I came home today to find out that the dogs or one of the dogs (I suspect Sanka) have been pawing at the bottom on the chicken pen. The wire has been pulled loose but no chickens got out and the plastic covering the wire at one end has been ripped by dog claws.

So I guess I have to come up with a solution to stop this unwanted behavior. I'm thinking of running an electric fence wire near bottom of the pen on the outside, so that if a dog paws at it it'll get a shock. Anyone else have any ideas? I'm not overly keen on my idea because I have small children and I'd hate for them to get zapped accidently.

Thanks Anita

-- anita holton (anitaholton@mindspring.com), September 13, 2001

Answers

Anita, as a mother whose children were once small :) your children like your dogs will only touch it once, quickly learning not to touch it again! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 13, 2001.

You must be lucky to be able to use electric fencing in your area. A lot of places prohibit it and barbed wire. Also, depending on who touches it, you could be sued six ways from Sunday.

Could you use one of those chain link dog runs (the ones that look like chain link boxes) for a chicken coop instead?

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), September 13, 2001.

Prohibit electric fence? I've never heard of this! Tell us about it please? (like where do you live?)

-- Earthmama (earthmama48@yahoo.com), September 13, 2001.

I live in NC and have never heard of electric fences not being allowed. I live in the country but have even known friends in the city limits use electric fences to keep their dogs in. Also, haven't heard about the barbed wire either, the farmer across the road just used barbed wire around his perimeter of his property.

Anita

-- anita (anitaholton@mindspring.com), September 13, 2001.

When I was about two years old, I grabbed the electric fence between our field and the neighbor's. The idiot had it running on a straight current. That, I believe, is illegal. I have no problem with electic fencing done right, on an alternating, low current. After 43 years, I recall the horror of being glued to that fence and am still rather fearful of electricity...Anita, I believe if you have the electric fence on just long enough for the culprits to try it once or twice, you should be able to turn it off. Usually the animal will remember and not keep trying.(And children do learn rather quickly, as well, to ask before touching a fence.)

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), September 13, 2001.

When I visit in CA, you don't see them except in the true boonies. Also because of all the immigrants for whom English is a 2nd language, posting a sign in English only may not be enough. You can even get car alarms in CA that speak in both English and Spanish, nowadays. People I know who have electric fences in WA usually flag them with surveyor's tape (that pink stuff), but not everyone knows what that means, especially if they were not raised around it.

The bans (from what my friends tell me) do not extend to those perimeter wires that people bury underground that have the dog collar transmitters, but they will not discourage a dog that is bent on getting chickens.

I only mention the possible lawsuit aspect because if you are worried about your own children, what about your neighbor's children coming to play or another visitor who might trip and fall on it?

Not to mention the energy costs of an electric fence, with energy costs rising everywhere. I don't suppose you could raise the level of the chicken coop somehow--cinderblocks, pilings, or some other way?

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), September 13, 2001.

When I trained my horse to respect the electric fence, I gave her a treat over it. She no longer reaches over fences. It has been suggested in the past to put a little peanutbutter on the electric fence. They will definitely never go near the coop again (or peanut- butter for that matter)

For your small children, my son used to use a blade of grass to feel the current of the fence.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), September 13, 2001.

We use an electric wire at the top of our fence with our horses, but it is a solar battery and is only 6 volts. It will wake you up if you touch it but shouldn't cause any harm, plus doesn't require energy. Ours has worked well for us.

-- Sherry S, N.Fl (natmatters@mail.istal.com), September 14, 2001.

My friends who buily the nice pen and coop who also had the dalmations, who every once in a while has a chicken dinner; they had to put electic fence, done right with alternating current, around thier pen. The dogs weren't the only problem. Racoons. opossum, fox you name it they have it out there. Good luck! Since they put in the electric, the chickens stopped disappearing at night.

-- Barbin Wc Il (Barb43@cuntrylife.net), September 14, 2001.

If your kids are boys make sure they don't pee on an electric fence or dare anyone else to do so!! :o)

-- Alison in NS (aproteau@istar.ca), September 14, 2001.

I am a walking (although at the time a rolling on the ground) testimonial about not whizzing on a electric fence. Felt the jolt all the way to my kidneys !!!!!

-- Rickstir (rpowell@email.ccis.edu), September 14, 2001.

We used to wire our little red wagon to the fence, then play hide and go seek with the relatives who came and visited us :) The wagon was base! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 14, 2001.

You are too *bad*, Vicky, but we did all deserve a laugh this week;)

-- mary (marylgarcia@aol.com), September 14, 2001.

I use big pine logs all around the base of my chicken run. The dogs can't dig through wood (although, I must say, I've had strays try!). I have a friend who put a line of hot wire just inside the pen at about 6 inches so that the dog that was digging into her pen would be zapped as soon as it stuck it's head in. This way, there is no risk of harm to local children unless they too are trying to get into your chicken pen, in which case they deserve it too!!! I imagine it gave the dog the idea that there was something in that pen it didn't want to come in contact with again because it never came back! (This dog had been trying to get at her livestock repeatedly for a long time. It was a neighbor's dog and she didn't want to raise hard feelings by shooting the rotten beast. She's nicer than I am!!!)

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), September 14, 2001.

Our electric fence is a big solar box with the largest wire known to mankind, 3 ground rods allways wet, and if you touch it by accident, it hurts so bad it makes you cry.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 14, 2001.

Electric fence, brings back a couple of memories. As a young Brownie Scout back when, we had day camp at a local farm one summer. Nobody told me about an electric fence running along the edge of the yard, and nobody had to tell me to stay away from it after I found it that first time. Later, on a campout with my son and his Boy Scout troop, the Scoutmaster had a nasty surprise one night in the dark when he went out to water what he thought was a tree. Wired right, they won't injure, but they will make you remember where the wire is. I've seen many poultry books which state that if you have problems with domestic or wild predators, electric fence wiring used in conjunction with welded wire or small-opening fence (like chain link) will more than likely take care of the problem.

-- Claudia Glass (glasss2001@prodigy.net), September 15, 2001.