Protect Your Flock: The Essential Role of Electric Fencing

I am always heartbroken when I hear about someone's flock being wiped out by predators or loose dogs. I've been there, it's a horrible feeling. While losing the occasional chicken is inevitable, losing a large number of birds can be especially devastating for small farms when they lose income or traffic from egg sales.

It's just not possible to keep an eye on birds all the time, and sometimes gates or doors accidentally get left open. I strongly recommend using some kind of electric fencing to keep out predators, especially if you are free-ranging your birds for any part of the day. We use Premier1 PoultryNet on our farm with a solar charger, and our predation rate is extremely low despite a lot of wildlife pressure. I can rest easy knowing that a loose dog (including ours!) won't be able to get to our birds. Electric fence chargers can often be found used online - just be sure you get a pulse charger as the older continuous chargers are a fire hazard.

If a Premier1 fence is out of your budget, a simple two strand electric fence also works well. The main disadvantage is that your chickens can go outside of the fence, but they typically learn their "safe zone" and it gives most of them a chance to escape.

Please invest in the safety and welfare of your birds! I really love the birds I raise and want to see them in safe homes. Not only will it pay for itself, but it's a humane way to deal with natural predators and pets.