The most frequently mentioned entities include
- Electric fences (appears numerous times across all sources)
- Chickens (main subject in all sources)
- Predators (mentioned repeatedly as the reason for using electric fences)
- Fence chargers/energizers (discussed in detail in Plamondon’s article)
- Voltage (mentioned in relation to fence effectiveness)
- Wire types (aluminum, galvanized, polywire mentioned across sources)
- Fence designs (particularly one-wire and two-wire setups)
I’ll now write the article incorporating these entities appropriately without explicitly stating this frequency analysis.
Have you been considering an electric fence to protect your backyard flock but worried about accidentally frying your feathered friends? You’re not alone. This question keeps many chicken keepers up at night, especially those who’ve invested time and love into their birds.
I’ve been raising chickens for years now, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that the relationship between chickens and electric fences is more nuanced than most people think. Let’s break down everything you need to know about whether electric fences pose a deadly threat to your precious poultry.
The Short Answer: Typically No, But…
Generally speaking a properly installed electric fence will NOT kill your chickens. Electric fences are designed to deliver a short uncomfortable shock that deters rather than harms. However, there are some important factors to consider
- The voltage level matters
- Fence design affects safety
- Chicken size and health can impact how they handle shocks
- Duration of contact with the fence plays a crucial role
Understanding How Electric Fences Work
Before diving deeper, it’s important to understand what we’re dealing with. Electric fences deliver pulses of electricity, not continuous current. These pulses travel through conducting wires and deliver a memorable “zap” when touched.
Here’s the basic setup:
- An energizer (fence charger) converts power into short electrical pulses
- These pulses travel along electrified fence wires
- When an animal touches the fence, it completes a circuit
- Electricity flows through the animal back to ground via earth stakes
- This creates the shock sensation
Most chicken-appropriate fence chargers deliver between 5,000-10,000 volts but with very low amperage. It’s the amperage that’s dangerous, not necessarily the voltage (though extremely high voltage isn’t ideal either).
Types of Electric Fences for Chickens
There are several common setups used for poultry:
One-Wire or Two-Wire Simple Setups
This super basic approach uses just one or two strands of wire:
- First wire positioned about 5″ off the ground
- Second wire (if used) about 10″ off the ground
- Incredibly simple and surprisingly effective
- Much cheaper than netting options
Electric Poultry Netting
- Complete mesh fencing with electrified strands
- Usually 48″ tall
- More expensive but provides better physical barrier
- Can be more challenging for predators to defeat
Combination Fencing
- Adding electric wires to existing permanent fences
- Often places one wire near ground level (4-6″ high)
- Sometimes adds a second wire at the top
- Works well with chain-link, wooden fences, etc.
Health Risks to Chickens from Electric Fences
While fatalities are rare, electric fences can potentially cause health issues:
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Heart complications: Regular exposure to shocks might cause abnormal heartbeat patterns in some birds (though this is uncommon with standard fence chargers)
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Nervous system effects: Frequent shocks could potentially affect nerve function, especially in smaller breeds
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Stress responses: Some chickens may become stressed after being shocked, though most learn quickly to avoid the fence
Signs a chicken might have been affected by an electric fence shock include:
- Frequent flapping without actually trying to fly
- Reduced feed intake
- Weight loss
- Sudden aggressive behavior towards flock members
Will Chickens Learn to Respect the Fence?
This is where things get interesting! Chickens are smarter than many people give them credit for. Here’s what typically happens:
When first introduced to an electric fence, chickens don’t immediately respect it. Their feathers are excellent insulators, so they might not get zapped every time they touch it – more like one time in four when they contact it with their feet or combs.
This means the learning process takes several days. But eventually, they’ll act like there’s an invisible wall there! I’ve personally watched my chickens running toward their feeder when they see me coming, only to stop dead in their tracks just before reaching the fence. They’ll wait impatiently for me to join them on their side.
Factors That Affect Whether a Fence Could Kill a Chicken
Several things determine whether an electric fence poses a serious risk:
1. Fence Charger Power
More powerful isn’t always better. While you need enough juice to deter predators, ultra-high power units might be unnecessary and potentially more dangerous. Most experts recommend:
- For permanent AC-powered setups: Chargers rated for 25-50 miles of fence
- For battery/solar units: 12V systems rather than 6V (which don’t have enough zap)
2. Wire Type and Installation
The type of wire used matters:
- Aluminum wire works well for simple setups
- Galvanized wire is tougher and better for areas you’ll weed-whack
- Polywire (plastic with metal threads) works but may not deliver as strong a shock
3. Chicken Size and Health
Smaller chickens might be more vulnerable to shocks than larger ones. Bantam hens, for instance, may experience stronger effects than full-sized birds.
4. Contact Duration
A chicken that gets tangled in netting and receives continuous shocks faces much greater risk than one that touches a fence briefly.
Real-World Experiences
From my experience and what other chicken keepers report:
- Most chickens get zapped occasionally with no lasting issues
- Some keepers report using very powerful chargers (20,000+ volts) with no chicken fatalities
- After learning their lesson, chickens rarely challenge the fence again
- Predators like coyotes, dogs, and cats tend to learn even faster than chickens
One chicken owner shared: “I have electric twine around my run and the chickens get zapped every once in awhile. No problem so far. I have a charger rated for 50 miles of fence. Puts out about 20,000 volts. I would think if a charger was going to kill a chicken, that ought to do it.”
Another noted: “My fence charger is 15 Joules, rated for 200 miles, and puts out 8000 volts. The chickens just walk a little faster when they go through it, but NOTHING else will go through it more than once.”
Safety Precautions for Chicken-Friendly Electric Fencing
If you’re concerned about your chickens’ safety, here are some recommendations:
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Ensure proper installation
- Keep wires at appropriate heights (5″ for bottom wire)
- Use sufficient posts to maintain consistent height
- Maintain good ground connection
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Choose appropriate power levels
- Use AC-powered units when possible (more reliable)
- Ensure voltage stays in the 5,000-10,000 volt range
- Check voltage regularly with a fence tester
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Consider fence alternatives
- Poultry netting (non-electric) can be effective
- Solid wooden fencing with small gaps
- Wire mesh fencing (properly installed)
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Provide plenty of space and resources
- Chickens with adequate space, feed, and water are less likely to challenge fences
- Keep coops away from fence edges
The Unexpected Benefit of “Leaky” Electric Fences
Here’s something interesting I’ve discovered: While solid chicken wire enclosures might seem safer, they can actually be death traps if a predator gets inside. When chickens panic, they forget the fence exists and may get stuck with their heads poking through, making them easy targets.
With electric fences, if a predator does get in, chickens can often escape through or over the fence, scattering in different directions. The predator might only catch one bird instead of massacring your entire flock.
Even better, the scattered chickens will typically return at dusk, crossing back over the fence to get to their coop!
Final Thoughts: Should You Use Electric Fencing?
After years of chicken keeping and talking with fellow poultry enthusiasts, here’s my take:
Electric fencing is generally safe for chickens when properly installed and maintained. The risk of fatality is extremely low with standard setups. The benefits of predator protection typically outweigh the minimal risks.
However, nothing beats vigilance. Check your fencing regularly, maintain proper voltage, and watch your flock for any signs of distress.
Remember that different chicken breeds may react differently to electric fencing. Some might be more stubborn about testing boundaries, while others learn quickly to respect the invisible barrier.
In the grand scheme of chicken-keeping challenges, electric fence safety falls pretty low on the worry list compared to predators, disease, and weather extremes. A tiny zap now and then is far better than losing your entire flock to a hungry fox or raccoon!
Have you used electric fencing with your chickens? I’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments below!
Electric Fence Chargers: Bigger is Better
To energize the electric fence you need a fence charger. I prefer very powerful AC-powered energizers. The bottom wires of these chicken fences are close to the ground. They’re quickly shorted out by grass, weeds, or molehills. It takes a powerful fence charger to keep adequate voltage on the fence in the face of these everyday challenges. My favorite fence charger is the Parmak Super Energizer 5.
I think it’s better to string thousands of feet of wire along the farm than to use battery-powered chargers, which just aren’t powerful enough. I’ve used 2×4’s up on end to get the wire ten or twelve feet up in the air when it crosses gates, or insulated wire buried a few inches underground across the gateway. Otherwise, I just run the wires along the top of the posts of my farm’s perimeter fence.
I prefer energizers with built-in voltmeters, so I can see at a glance if the voltage has fallen into the red zone. In general, this means I buy Parmak units, because most of the others don’t have meters. My favorite model is their “Super Energizer,” which is very powerful indeed. That’s what I use on the front pasture to protect the laying hens. The “Maxi-Power” line is also good, though less powerful.
If you insist on buying a battery-powered or solar charger, get a 12V unit. The 6V units have minimum zap, which means they can be shorted out by a few blades of grass. I was pretty happy with Parmak’s most powerful 12V charger. This “weatherpoof” unit only lasted about five years when exposed to the elements, so putting a a roof or a five-gallon bucket over it might be a good idea.
Premier also makes excellent chargers. Karen likes them better than Parmak, and that’s what she’s using on the back forty to protect the broilers (my super-long wire from the barn to the back forty has been mothballed). She uses a Premier Intellishock 50, which is a 12V battery-powered unit.
I doubt that solar chargers are worth the extra cost, but then I’m in Western Oregon, which has a lot of cloud cover. The convenience of not having to monitor and lug around batteries is worth paying money for, but you get even more convenience by putting an AC-powered charger in the barn and stringing a wire all the way to the back forty.
The hardest part of installation is getting a good ground connection. I prefer pounding in ground rods along the drip line of my barn’s roof.
It really helps to have the units placed so you can see the meters easily when you wander in and out of the barn.
When a clever predator learns how to get past my fences (of whatever kind), I turn to trapping. I find snares effective and relatively simple. I found Hal Sullivan’s book, Snaring 2000, to be very useful.
I find that predators are OCD, especially bobcats, following exactly the same path night after night, and by the time you’ve lost a few chickens they’ve created an obvious game trail. This means that you can set snares to target an individual, chicken-eating predator, without declaring war on the entire animal kingdom.
I’ve shot predators from time to time, but only for coyotes that are dumb enough to present themselves during the day. At night, I want my beauty sleep.
I’ve found live traps to be far less effective than snares, and I’m baffled by leg-hold traps.
Final tip: if you can use snares inside your perimeter fence, your results will be less random.
Electric Poultry Net Fencing
Electrified net fencing is sometimes necessary to stop stubborn predators or to keep chicken inside when they must be fenced tightly.
It’s more expensive than using simple wire fences, and if left in the same place for too long, grass will grow through the bottom wires, making it almost impossible to remove. Still, it has its uses.
My wife Karen likes electronetting more than I do. For one thing, I trip over it. For another, I hate moving fences, and electronet has to be moved more frequently. It also shorts out more easily than wire fences. But it’s a more serious, more physical barrier, which makes a difference. (One difference is that it’s a barrier to farmers as well. I sometimes trip over netting fences.)
Karen uses electric net fences to protect her broiler areas, while I prefer use one- and two-wire fences for our hens. This works well because broilers won’t use a lot of space anyway, and we use daily-move pens and have to shift the electronetting frequently, preventing the grass from entangling the fence. Our hens get much more elbow room and the fences are shifted more rarely.
My personal favorite it the kind they call “garden fencing.” This comes in rolls about sixteen inches high, and can easily be stepped over. The usual electronetting, designed to keep sheep in, is about four feet high and is a real barrier to the farmer.
The best electric fencing comes from Premier.
The other option is to add electric fence wire to existing permanent fences on the farm. This works very well. The most important wire is the one closest to the ground, which should be 4-6 inches off the ground, as with single-wire fences. Another wire at the top can provide an unpleasant surprise to climbing predators. I use plastic nail-on insulators on wooden fenceposts and clip-on insulators for T-posts.
I prefer aluminum wire for most jobs, but not here. Why? Because you’ll need to keep the fenceline weed-free with a weed-whacker, which will dish out more abuse than aluminum fence wire cant take. Use heavy-duty galvanized fence wire instead.
In my experience, it doesn’t seem to matter which electric fence insulators you use, or which brand of aluminum fence wire, but I think Red Brand makes a superior grade of galvanized wire.
Racoon testing out the electrical fence
FAQ
Can an electric fence kill animals?
In summary, electric fences are useful and practical deterrents in a number of applications, both commercial and residential. But improperly maintained or designed electric fences can seriously injure or kill animals and humans.
Will an electric fence hurt birds?
If a bird sat on the wood pole (which is buried in the ground) supporting the wires and then touched a wire, it could be shocked. trim or kill vegetation underneath the lowest wire AND use an intermittent (versus continuous) charger for the fence.
Can chickens get electrocuted?
As with mammals (described earlier) electricity can be used to stun and kill poultry. When killing large numbers of chickens during a disease outbreak, an electrical waterbath is an option for stunning and killing the birds.
Is it illegal to put an electric fence around your property?
Check your local rules before you think about getting an electric fence. A lot of cities and towns don’t allow or have tight rules about electric fences in residential areas. You may need special permissions or have to follow certain rules.