Chicken fencing tips and cost

boyo

Member
Location
pembrokeshire
Hi

I know nothing about chicken! However im doing a small chicken hobby enterprise for wifes birthday.

Any tips for fencing off a 0.5acre block. Its gonna then be split in two.

How do most people do it? It will have to be tidy job as its next to our entrance. Im thinking high tensile plain wire with mesh ringed onto it?? What about gates etc
 
I'd do yourself a personnel gate for daily egg collecting and a wider gate to get in with a topper.

Mine are on mains electric, but is only a 50m perimeter and looks a bit scruffy.

If you do post and wire, think about horse mesh which might look smarter than wire with more wire fastened to it. It would also be ok if you had a couple of sheep in with the hens.

http://www.thefenceline.co.uk/non_climb_horse_fence.html

I'd also put a live wire on the outside of the pen, 18" out and 12" high, on mains if its near a socket.

Don't forget to clip their wings :banghead:
 

Paddington

Member
Location
Soggy Shropshire
4ft high electric poultry mesh with a mains energiser would be a quick way to fence, need wooden posts at the corners and for a gate. You would need to strim or spray the fence line for grass every few weeks though. An electrified anti take off wire on the outside would be useful to keep Charlie from jumping it That 25mm galvanised mesh is a PITA to get flat.
 

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
I have used the electric chicken net for years, only trouble with charlie has been when he got through a fixed bit of fence in one of the pens.

I run about 6 x 50m nets off a mains energiser.
 
better to use a quality electric fence on a moveable hen house (eggmobile) We still put the hens in and shut the door at night. We have a good fox clearance here every few months. Biggest problem for us over the year was the Goshawk who seemed to take a hen everyother day. I now have proper bird netting over the large run. Move them around once a fortnight. Should be once a week the blighters love to dig big holes in the good grazing ground. chris iphone april15 027.JPG
 

Pan mixer

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Near Colchester
better to use a quality electric fence on a moveable hen house (eggmobile) We still put the hens in and shut the door at night. We have a good fox clearance here every few months. Biggest problem for us over the year was the Goshawk who seemed to take a hen everyother day. I now have proper bird netting over the large run. Move them around once a fortnight. Should be once a week the blighters love to dig big holes in the good grazing ground.View attachment 713192
I move mine to fresh ground every flock.

IMG04209.jpg
 
The issue of keeping them on the same piece of ground is that within 2 weeks they can massacre the ground particularly if wet. The holes they dig are tremendous and the worm burden. If you divide the piece up and fence that area off better but like I said better to have a moveable system. I have to bring mine in in the winter. Its too wet, they get sodden, the eggs get covered and they suffer from light deficiency. Our ground will get saturated too. The girls dont like it. I move the eggmobile inside the shed and use heras fencing around. Saying that I lost at least 4 hens in the snow as the drifting was at least 2 ft around the shed and the water froze. Hens do not like the cold. Look up Joel Salatin methods and pasture raised. One good way to save money is we use a wooden slatted floor so only shavings in the laying boxes. We have now down sized and farmer is building a small egg mobile that I can cart around. Price of food and the time taken to move this huge beast isnt cost or time effective the idea is that I will be able to move the hens and all myself.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 79 43.2%
  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 63 34.4%
  • 25-50%

    Votes: 30 16.4%
  • 50-75%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.6%
  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 5 2.7%

Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

  • 1,287
  • 1
As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
Top