Ask The Expert - How Do You Out Fence Mr Fox?

We are asked lots of questions about keeping foxes out – Do foxes attack hens during the day?  Will a cockerel protect his hens from a fox?  Will a radio keep a fox away? Does electric poultry netting keep foxes out?

It’s an age-old battle against Mr or Mrs Fox when you have poultry and so the answer is yes electric fencing does keep the fox out and I would not leave anything to chance free ranging my hens day or night.  The Fox is always hungry and we need to protect our hens.  We recommend using electric poultry netting to keep your hens safe from the fox or a few lines of polywire around an existing coup or chicken run.

I have personal experience of keeping hens and of keeping the fox out.  The information below is based on my experiences of these systems over the years.

An Electric Poultry Netting System

As an expert in electric fencing and as an owner of 12 hens the choice of protection was obvious to us for our situation.  We have a bit of space for our hens but didn’t want to free range them totally as we know there is a fox about (we’ve seen him/her cross the field in broad daylight!) so we needed a flexible movable solution that could give the hens fresh pasture if needed but keep the girls safe too. 

Planning:  We did some planning first – measuring out the distance of netting we would need (50m) and also the amount of lead out cable we could need to run from the energiser to the fence and from the energiser to the earth stake.  Its key to pace it out so you get the right kit at the start.  The ground was also a little undulating so we opted to get some extra strong corner posts to help tension the netting; we also added in a hot gate for easy access into the enclosure.

Kit Contents: We have mains in our garden, so we went for a mains system, but it is possible to run the electric poultry netting system from battery or battery/solar too.  In general a poultry protection electric fencing kit could consist of:

  • 1 x energiser (mains/battery/solar)
  • 1 x earth stake
  • 1 x 12v leisure battery (battery operated) or lead out cable/croc clips/cut out switch (mains operated)
  • 1 x electric poultry netting (comes in two lengths 25 or 50m) (includes posts, guy ropes, pegs, repair kit, warning sign)
  • 1 x hot gate
  • 4 x extra strong double pronged corner posts
  • 1 x tester

Putting Up The Fence: We purchased our kit and it duly arrived and then so did the snow!  We waited a month to get the kit set up as the snow drifts were huge and then the ground was too wet and muddy!  Firstly, we laid out the netting carefully in the shape that we wanted it to be – going all the way around our hen house in a circle.  Secondly, we started putting the posts in at one end – guiding them with our feet to get good tension on the net. Once we had the general shape we wanted we positioned the posts to get the best tension into the net making sure the bottom line was on the ground and pegged down, but the second line wasn’t.  We then added in the hotgate. And lastly, we tied on the guy ropes – half way up the posts and gave the net even more tension.  It looked fantastic.  The hens were delighted with the extra space too.  The final step was to get the energiser fixed up.  It is connected to mains and so we have lead out cable running out to the fence from the energiser.  We have an on/off (cut out switch) so we can turn the power off without having to traipse back to the mains all the time. 

A flexible, movable and easy to access enclosure that if erected correctly will ensure your precious hens’ safety.   

Click here for all Electric Poultry Netting Systems

 

An Existing Poultry Pen Protection System

We didn’t have an existing chicken pen made out of metal chicken mesh and wooden posts but if we had we would have given it extra protection by using a couple of hotwires around the outside of the pen or coup.

Planning: With any electric fencing system it is important to measure everything and estimate how many of each component you will need.  How many lines will you use (normally 2 or 3)?  How many insulators will you need? Which type of insulators will you need?  How much polywire will you need (ie how many lines x the distance around the pen)?  Is the metal chicken mesh tucked into the earth at the bottom? – if not you will need an earth line higher up the fencing.

Kit Contents: A Kit for an existing poultry pen protection system could contain:

  • 1 x energiser (mains/battery/solar)
  • 1 x 12v leisure battery (battery operated) or lead out cable/croc clips/cut out switch (mains operated)
  • 1 x earth stake
  • 1 x pack stand-off economy insulators
  • 1 x pack economy ring insulators
  • 1 x length 6 or 9 strand polywire
  • 1 x pack of gate handles
  • 1 x pack gate anchors
  • 1 x pack line to line connectors
  • 1 x pack in line tensioners
  • 1 x KV10 fence tester
  • 1 x warning sign

 

Putting Up The Fence: Every electric fence will take a bit of time to install the first time you do it.  However, this is a relatively straightforward kit to install.  Once you have done the planning you will know what components you have and what is to go where.  Then the kit arrives and panic sets in!  Of course I am joking!! Start with the easy stuff… screw in all the insulators and gate anchors.  Next add the polywire and gateways.  Join the wires together with the line to line connectors and set up the energiser and connect to the fence.  Turn on… and hey presto now you have double protection for your hens!

Click here for all of our Existing Poultry Pen Protection Systems

 

Planning is key – so if you have any questions about what components you might need for an electric fencing system to protect your hens or how to put up your fence just get in touch:
Tel: 01620860058 or Email: [email protected]