permaculture

[Ute Bohnsack <sustag@eircom.net>]

Hello Robert and all,

There is an organic commercial unit (300 hens) in our region that uses
the electric poultry netting. They are very happy with it and said
last summer that they had not lost a single hen to foxes - and they
live in very 'foxy' territory. They've been a business for 2-3 years I
think. Obviously the birds are well fed and have a large area
available, several times what the organic standards require (which is
10m2 per bird; I think there guys have 60m2 per bird) which means the
bird have no incentive to leave the fenced-in area. There is a
strip of black plastic under the fence all around and they mow the outside
regularly (one wheel of mower on plastic:
[chicken side] __Š_0_mower 0  ). Does a neat job and keeps the charge
up.  They keep Lohmann crosses.
I have been using same netting for my goats and have now taken one 50
yard fence to protect my 3+1 chickens in the soft-fruit garden. They
are in a chicken tractor but I now open the flap for them during the
day so that they
can roam a bigger, fenced-in, area. So far so good (it's been 2
months). They are Barnevelders. Lighter, flightier breeds might well
fly over if they run out of food.
Orpingtons are very plump and lazy birds. I think they would easily be
confined + protected with the poultry netting.
No matter what I would always lock up the birds in a fox-proof house
at night.

HTH
Ute

Tuesday, January 6, 2004, 3:01:06 AM, you wrote:

RA> At 10:21 AM +0800 6/1/04, Wordgarden wrote:

>>Has anyone had any experience with (or got any opinions about) keeping
>>chooks enclosed with electric fence tape (that white stuff that is used for
>>strip grazing cattle). Seems to be a good way to rig up temporary movable
>>runs, keeping the chooks in and the foxes out...or is that just wishful
>>thinking?

RA> Chooks are pretty well insulated and the standard electric tape
RA> doesn't work so well. You can get an electric mesh that does
RA> work quite well for chooks.

RA> I don't think it'd keep the foxes out though... they'd just jump
RA> over it, wouldn't they? It's really only this time of year that
RA> you'll get chooks taken during the day by a fox... while there
RA> are young foxes about that haven't learnt to be wily yet.
RA> And at night you always have to have your chooks in a fox-proof
RA> house.

RA>  ...R.
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-- 
Best regards,
 Ute                            mailto:sustag@eircom.net