winniebob wrote: However there are now a litter of young that are just starting to come out of the burrows and I know they’ll be fair game for the cats.
is this a breeding pen or training pen?
just wondering how the dogs are meant to flush if they have warrens in your pen and they go to ground i expect as soon as you enter
A Spaniel that hunts but will not retrieve is only half a gun dog, and even those that are `sometimes retrievers` are totally unsatisfactory.
Whilst I'm not sure what this has to do with my original post on how to protect the young in it I'll answer your question anyway.
Its a new pen with the intention to build the stock up in it slowly with 'clean' rabbits. We did consider getting a supply of rabbits so it would be quickly up and running for training but did not want to risk bring myxxy into the pen or indeed to the surrounding area. There are no natural warrens - these are dug out as soon as they are noticed but there are man made burrows in the pen and it is one of these the young have been reared in. Access to these 'burrows' can be blocked when the pen is used for training in the future.
We have a separate pen area to remove the 'breeding rabbits' into but for now we've just been waiting to see what we had with the original 'clean' rabbits - we've obviously got one buck and doe amongst them
So have you got any suggestions re electric barrier fencing?
winniebob wrote:Whilst I'm not sure what this has to do with my original post on how to protect the young in it I'll answer your question anyway.
Its a new pen with the intention to build the stock up in it slowly with 'clean' rabbits. We did consider getting a supply of rabbits so it would be quickly up and running for training but did not want to risk bring myxxy into the pen or indeed to the surrounding area. There are no natural warrens - these are dug out as soon as they are noticed but there are man made burrows in the pen and it is one of these the young have been reared in. Access to these 'burrows' can be blocked when the pen is used for training in the future.
We have a separate pen area to remove the 'breeding rabbits' into but for now we've just been waiting to see what we had with the original 'clean' rabbits - we've obviously got one buck and doe amongst them
So have you got any suggestions re electric barrier fencing?
Ali
i used some today in fact. all electrical tape is near identical in its ability to transmit a shock. the only variable will be the power supply. i do beleive you can get boosters which will up the amps. any tape (horse) would be best imo. has a wider area to touch as a cat will possibly jump the ground wire when climbing the pen, so would suggest top wire would be most efficient.
but the most efficient would be a 12 gauge at 15yd
A Spaniel that hunts but will not retrieve is only half a gun dog, and even those that are `sometimes retrievers` are totally unsatisfactory.
Thanks for the advice - I've got loads of electrical horse tape - just need to purchase one new decent unit, some way to fix it onto the top t-piece and look into the boosters as I don't think the blat from the horse unit I have would deter cats effectively.
Silly question possibly but doesn't the electric fence work properly only when the cat / fox / whatever earths it? If so would there be too much resistance in the fence for the cat to get a zap when bridging the gap between fence and wire?
Don't worry, I know what I am trying to say!
In life, it is important to know when to stop arguing with people and simply let them be wrong.
quite a few of the game equipment dealers will supply electric fencing ,we use them around release pens and they are very effective, you will probably need more than one unit if its a big pen, the ones we have use torch batteries, i was amazed how much of a belt they give and they last a long time, touch wood since weve used them wev'e had no problem with predators
A fenceman CP250 or Electric shepherd will run up to 2km of wire, If you use a solar panel to top up the battery (£10 ebay) charge lasts about 6 months. Run a wire on the top and put one 6ft away from the pen at ground level to deter cats, for foxes you need one close to the fence 8" off the ground. Cats are easily caught in rabbit traps and can be relocated
We built a few very large laying pens for fancy ducks, the owner then added electric wores every where, it was a nightmare to try and fix. think he had 4 spaced up the vertical wire
He had used thin electric wire and the insulators were only sitting about 1" proud of the wire so were getting blown aggainst fence and shorting all the time.
Wot ever u decide make sure it stays clear of the netting, i'd probably go for 2.5 ht plain wire as can be easily tensioned (put a few butterflys/raddesseurs on it for adjustment later on) u can get various insulator things now that u can screw drive in to the right distance from wire. If near house i'd go for a mains poewered unit. U can lay an electric light tube aggainst the wire and the electric strand and it should flash when fence working (been a long time since i have done that)
If u get a Rutland brochure they sort of specialise in electric fencing stuff from ur local fencing yard
No good to u now but if u leave the wire netting quite slack and bowed it doesn't look as good but a lot harder for things to climb up, having it tidy and tight makes it quite easy for climbing
Just looked at ur photo again (tidy job) with ur posts being on the outside shoud make it a lot easier, i would just put insulators on the posts which should give u 3" clearance to net, use 2.5mm HT wire pull nice and tight. Either use duck eggs at corners or buy some lengths off insulator pipe to keep wire running, better with duck eggs thou
Problem u might find with that horsey tape is hard tp pull tight and it will catch more wind possibly blowing into fence and shorting
