Electric Fence

[Stan Coryell]

I had 10 chickens in a 600 sq/ft pen with a coop. Tonight during a bad storm a fox got in and killed them, made off with two. My Great Dane, not exactly a blood hound, thinks two foxes. He did try to alert me but it was pouring and I was processing about 20 pounds of pickles. Anyway... Wife an kids are sad.

Current fence is 2 x 4 welded cloth, 48" high. A shed takes up one corner. I'd like to put an electric wire, above the fence, around the perimeter. Currently, I don't have 120v out there. It's about 150' from the house. It would not be a problem to run it off an extension cord. I have plans to trench water and power out there by October. I don't have any experience with electric fence.

T posts are currently 4' above ground (5'6") 4 x 4 s are 4' above ground (6'). I understand the T posts will have to be changed.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Local options are Tractor Supply Co.

 

[NoDakInMN]

They cost a little bit more, but you can get solar powered fence chargers. You can also get insulators for the T posts, in fact you will need them as the electric fence cannot be directly tied to anything that is grounded.

 

[da.bees]

A dusk to dawn coop door will keep chickens more secure with less hassle. With a hot wire at top of fence varmints can still dig under. And pay a little more attention to your dog.

 

[MJMJ]

Save your money on the fence and lock them up at night. Its the only hope to keep chickens alive. There is no electric fence out there that is racoon proof, they absolutely will find their way over/under/around it. BTW, I highly doubt it was a fox that got your chickens unless you saw it. 95% of the time its racoons, the other 5% mink.

 

[Watthour]

Second the vote for 'coons. Mr. Mossberg would have an opinion on how to handle those, as well as weasels/mink, fox, wild dogs, coyotes, etc. Just be careful about where he expresses his opinions, because he doesn't discriminate between varmints, chickens, windows, or siding. Mr. Remington also has things to say, and with a similar attitude.

You could also set up traps with better bait than chickens, but that has its own set of limitations.

 

[stevieb49829]

I had 10 chickens in a 600 sq/ft pen with a coop. Tonight during a bad storm a fox got in and killed them, made off with two. My Great Dane, not exactly a blood hound, thinks two foxes. He did try to alert me but it was pouring and I was processing about 20 pounds of pickles. Anyway... Wife an kids are sad.

Current fence is 2 x 4 welded cloth, 48" high. A shed takes up one corner. I'd like to put an electric wire, above the fence, around the perimeter. Currently, I don't have 120v out there. It's about 150' from the house. It would not be a problem to run it off an extension cord. I have plans to trench water and power out there by October. I don't have any experience with electric fence.

T posts are currently 4' above ground (5'6") 4 x 4 s are 4' above ground (6'). I understand the T posts will have to be changed.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Local options are Tractor Supply Co.

Buy the 3/8" fiberglass rods, cut them to an appropriate length, and wire them to your t-posts and drill them into any wood posts, at an angle sloping out away from the top of the fence. A "fox-sized" charger would not overload a good 12 gauge extension cord. I ran my "moose-sized" one off a 14-gauge cord temporarily until I ran my 120V to the shed. In "Similar threads" below you can see a pic of the way I wired mine, but for moose and deer. steve

 

[Tony in SD]

We have 300 free roam chickens with the pen & coop doors open all the time. The reason we can do that is because of our 2 Great Pyrenees guardian dogs. They know what belongs (chickens) and what doesn’t (raccoons, fox, coyotes, mink, hawks, eagles, etc). We never worry about anything getting our chickens. The last raccoon that attempted to enter our yard did not make it past our dogs alive. We hear coyotes all the time in the distance but they are afraid of the pair of Great Pyrenees and haven’t seen one in the yard since we got the dogs.

 

[Loosehandle]

Save your money on the fence and lock them up at night. Its the only hope to keep chickens alive. There is no electric fence out there that is racoon proof, they absolutely will find their way over/under/around it. BTW, I highly doubt it was a fox that got your chickens unless you saw it. 95% of the time its racoons, the other 5% mink.

I agree, I've watched a mink or weasel like creature go through a 2"x4" fence. They don't run off with chicken but puncture its neck and drink the blood. A coop to shut them in at night works for me.

 

[Watthour]

We have 300 free roam chickens with the pen & coop doors open all the time. The reason we can do that is because of our 2 Great Pyrenees guardian dogs. They know what belongs (chickens) and what doesn’t (raccoons, fox, coyotes, mink, hawks, eagles, etc). We never worry about anything getting our chickens. The last raccoon that attempted to enter our yard did not make it past our dogs alive. We hear coyotes all the time in the distance but they are afraid of the pair of Great Pyrenees and haven’t seen one in the yard since we got the dogs.

Well-trained dogs are beneficial in a lot of ways. Good looking animals there. That one in the foreground seems to have that look on his face of just daring a coyote to come in a play. Just keep them current on their inoculations, since some of those pests can carry some nasty diseases.

 

[Tony in SD]

Well-trained dogs are beneficial in a lot of ways. Good looking animals there. That one in the foreground seems to have that look on his face of just daring a coyote to come in a play. Just keep them current on their inoculations, since some of those pests can carry some nasty diseases.

Actually he is the biggest and most intimidating looking but the other one is the one that is dangerous. Nothing survives that she gets a hold of. They are fun to watch working as a a team.

Between living rural SD and being they are Miss Candy's dogs, you can be sure they are up to date on everything. I think they could be the best kept dogs on the planet. Like Miss Candy says they are doing their job, so it is worth it.

 

[Stan Coryell]

A dusk to dawn coop door will keep chickens more secure with less hassle. With a hot wire at top of fence varmints can still dig under. And pay a little more attention to your dog.

This happened about 45 minutes before sundown. I agree on the dog.

 

[Stan Coryell]

Save your money on the fence and lock them up at night. Its the only hope to keep chickens alive. There is no electric fence out there that is racoon proof, they absolutely will find their way over/under/around it. BTW, I highly doubt it was a fox that got your chickens unless you saw it. 95% of the time its racoons, the other 5% mink.

I did see it 10 yds outside the fence. A beautiful fox. I got a picture as it trotted back to the woods.

 

[Stan Coryell]

A dusk to dawn coop door will keep chickens more secure with less hassle. With a hot wire at top of fence varmints can still dig under. And pay a little more attention to your dog.

This happened about 45 minutes before sundown. I agree on the dog.

Buy the 3/8" fiberglass rods, cut them to an appropriate length, and wire them to your t-posts and drill them into any wood posts, at an angle sloping out away from the top of the fence. A "fox-sized" charger would not overload a good 12 gauge extension cord. I ran my "moose-sized" one off a 14-gauge cord temporarily until I ran my 120V to the shed. In "Similar threads" below you can see a pic of the way I wired mine, but for moose and deer. steve

Thanks. I'll follow up when I'm done.

 

[da.bees]

Rather than taking the fox's picture I would have set the Great Dane on it.

 

[TomA in CA]

I only use 1"x2" mesh welded wire for chicken pens.

 

[37chief]

I had 10 chickens in a 600 sq/ft pen with a coop. Tonight during a bad storm a fox got in and killed them, made off with two. My Great Dane, not exactly a blood hound, thinks two foxes. He did try to alert me but it was pouring and I was processing about 20 pounds of pickles. Anyway... Wife an kids are sad.

Current fence is 2 x 4 welded cloth, 48" high. A shed takes up one corner. I'd like to put an electric wire, above the fence, around the perimeter. Currently, I don't have 120v out there. It's about 150' from the house. It would not be a problem to run it off an extension cord. I have plans to trench water and power out there by October. I don't have any experience with electric fence.

T posts are currently 4' above ground (5'6") 4 x 4 s are 4' above ground (6'). I understand the T posts will have to be changed.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Local options are Tractor Supply Co.

I doubt a electric fence would do much good. Like others have said lock the chickens up at night. If you want to try an electric fence a 12 v battery works also, but the fence charger must be made for a battery. Stan