The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Poultry & Waterfowl => Topic started by: Gazjackson on December 30, 2010, 09:37:52 am
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Hi all
I am wanting to some chickens but there is a fox always round.
Is the electric fencing any good to keep fox out.
It will be in paddock with cows.
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we have electric fencing but its only as good as the battery/mains powering it and you will need to make sure that grass /debris is kept off/short so that it doesn't short the supply. there are other things you need to do as the fox will just dig under etc.
the electric fence has protected our hens so long as they stay IN it. chicken tikka went for a walk a few days before xmas and never came back, next day foxy was stood next the the electric fence eyeing up his next meal and I caught him there. Yesterday I had 8 hens stood on the fencing pannels where they had got out and 1 had come right down to our back door so not only do they disregard the electric fence, they blow raspberries at the cockerel too it seems ::)
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we have used electric fencing with no fox losses (yet - touch wood!) for about 3 years. The only losses we have suffered are human related - make sure your battery and transformer are out of the way as they are hot property for thieves >:( We haven't had many problems with chickens getting over unless they have been completely spooked or we have put the feeders too close to the fence, so they just hop up and over!
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or you could shoot the fox ;)
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I use electric poultry netting which is fairly foxproof. Once they try once they will definetly think about trying the next time. They usually come in 50m rolls like this:
http://www.agri-supply.co.uk/products/Poultry-Netting-105cm-50m.html
You also would need a decent energiser to power it, a bit of an outlay at first but will protect them in the long run!
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you should concider it powered of the mains7000/ 8000 volts we have two had them for15/20 years well worth it you never know Freddie might just get caught 20 minutes and they are dead
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Hi Gaz,
You don't say if you are making a pen with coop inside ???
We have 35' x 35' pens made with 7' posts to which we attached 5' pheasant netting (50p a metre) at the bottom on the outside we have 3' chicken netting and two electric wires @ 9" and 18" apart going over the entrance gates - you can get handle attachments that link across gate (we have two of these pens side by side) Our coops are 'sheds' that are securely locked - including the pophole/nestbox. Fox tracks/poo seen around the outside - and in the paddocks (they free range when we are about otherwise they are kept in their electrified pen) So far no attempt by Foxy to get in - looked for tracks when the snow was down but none in pens. We've had the pens for just over a year.
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electric fencing is fantastic, we hav had no fox get in ever since the first day we put up out electric fence around 5 years ago. its main powered and usually if the fox hits it he does not often risk coming back. we have a 60 meter netting fence and then just as an extra precaution we have a single strand of white electric wire 1 foot out and 1 foot high from the electric fence and its brilliant. never need to worry about shutting them in.
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What did you all do about your electric fencing in the snow?
Sue
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ah now thats another story it earths out gets flattened and does not work poultry gets eaten by foxes pigs get mixed up and enjoy themselfs and we get stressed
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same as Lillian really, the chooks fencing did earth out and the goats strip fencing reduced the amount of 'kick' it gave out (I found this as I rubbed my back climbing under it, the height of the snow beneath foot lifted my quite high) normally the goat fence makes me cry when I get a shock (no, really!!) this was more of a tickle!
I suppose we should have dug all round to keep it clear and stop the earthing? was a bit ruddy deep for that though ;)
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was it a good tickle thats what they use for tonning up the tummie muscles bugger that somebody turns up the currant and you go break dancing down the field
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Agh Lillian you've just brought back terrible memories of my hubby's 'tummy toner' - idea being you don't need a gym, you can firm up while you sit and watch eastenders. only thing was I always stuck those pads on my tummy stretch marks - OUCH!!! :o
no, this was far more pleasant ;D
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We gave up on netting because the grass always grew into it and it kept earthing out so we chicken-wired the orchard and put two tapes of electric at different heights on the outside so the fox couldn't jump onto it. You can put a ground wire at fox take-off point but we keep horses in the surrounding fields so the tapes do two jobs.
I'd echo Lillian on voltage. I've now got a meaty mains energiser which is running some kilometers of horse tape and generally produces 8-9000V with a high energy pulse that burns off vegetation that's going to short it out.
Get a voltmeter as well. It's easy to find the voltage is just a couple of thousand volts which thick fur won't notice. Our sheep respect the fence so it definitely won't make Reynard happy
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We gave up on netting because the grass always grew into it and it kept earthing out so we chicken-wired the orchard and put two tapes of electric at different heights on the outside so the fox couldn't jump onto it. You can put a ground wire at fox take-off point but we keep horses in the surrounding fields so the tapes do two jobs.
I'd echo Lillian on voltage. I've now got a meaty mains energiser which is running some kilometers of horse tape and generally produces 8-9000V with a high energy pulse that burns off vegetation that's going to short it out.
Get a voltmeter as well. It's easy to find the voltage is just a couple of thousand volts which thick fur won't notice. Our sheep respect the fence so it definitely won't make Reynard happy
Hi there - what heights are the tapes, and are they directly under one another. Also what energizer have you got - I like the idea that it will burn off the vegetation. I already have a mains Electric Shepherd, but perhaps with the netting it is not so effective. I must admit I have never been certain it is all correctly connected, but it has kept the hens safe as long as it has been sprayed or strimmed round.
All the best
Sue
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its an electric shepard we have it burns the vegitation of as well but we strim below the wire as well they have to be properly earthed with copper rod
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Right on the nail. Earthing is very, very important. That means at the very least a long spike going well into the ground - especially when the ground is dry
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you have to keep wetting it
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Re keeping foxes away from poultry,
My neighbour always keeps a radio on close to where his chooks are. He swears it keeps the foxes away and another lneighbour lost a lot of poultry to foxes when the battery in his radio went flat! - Ok if youve got mains power close by
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Earthing is very, very important.
OK, stupid question perhaps, but does the earth spike need to be anywhere near the fence itself? For example, if you had a netting kit powered by a mains energiser, via a 50m lead-out cable, would you just put the earth spike in the ground near the energiser, or would you need to run another length of lead-out cable so you could drive it in closer to the actual fence? :dunce:
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It shouldn't make any difference where the earth spike is. It will usually be more convenient to have it near the energiser especially if its mains but don't try to use the house earthing system or you'll get interference.
We had some cable put in recently to our stables which ran alongside the lead-out cable from the energiser. While they were connecting it up we had to turn off the fences because they were getting little shocks from induced voltage. Use solid core lead-out cable: high voltages are different.
If you have sandy soil I'd suggest multiple earth spikes. It really pays to get this right: we didn't at first and had trouble with low voltages then one day heard underground sparking at the earth spike. A bucket of water made an instant improvement but I reinstalled the earth properly (had just banged the spike into some rubble) and never looked back
There's some suppliers web pages here but remember they're selling!
http://www.rutland-electric-fencing.co.uk/PageAnimalPoultry.aspx
http://www.gallaghereurope.com/uk/getpage.asp?i=79
http://www.rappa.co.uk/fencing-guide.cfm?cat_id=1024
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so is it generally considered that electric fencing is more fox proof that just wire mesh stock fencing?.
I am unsure whether to fence them in with posts and chicken wire or just use the elctric poultry netting. It would have to be battery powered as its not near mains. The hens will be securely locked in at night, but I just dont want any chances of foxes getting in there in the daytime.
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I didn't have time for a short answer so here's a long one.
Our orchard is fully rabbit fenced on post and rail fence because we want to keep the horses and bunnies out and the chickens in. Last summer when the 21 yo was left in charge for a few days he forgot to lock the chickens away at night and we lost all seven birds from two different coops, killed and taken away. We tracked them for 400m across a main road and into thick scrub, so it wasn't a two legged thief but a very persistent fox
The problem with a solid fence is that the blighter can jump on to it, so you need to have either very high fencing or some other dissuasion. With the horses the obvious answer is stand-off electric tape near the top so fox can't land on the top bar. For good measure we added another line lower down. When the snow came we could see fox tracks coming from the same direction as before up to the fence and along but with no successful entry.
The advantage of chicken netting is that it is much quicker to install and to move and the fox has to jump it in one go 'cos it's floppy. The disadvantage is that 'cos it's floppy it sags and I found it hard to keep the voltage high enough because of earthing out at ground level especially when it rained.
Have you looked at those coop doors which automatically shut at dusk? The chickens will always roost at night and the coop is the safest place. Or patience and a shotgun.
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The netting would be more suitable as I will need to move them around, it also sounds a decent barrier from foxes although this will depend on the voltage. But I am also tempted to do as you have done and make a permanent fence as well as electric tape as I would be happier knowing that they wil not get out from the netting as I know they can do. Back to the drawing board.
THanks for the reply.
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If you have cows in the same field, a single line of electric tape at cow nose height in addition to/just outside your netting might be better, as the cows might otherwise just flatten your netting.
Chicken pellets are irresistabe to all other lovestock!
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where do people recommend buying electric fencing netting? We dont have Mole Valley Farmers in East Anglia.
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I use a 1.6Joule ESB200 (battery powered) for my sheep (& chickens) as that was recommended for the well-insulated sheep. It's powerfull enough to kill grass, nettles etc when they grow into it, although it's still worth regular trims during the spring as the sheer quantity of growing stuff can exceed it's ability to kill 'em off.
Snow doesn't seem to affect it badly - I think it zaps the snowflakes in contact with the netting 'til they melt - but we haven't had bad snow here this year - yet.
I got my netting from mole valley (posted to me - I'm in Suffolk) as even with postage it was still cheaper than my local suppliers.
Biggest problem with the netting is that it has flexible posts with 6" spikes that don't provide much support in soft soil. I tie it to substantial stakes driven into the ground at the ends of straight runs to keep it under tension and to avoid the bottom string drooping to the ground.
PS. you can get a 4 foot earth rod from screwfix for £2.65 (order code 13335-12) - the cheapest I've found. :)
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Ive been looking into this a lot, I'm now thinking of putting up a permanent 5ft chicken wire fence and then using electric fencing as well.
If im putting up a permanent chicken wire fence is there any point in burying some fence as you would for rabbit fencing? I was thinking about doing this and then having some electric fencing wire, 2 or 3 strands on the outside to deter any foxes. Could it be that a fox would jump the 5ft fence unless I put a strand of electric fencing about the chicken wire?
The reason I'm not going to use electric netting is because its going to be on land Im renting, and I won't be there all the time, I'm worried about it being stolen. At least with a permanent fence there is a barrier, and the electric strand fencing will be less obvious and not as expensive.
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You're as paranoid as I am!
I'd put a line at fox nose level and another at the top where the fox would land when jumping over
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yes paranoid is the word, but I wan't to try to get it right from the start so those pesky foxes know I mean business!