Egg eater

[Kathyp]

a fake electric wire,

Why fake?  I have 3 strands that are very hot.  Just curious.

[Acebird]

Ace,
To stop predators, including neighbors dogs, from getting into my hen house, I buried one foot of the plastic coated chicken wire below ground. I also installed a fake electric wire, using standard electric wire insulators around the bottom of the pen.

In the past almost all of our chickens were killed by birds of pray that are protected.  Not much you can do.  They get the weak anyway.  The fox problem is more getting lazy with the pop door on the coup.  Specifically the timer.  With the wide swing in daylight hours and daylight savings time it was a PITA every spring and fall to change the timer.  We saw the fox show up and knew it would solve the problem of our move for the last 6 birds.
I have read plans on fencing a run.  You are suppose to dig down a foot and lay about a foot and a half out flat and bend the fence up at 90 degrees.  The wood chuck comes up to the fence and digs down and hits the buried fence and gives up.  If you bury it straight they will dig the hole 4 ft deep to get around it.  We don't have the corrosion problem.  Galvanize works just fine.

[BeeMaster2]

a fake electric wire,

Why fake?  I have 3 strands that are very hot.  Just curious.

At that time we did not have power and the fake electric wire has worked very well. It would not work on a bear but it does on dogs, foxes and coyotes.
Jim

[Kathyp]

t that time we did not have power and the fake electric wire has worked very well. It would not work on a bear but it does on dogs, foxes and coyotes.

Ah!  I had to get a solar fence charger but it packs a heck of a punch if you hit it!

[BeeMaster2]

Kathy,
We now have one that protects Judy?s garden and our yard from the bears. They are not cheap, especially considering that it only takes one lightning bolt close to anywhere along the fence to blow it apart, literally.
I had 2 ac electric wire boxes blow the covers off with almost nothing left inside. They were in my old barn.
I later found that all of the 120 wires were hit. Every staple had burn marks and everywhere the wire made a bend, the insulation was melted away.  Very unsafe.
Jim

[SiWolKe]

Last week I put in fake eggs and started a light timer to encourage laying eggs and today I found the first two.
They had kicked the fake eggs around in the chicken coop. 
The hens are 2 years old now. They are very healthy looking and acting after the break.

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