What can come through 2x4 fence ?

[featherpickingfool]

I have never put in electric fence before. I was planning to do wire at about 8", 12", and 18". I lock them up every night so adding electric as outside layer to protect will just be one more thing. I am putting live trap out tonight. The pair are still young and learning.

 

[artbykarenehaley]

I have never put in electric fence before. I was planning to do wire at about 8", 12", and 18". I lock them up every night so adding electric as outside layer to protect will just be one more thing. I am putting live trap out tonight. The pair are still young and learning.

Glad to hear you are putting out a live trap. It is most effective to increase security but it's also good to trap an animal that had discovered the coop.

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

I like the idea of a solar panel hit wire.

 

[Idaho Chicken Bungalow]

If you're unsure of point of entry, may I suggest getting someone to help you at night. You stand in the coop in the dark while someone walks around the coop slowly with a flashlight. You may be able to see the light shining through an area that is not covered of a whole the critters made.

 

[featherpickingfool]

Thank you for your thoughts. I think the entire upper part of the hoop run is vulnerable as I covered entire thing with 2x4 fencing. The lower 24" has layers added to it as I tried to keep chicks in, and other things out. I think they climb up outside and squeeze in above 24". I will mount camera to look down side tonight.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Did you actually see the raccoon wiggle through? A 2x4 welded wire fence should stop a raccoon from coming through but they are expert at finding any weakness, either under the fencing, over the top, through ill-fitting corners, doors, or windows. Or unlocking locks. I'd be looking for places they could squeeze through, especially at "connections" instead of assuming they came through the 2x4 openings.

To stop them from coming under the side, I'd install an apron. That's where you lay 12" to 18" of wire mesh on the ground outside the coop/run and connect it to the bottom of your coop/run so nothing can squeeze through. The idea is that a digging predator goes up to the side, starts digging, hits the wire, and does not know to back up. That also stops a chicken from digging its way out or a critter just muscling its way under a small hole under the fence. I use J-Clips or hog rings to attach an apron to a wire mesh fence but with a wooden base I'd use a furring strip and screws to clamp that wire to the base. That takes care of one problem at ground level or below.

As Stormcrow said the critter needs to complete the circuit between the hot wire and the electrical ground to get bit but you don't want a ground between the hot wires and the electrical ground or it will short out. The way you do that is to install the hot wires with insulators and wire it up so the wire mesh fencing is your ground. I'd also make sure the wire mesh is electrically connected to the soil so the soil is also a ground. Not sure how you attach insulators on a hoop shelter. I use posts.

Where to put the horizontal hot wires is the question. Obviously you want them on the outside. If you don't have dig protection you'd want that very low to the ground, probably no more than 6". It can short out if weeds or grass grow up in it or a rainstorm or strong wind washed or blows trash, dead leaves, or cut grass against it. That's why I like other dig protection. You'd want a horizontal hot wire maybe a foot off of the ground so a dog, coyote, or raccoon would check it out with its tongue or nose. If your soil is part of your electric ground and it touches that hot wire it gets a jolt and runs away. There is something satisfying to see a stray dog touch that fence, yelp, and run away. It is not hurt but it has probably run away for good. I'd want another hot wire up four feet or so just in case something does start climbing so it will get a shock and fall off.

Some critters can jump but they don't. They are almost certain to inspect it with their tongue or nose first. There is a difference in what a critter can do and what they will do.

Premiere1 has a great web page with examples of how to do this. I find them extremely good to chat with when I call. Very helpful in setting these things up. They may even know how to attach insulators to hoop coops.

I don't like raccoons. I typically permanently remove 12 to 15 each year. That's the point, 12 to 15 each year. I also get about 18 or so possum and maybe 5 or 6 skunks each year. You get one but you don't get them all, there are always more. I think permanently removing the ones that are hunting your area is a good thing, it reduced predator pressure but it is not a permanent solution. I especially like to reduce the number of skunks I run into at night.

I think good barriers are a better long term solution. That's why I talk about dig protection and closing up openings first. Electrical current is second because it doesn't work if the power is off or say a snow shorts it out. Once bitten they tend to not come back so it can still be a deterrent. A dog can help if it is allowed to be out there. If a dog sleeps inside during bad weather or it is cold or just because it is dark it's not helping you. Hunting or trapping is a temporary help. All these are tools to help you keep your chickens safe.

 

[McChooky]

Trash Panda are some of the smartest critters on the planet, close in intellect to dolphins and octopi. Honestly, I'd rank them (on average) as somewhat smarter than the typical voter.

You have so much metal, and so much insulation in your build, might I recommend a small solar powered charger and one or two wires mounted around the outside of the coop, so they get a good shock as they attempt to climb and wiggle thru the current outer barrier?

X2

 

[featherpickingfool]

I thought I would update this morning before life gets crazy this weekend. No coons last night. However, a skunk visited at 3:30. Inside the henhouse. Yesterday I completed the rear wall that connects to other hoop house. Everything looked tight. I made hardware cloth door that can be locked when I put birds up at night. The hardware cloth runs two feet up on north wall. The critter climbed up the outside of hoop house and came in right above the hardware cloth.
I am getting another roll of 1/2 wire and I will take it up to 4 foot. Right now, henhouse is tarped. So that will take the wire up to the tarp. This fall I will add roofing panels like the other hoop.
Thanks for the help.

 

[loubapache]

I have seen a (young?) raccoon going through a 2"x4" welded fence opening. My duck pen ceiling (with a roof) has 2"x4" fence on the top. I thought it was very secure. Almost 13 years later, I found raccoon poops in the pen. One night before lights turning out, I saw the raccoon eating duck feed while the duck was about 5 feet away. They look like friends! I used a shovel to pinch the raccoon on the wall but did not kill it. I slowly let it go and it went through the 2"x4" opening and then out through the eave. The welds were not compromised.
I have since added 1/2" hardware cloth on the eave so far so good.

 

[featherpickingfool]

I have seen a (young?) raccoon going through a 2"x4" welded fence opening. My duck pen ceiling (with a roof) has 2"x4" fence on the top. I thought it was very secure. Almost 13 years later, I found raccoon poops in the pen. One night before lights turning out, I saw the raccoon eating duck feed while the duck was about 5 feet away. They look like friends! I used a shovel to pinch the raccoon on the wall but did not kill it. I slowly let it go and it went through the 2"x4" opening and then out through the eave. The welds were not compromised.
I have since added 1/2" hardware cloth on the eave so far so good.

I have been winning with the critters in the henhouse. The night they got in they came through the 2x4 opening under my tarp. I didn't get it on camera like the skunk the week before.
I don't know if my mistake was putting the 2x4 so it is on long ways or they can come through either way. The fencing was pulled from my last house when we sold it. I like recylcing and try to use something till it's worn completely out.
Knowing this now, I would have put 1/2 hardware cloth on the outside in the spring when I put it together.
Putting it on now is still on my to do list. The tarp is wrapped tight and I'm locking my birds in inner coop every night.