Checked out your hot wire set-up and the first thing that struck me is the turning latch to the top. Raccoons can open those in a flash. You need something that requires a LOT of opposite thumb work, like a double end snap. Carabiners are okay, but might be bitten open.
You say, but there's the wire.... the way it is set up, the heavy fur of a raccoon is what would be on contact with the lower wire, thereby insulating it.
The upper wire would be hot, and I'm not sure what would happen if it hit it when standing on the metal roof. Depending on the voltage, and just how it reached over, the heavy fur may again insulate it...
I am also wondering about the wire being pushed into the coop, thereby grounding it out...
I've used electric fencing since the 1960's and seen many problems. Also with all the predators we have here, we've learned the various ways they have of getting around it.
This is the current Fort Knox. It has 3 strands of wire set at 8" (to prevent going under), 16" to prevent going over the 1st one, and 32" to prevent jumping over. It is set 6'+ away from the netting. It has 5000 volts from a dedicated charger.
The netting is brand new, set-up 6' away from the main pen fence and has 2800 volts. It is 48" high.
The main pen fence is not charged, and is simply chicken wire on plastic posts for easy portability while still containing the birds. It is 3.5' high.
There's the circus tent to keep hawks out, ropes set at 3.4' apart.
There's the coop made entirely of hardware cloth and metal, but has no floor. And at night there's netting around the coop tied into one of the other lines.
So far, no rats, no fox....still 91 chicks just past the 2 month old mark...
Without the 2 exterior fences, the whole thing took 1 hr once a week to move. Now it may be pushing 2 hours as those exterior fences are a pain....
Those girls are SAFE. Two hours to move still isn't all that bad. That kinda makes me wonder how many birds Joel Salatin loses to predators. I don't think he has any covering over his pastured layers.
I'll start looking to get a new latch, thanks for that! My experience with electric fence is limited to having helped set up a paddock once.
The metal roof itself is directly tied to my grounding pole, but I hadn't thought of the fur acting as an insulator. That's a good point.
Our ground is good, as it still tagged me even when I was standing on a pallet. Until electric fences, I'd always thought wood was an insulator. Very mistaken!
Just got in, and all three birds survived the night. First time that's happened in a while. I asked if they heard any critters, and all I got was peeps. Nothing intelligible. The rooster is awkward. He keeps raising his head to try to crow but doesn't have the noise part down yet. He'll get it.
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One of our 2 roosters at 2 months old has started practicing his crowing. Until today, when he got new hearing aids, my husband hasn't been able to hear the rooster. (He hates roosters crowing....)
I always wondered about open pens like that and what the loss to hawks was. (Salatin never much addressed predator loads....) We have a HUGE aerial predator load here, so we weren't taking any chances....