Single hen

[alk630]

After reading some of the posts on electric netting for chickens, we decided to take the plunge and ordered a solar-powered kit from Flytesofancy earlier this week. Their service was fantastic and after arriving two days later I assembled it as instructed, including adding an indicator light to check it was working.

 

The fence pulse seemed rather weak and the indicator light was only flashing once for every five pulses of the energiser, so I contacted the supplier who said the following:

 

'In short, the indicator light is only supposed to flash intermittently so that it will also act as a deterrent - a constant flash would be eventually ignored by predators. The energiser is all ready to go so you would not need to charge the battery at all, and if you touch the fence, you would need to touch it with one hand on the fence and the other on the ground (or in bare feet) in order to feel what the animal will feel. If you touch the fence with shoes on you are insulated from the ground so the electric pulse cannot go to earth, which it needs to do to complete the circuit'

 

So me being me, I went straight outside and touched the ground post with one hand and the fence with the other.... it nearly blew me off my feet and I won't be doing that again in a hurry!

 

No wonder the chickens won't go anywhere near it and it keeps foxes out - I can wholeheartledy recommend this as a relatively cheap and effective way to let the chickens free range all day long and won't be worrying about foxes getting in now. In fact I feel rather sorry for any unsuspecting animal touching the fence with a wet nose!

Edited February 26, 2009 by Guest

[Olly]

 

I'd probably have done the same ... it's like touching something hot to see if it really is or not.

 

Good to knw it works, anyway!

[..lay a little egg for me]

Having been jolted on several occasions over the last 30 years of using electric fencing to keep my horses in line, I am very cautious about touching it at all, whether wearing shoes, wellies or bare feet. OH is brave enough to test it using a piece of grass between him and the fence (the grass should have enough moisture to pass on a mild shock) but I am too much of a wimp to do even that...I bought a fence tester so I don't have to. Still make the odd mistake though

[Ain't Nobody Here]

Good to know it works though .

[Ecky]

So me being me, I went straight outside and touched the ground post with one hand and the fence with the other.... it nearly blew me off my feet and I won't be doing that again in a hurry!

Brilliant, laughed very loud and the colleagues were wondering. I have avoided doing it yet with my fence, but can't wait for OH to forget about it.

My golden Lab is very slow in learning, 4 x already, whereas the Collie Cross only needed one go.

I can recommend electric fences highly. Peace of mind for the chicken and fox.

[JEAN]

Anyone know anything about the one that Omlet have started selling and if it's likely to be a good one?

Are they powered in different ways depending on the kind you buy?

[alk630]

Anyone know anything about the one that Omlet have started selling and if it's likely to be a good one?

Are they powered in different ways depending on the kind you buy?

 

Couldn't find anything about the Omlet electric fencing, but they can be powered in different ways of which the most common are mains (with the energiser usually located indoors or undercover, with a lead-out cable to the fence), battery (which require periodic charging) and solar powered (which are the most expensive but totally self-sufficient).

[AJuff]

How high is electric netting? Would it stop the wanderlust?

[JEAN]

The Omlet one is under 'chicken extras' then 'general' (last item).

[Gamebird]

How high is electric netting? Would it stop the wanderlust?

 

Electric fencing is about 3'7" high and certainly stops the fox getting in.

 

However, I have had to clip my girls' wings because 3 of them have flown out. They don't seem to appreciate my efforts to protect them

 

Since clipping I have had no wanderers.