electric fencing help please

[nmayhew]

hi,

i would like some advice in order to choose the right electric fencing option for our chickens

they currently have a 6m x 3m 'fortress' (steel mesh wired underneath as well as on top), but they only go out to properly free range in our garden when i we are back from work, and in winter this means not at all on weekdays

the cage is next to (less than 1metre) fence to our field and i propose to build a new door hatch to the field, and want to have them protected by an electric fence during the day (will still lock them up at night)

mains electricity is not really an option (cage is nearly 50m from house), so it will have to battery powered

i have done a few searches on amazon etc and have seen kits (mostly come 'ex battery' if you'll pardon the pun!) but don't really know what to go for

so i thought i would consult the eggsperts (sorry, couldn't resist)

happy to spend between £200-400 if required for the whole lot...or maybe more...depends on what you say

any help much appreciated

Nick

[Scarlet]

We use the Rutland fencing from countrywide (not sure if you have one near you?) there's a chicken one which is green, not sure why we have the Orange one which is for sheep
Rutland Flock Net Sheep 50m Single Spike 28-170 | Countrywide
Though we are now on fence number two. The previous one lasted about 7ish years. It doesn't come with a battery. My OHbought a battery separate although we now have it attached to mains. It may be worth looking into? My stepdad laid mine. We bought a 50metre cable and he laid it in the ground incased in plastic piping to protect it. Wired up an outside electric plug box. (Sorry, rubbish at diy terms )

[fishpond]

Sorry, I know nothing about electric fencing.
Scarlet, do your chickens look like this ?

[Scarlet]

Fishpond that's tickled me pink! I dont know why we've got the sheep stuff!! (Maybe it's cheaper?) I just know it's always been orange
Though its kept the fox out for nearly 15 years except for a couple of stupid schoolboy errors we went on hols and told the kids all the electricity must be turned off - they shut the electric fence off too!
The other time I had a tree surgeon come in and he moved a compost bin right upto the fence the fox used it as a stepping stone, he managed to get a few before the noise alerted us.

[jonny the plant pot]

Look upwards and there lies the answer .the sun get yourself a couple of solar panels from maplins and wire your battery upto that 12v all the way my plot as lighting in 3 green and a poly tunnel all working from 1 battery and hasn't been charged up in over a year.

[bearded bloke]

mains electricity is not really an option (cage is nearly 50m from house), so it will have to battery powered

I can't think why 50 metres should present a a problem ?? you can get wall mounted mains energisers to do farm perimiters, mount the unit indoors & use twin flex to get to the fence (run it inside conduit if extra protection is needed). This one will power upto 12 kilometres (about 7 1/2 miles) ....... Rutland Electric Shepherd ESM402 | CountrystoreDirect

[kathyd]

We bought a 2-pack battery set so you can keep one on charge while you use the other one. This is their 4th year now. I can't remember how long they last between charges - maybe a couple of weeks? But we don't always have it on during the day because the birds are in our 'front' garden opposite the house, and we're around most of the time. So might need swapping weekly if on all the time I guess?

[Nicos]

This is the one we have...

temporary and permanent poultry electric fencing | EFD | Electric Fencing Direct

with the finer mesh for banties ( I also thought it's help keep out other small wildlife!

Works a treat cos the top is wobbly and foxes don't like to jump onto something not solid.
We regularly have 1-5 foxes in the field backing onto where the chooks are...and so far, fingers crossed, we've had no problems with it at all.
Ours is mains run, but they also run from a battery.

Very friendly helpful peeps who will chat about what you need- and not what they can persuade you to buy from them

[nmayhew]

thank you all for your replies and advice

i had seen the website above in my searching so it's good to know they are a decent outfit

as to mains, the difficulty is not distance but terrain: steepish drive that curves round and would have to crossed (dug under) twice, plus going through the veggie patch; going round not an option as would still involve going around / under parking area
maybe if we ever get round to keeping pigs, but not sure i can justify that for the beaks i'm afraid

thanks again

Nick