Do they make a cheap NON electric movable poultry fencing?

[triplepurpose]

I know this thread has been sleeping fir a while, but I just cane across it myself because I am looking for sonething similar--I dont need a charged fence and so would rather not pay for one, but I do want something highly portable and practical that can be moved often.

We ordered a bunch of this stuff a while ago. We used it to replace the galvanized chickenwire on our coop because it lasts longer and is cheaper and easier to work with. I am considering using some to make some portable net fencing using step in posts. At way less than a dollar per foot its a lot cheaper than some options. it is not predator proof at all but it can contain chickens (even chicks) and it is lightweight and easy to work with--and isnt butt-ugly to look at like some of the cheapy improvisations I've seen!

 

[Howard E]

I used something similar last year to keep my birds out of some garden areas. Plastic and about 2' tall.

Note while it may keep chickens in or out, (unless they can sneak under or decide to fly over), it won't keep ground based furry predators out. I would not expect it to keep my birds safe in a coop.

 

[triplepurpose]

I agree 100% it's useless against predators, but there are no land predators in Hawaii except rats, cats, and loose dogs. Cats and rats will only bother chicks or young birds, and while rats can chew thru it, cats won't. Dogs that were determined could tear it apart in an instant, but fortunately we dont have that problem in our area and if it did arise the law is absolutely on our side (dogs off leash are in violation of county law). But I certainly wouldn't recommend it for other situations--even chicken wire is not impassible for many critters. We keep young chicks in cat proof areas always and rat proof lock up at night. But we dont want the expense or hassle of building everything out of solid metal, which rusts quickly here anyway. this stuff has proved a more convenient, longer lasting, and cheaper alternative to steel poultry netting for our circumstances. It's not perfect, but fits the bill for us at present...

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t see that you are asking a question, just making a comment. If it is set up properly it will keep chickens in. I see some potential problems but everything has problems.

One is that chickens might just walk under it if it is off the ground at all. I’d suggest leaving it a bit long so it hangs on the ground some, sort of like an apron used to keep predators out. That stuff snags pretty badly and your vegetation probably grows pretty fast. You may have to move it often just to keep vegetation from snagging it. I find that stuff hard to work with because it snags so easily.

I don’t know how high you plan to make it but many people are surprised at how high chickens can fly if they want to, even fully grown full sized breeds. I find if I make an area with my electric netting (48” high) narrow or with sharp corners they are more likely to fly over it than if you have flat corners and fairly wide open spaces.

In Hawaii aren’t mongoose on your list of potential predators? Just like critters here, just because they are a potential predator doesn’t mean you’ll have a problems with them. I don’t know how bad that problem really is, when people write things up they really like to exaggerate. I’m sure Hawaii has plenty of free ranging chickens where mongoose aren’t a problem. I wish you luck.

 

[triplepurpose]

I don’t see that you are asking a question, just making a comment. If it is set up properly it will keep chickens in. I see some potential problems but everything has problems.

One is that chickens might just walk under it if it is off the ground at all. I’d suggest leaving it a bit long so it hangs on the ground some, sort of like an apron used to keep predators out. That stuff snags pretty badly and your vegetation probably grows pretty fast. You may have to move it often just to keep vegetation from snagging it. I find that stuff hard to work with because it snags so easily.

I don’t know how high you plan to make it but many people are surprised at how high chickens can fly if they want to, even fully grown full sized breeds. I find if I make an area with my electric netting (48” high) narrow or with sharp corners they are more likely to fly over it than if you have flat corners and fairly wide open spaces.

In Hawaii aren’t mongoose on your list of potential predators? Just like critters here, just because they are a potential predator doesn’t mean you’ll have a problems with them. I don’t know how bad that problem really is, when people write things up they really like to exaggerate. I’m sure Hawaii has plenty of free ranging chickens where mongoose aren’t a problem. I wish you luck.

thanks for the tips! Four feet high generally does the job for us, but occasionally a determined one will make it out so I do know what you mean... And yes actually you are right in that there are introduced mongoose in HI--but not on our island (fortunately). I hear they can be a big problem for chickens though on the neighbor islands...

 

[rolandh]

My 3 girls have a nice run, but as expected, the floor is dirt so there's nothing interesting to eat in there. I built a movable chicken tractor-type run from some plans on BYC (about a year or more ago) and I can put the girls in it and give them a little yard time, but it is a small space and there's no nest box in there (not really room for one) so I don't put them in there that often.


Ever since I got chickens I imagine them being able to peck about in our huge backyard.... then I realized that my dogs are just not going to be chicken friendly dogs /img/smilies/roll.png and we do have a few airborne predators /img/smilies/roll.png so my girls don't get the free-range time I dreamed of.... My dogs aren't the type who would try to get THROUGH the fencing - they don't bother the hens in their coop or run - but if they were loose in the yard, they'd be on them in an instant.


I've seen the electric poultry fencing that seems quite easy to move around, but with two small children, I don't need any electric fencing in my yard. Do they make a fencing that is easy to move, but is not electric? I don't have a ton of money so I'd like to do this relatively inespensively.... Any suggestions for me? I've tried looking at Home Depot and Lowes, but they don't have anything that looks like it would work. We do have some feed stores around, but I haven't seen anything obvious.


I'd really appreciate any suggestions! (I'd like to be able to fence off an area around 20' x 20' for them..... and then periodically move it around - and be sure it's very quick and easy to pull up when my husband mows).



THANK YOU!!! /img/smilies/love.gif

 

[rolandh]

You can check out the following website: www.omlet.com.au

 

[LindaDerby]

Yes, there is a MUCH LESS expensive alternative: Safety Fence - Standard, 4 x 100', Black. Go to www.ULine.com and look up "safety fence". I have over 450 hens and I use this product everywhere as I rotate my hens weekly. It cheap, easy to use and roll up and move. Tractor supply has the metal stakes which easily fit through the holes or you can use small bunjee cords or flexible wire to attach the netting to the stakes which you DO NOT have to separate from the fencing to move -simply ROLL UP the stakes in the fencing and unroll it where you want to set the fence up.

 

[Jomoma]

I know this thread has been sleeping fir a while, but I just cane across it myself because I am looking for sonething similar--I dont need a charged fence and so would rather not pay for one, but I do want something highly portable and practical that can be moved often.

We ordered a bunch of this stuff a while ago. We used it to replace the galvanized chickenwire on our coop because it lasts longer and is cheaper and easier to work with. I am considering using some to make some portable net fencing using step in posts. At way less than a dollar per foot its a lot cheaper than some options. it is not predator proof at all but it can contain chickens (even chicks) and it is lightweight and easy to work with--and isnt butt-ugly to look at like some of the cheapy improvisations I've seen!

I am also looking for something similar. We have a fenced in backyard, but I want to keep the chickens away from the pool and patio area. I want something that is just going to block them away from those areas. I don't need predator proof. I was curious if you ended up using the deer netting and stakes. If so, how did it turn out?

 

[RoyalChick]

I used to use heavy duty plastic deer fencing with the black step in posts from Tractor supply (actually I got the posts cheaper at the time on Amazon).
I have since upgraded to electric poultry net, but I still use the deer fence to protect shrubs or newly planted garden areas from the chickens.
Works fine to keep chickens where you want them. A fox, coyote or raccoon will just charge right through it.