After having a hen taken by a fox while I was sitting out of sight,
but only a few feet away, I had the choice of either keeping the
girls in their run all day, letting them out even though I knew the
fox was likely to take them, or get a fence. So I got a fence. Very
expensive - you can buy a lot of eggs for the price of a fence! But
we're lucky that we have mains electricity only a few feet away and
that made things much easier. I'm not sure I'd have bought one if
I'd had to manage batteries.
I feel the fence has a few drawbacks - I have let the girls out
but forgotten to turn it on for starters! But I'm really glad I
bought it. Even when a girl or two have got out, the fox has left
them alone (see below, for how). I think the foxes have had
enough shocks to pass our garden without stopping by now!
Other considerations? The grass/plants need to be kept really
short otherwise the fence doesn't work (the plants earth the
charge). It is easy in winter to keep the plants life short on
both sides of the fence, but really not in summer - and it
really is a lot of work to move the fence, mow, and put it
back. The chooks don't graze terribly close - a couple of zaps
on a comb and they're wary of getting too close. You can use
weedkiller, but i'm nervous about using it where the girls are
grazing. The other thing is that I have a great big apple tree
in the middle of the area which has the fence in it - the
chickens have started to get in the lower branches of the tree,
and then glide over the fence! I've clipped their wings, which
seems to have sorted it out, though I'm not confident enough to
leave them behind it all day if I'm not around at the moment.
I'm glad I bought the fence, it's been a good investment, and
I'd have been very unhappy keeping my girls in all the time.
It's difficult to set up the first time, and it takes some
strength and basic diy skills, but is much easier once its
done. I'd advise buying a testing kit so you know its working
without having to touch to test (but if you do need to touch,
use a blade of grass instead of your fingers! I wish someone
had told me that!). But it's not a terribly easy option, and
very expensive.
I'm glad to say I've never seen any dead wildlife around the base
of the fence, and it has been left for an hour or two after dark
on a few occasions.
Sorry to have gone on so long - but hope it helps someone!
