Fencing Your Poultry Farm – 10 Factors & Options to Consider
Predators are one of the major challenges poultry owners’ faces and that is why it is necessary to buy into considering an effective fencing option when designing your poultry farm. Poultry farmers in the UK and in other part of the world are always improvising on ways to keep foxes away from their poultry.
The truth is that if foxes or other predators find their way into your poultry; they are likely going to keep coming until they eat – up all the available birds in your poultry.
Consequently, if you are into poultry farming, much more than thinking of ways to expand your market, you should also make provision for ways to protect your birds from predators such as foxes, snakes, badgers, et al. As a matter of fact, your interest should be on how to install an effective poultry fencing system that can give you the guarantee that come rain or sun shine, the birds in your poultry will be well protected.
The major poultry fencing option available are Chicken Wire which is also known as rabbit wire in the market place and Chicken Netting. The choice you make on the best poultry fencing option that you want to use in your poultry farm will be largely dependent are some factors.
Read also: Factors affecting feed intake of chickens
Learn MoreSome the factors to consider before choosing the right poultry fencing option are the kind of predators your birds will be exposed to, climatic condition of the location you intend building your poultry farm and also the geographical composition of your choice location.
Having stated some of the factors that can influence your choice of fencing option, now let us examine the two major options available:
What is the Best Poultry Fencing Option?
1. Chicken Wire (Rabbit Wire)
If you are conversant with poultry farms, you will realize that most of them make use of chicken wire for fencing their poultry. Chicken wire happens to be stronger and a better option when predators like foxes, snakes and badgers, et al, are what you are going to be contending with.
For ages, foxes and badgers are the major predators that poultry farmers in uk are contending with. They are always on – top of their games when it comes to preventing this predators from eating up their birds. As a matter of fact poultry farmers have started installing electrical wires to keep foxes away from their poultry.
The fact that foxes can scale fences that are as high as 5 ft makes it even more necessary to build your fence to be as high as 6 ft and also ensure that you bury the fence up to 6 inches or more in the soil. This is necessary because foxes and badgers are known to dig the ground to make way for easy passage. They pass underneath the ground to enter the poultry.
One good thing about running electric wire on your fence is that once a fox comes in and it receives electric shock they won’t want to come back again and they are likely going to communicate it to their fellow foxes. It is also very important to ensure that you make use of solid wood to run through the base of your chicken wire fence so that it will make it strong enough when subjected to pressure.
2. Chicken Netting
Another option for poultry fencing is chicken netting. This option is highly suitable in locations where the poultry farmers don’t get to contend with predators such as foxes and badgers. Chicken netting is not as strong as chicken wire (rabbit wire) and most poultry farmers make use of it when their major intention is to keep their birds from straying away from the parameter designed for them.
As a matter of fact, Chicken Netting is basically what is needed when the birds you have in your poultry are likely going to fly away if they have the opportunity. It is cheaper to construct and install chicken netting as against chicken wire (rabbit fire) fencing. It is important to state that you cannot electrify your chicken netting fence; hence it is not suitable when keeping predators at bay is your major aim. For instance a fox can reap the net apart with little or no resistance.
Whatever decision you make, just make sure that you design poultry fences in such a way that it may be easier for you to access your poultry. You would have to create an entrance (a door) and ensure that the door is well secured enough to prevent predators from breaking into your poultry.
In essence, the best poultry fencing option for you is solely dependent on the challenges that you are likely going to face in the location you choose to build your own poultry. That is why it is important to conduct your feasibility studies and also ask loads of questions from poultry owners around you.
Read also: Proper hygiene measures on the farm
10 Factors to Consider When Fencing Your Poultry Farm
If you are looking towards starting your own poultry farm business, then you must ensure that you consider some key factors when designing and building a fence for your poultry farm. The truth is that if you do not get it right with your poultry fencing, you stand the chance of running at a lost in your poultry business because you would likely lose your birds to predators and flu.
Building a proper fencing for your poultry farm will help you maximize profits in your poultry business because you will be able to take care of predators that are likely to eat up your birds, you will be able to ensure proper ventilation and also to prevent excessive wind from getting to your birds.
Proper fencing system will prevent intruders from getting to your poultry, it will help you restrict the movement of your birds to only the perimeters where you want them to be, and also it will it will prevent your birds (those that fly) from flying away and escaping from your poultry farm.
So if you are drawing your plan for your poultry farm business, you should ensure that you also consider building proper fencing as well. Now let us quickly consider the 10 factors to consider when fencing your poultry farm;
a. The Climatic Condition of the Environment Where Your Poultry Is Located
The Climatic condition of the environment you intend building your poultry farm is one of the factors that you need to consider when fencing your poultry farm. If the location you choose to start your poultry farm is prone to hurricane, cyclone or tornadoes, then you must build a very strong fence that can withstand such strong wind et al.
b. The Kind of Birds You Have In Your Poultry
The kind of birds you intend raising in your poultry farm is a key factor that will determine your fencing option. For example, if your intention of starting your poultry business is to raise birds like quails et al that can fly, then you should consider fencing not just the perimeter of the poultry, but also you can cover the top with chicken to prevent the birds from flying away.
c. The Type of Predators Your Birds / Fowls Be Exposed To
The type of predators your birds / fowls are likely going to be exposed to should inform your fencing choice. If your poultry will be exposed to predators such as foxes, badgers or snakes, then you should choose a fence built with rabbit wire and planks. The rabbit fire should be buried in the ground to prevent the predators from digging their way into your poultry.
d. Easy Accessibility
When making a choice for the design of your poultry farm fencing, you should consider easy accessibility of workers and customers. If your poultry farm is designed in such a way that customers can come in to purchase birds and eggs, then you should design your fencing in such a way that people can easily access it; you would be required to construct more than one gate / door to facilitate easy entry and exit especially if you have high human traffic in your poultry farm.
e. Effective Security System
When designing a fence for your poultry farm, you should consider effective security system. If possible you can put alarms at strategic points around your poultry farm fence. This alarm can be triggered whenever someone tries to break – into your poultry. CCTV can be installed in strategic places around your poultry farm to help you effectively monitor your poultry farm.
f. Easy Ventilation
Another important factor that you should consider when building your poultry farm fence is easy ventilation for your birds. If there is no proper ventilation for your poultry because of your choice of fencing materials, you are likely going to lose some of your birds to bird flu that can easily spread when there is poor ventilation. So ensure that you put in place proper ventilation when considering your fencing option for your poultry farm.
g. Construction Cost and Your Budget
Construction cost and your budget is another factor you need to consider if you want to build fence for your poultry farm. Of course you cannot afford to spend beyond your financial capacity, that is why you should look at all the fencing options you have and then choice the one that is economical and that can easily fit into your budget. The bottom line is that it should serve the purpose for which it was built for.
h. Environmental Hazard
The environmental hazard your birds / fowls are likely going to be exposed to should inform your poultry farm fencing option. You can make enquiries from the environmental safety department of country to ensure that you get the required information that will guide you when designing a fence for your poultry farm.
i. Safety for Both Birds and Human
When making plans to design and build fence for your poultry farm, safety for both birds and human should top the list of the factors you must consider before going ahead to construct a fence for your poultry farm. Just ensure that the type of material to be used for your poultry farm fencing is strong enough to withstand pressure so that it will not collapse.
j. The Size of Your Poultry Farm
The size of your poultry farm is another factor to consider when designing the fence for your poultry farm. If your poultry farm covers a large portion of land area, then you must build a fencing system that will have security post at strategic points. You can as well install CCTV to help you with effective monitoring of your poultry farm. But if your poultry farm is small, then there would be no need to install security post all around the fence; it can easily be managed.
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