours a day.
I am not sure of whether the hot wire would seriously hurt an animal as small as a chicken, also. I don't want to prematurely "cook" them!
Do either of these ideas seem do-able? What will or will not work? What changes would you make?
Thanks in advance, I appreciate all the help I have gotten from reading and participating in this awesome forum!
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