Portable chicken fencing

In short, I'm looking for fencing solutions for a rotating chicken flock. I've got a length of the PoultryNet Plus from Premier1, but my pullets (which are not yet full grown, but also definitely not what I would call "chicks") are able to slide right through the openings about 2 or 3 levels off the ground, seeming quite undeterred by the shock. I'm assuming (hoping) that by the time they are full grown this will be a viable fencing solution, but I'd love to be able to get chickens out in the field before they are full grown and also find a solution for an up-coming flock of broilers that doesn't involve keeping them in their tractor 24/7. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Firstly, how hot is your fence running? I have chickens that will slide right through with it on, but still make sure it's pretty hot. For me it mostly depends on the chicken. Some of mine will walk through, fly over, jump onto, etc, etc every electric net fence near them, others won't push it at all. Are the broilers the ones you have in there right now? I might try using normal chicken wire and then running a single electric line on top and by the bottom for predator protection, rather than trying to use the hot line to keep them in. I'm slightly surprised that the broilers (assuming that they're the ones getting out right now) have pushed it, since the ones I've seen could care less about anything besides food. Maybe try free ranging them, but moving their coop to spread the impact?

Teenagers of any species are a pain.
Teenage chicks seem to be determined to throw themselves down the gullet of any predator that happens by.
It continually astounds me how determined they seem to be to be eaten by everything. Seriously.
I do feel your frustration in that.

One of the problems I've seen with standard portable electric fences is that it can be easy for the birds to get through the holes in the fence without, apparently, setting it off. I use stepped fencing - the stuff with the graduated holes that are smaller at the bottom and gradually get larger as you go up the fence. I've found that the teenagers can't really fit through the rabbit sized fence, though they just zip on through the goat version.
You may be able to somehow shrink the size of the fencing holes by doubling it up? I guess the overlap would just short it out if it connected.

Yeah, I'll second Elena's comment. Check to make sure the fence is hot. Once you're certain it's working, you have to train the chicks to the fence. I'm not exactly sure how you go about that for chickens, but I know there are a few techniques for it. The fence can also short out if the hot wire come into contact with grass. It seems annoying, but string trimming or mowing a pathway for the fence is easier than installing something more permanent.

Make sure the chicks aren't popping over the top. Teenagers love to test their wings, so it's possible the fence is fine, but the birds are hopping out.  If they are, the best thing to do is baffle them by screwing with their depth perception and making sure they can't stand on anything to hop over. You screw with their depth perception by tilting the fence to lean inward just enough it's noticeable. It works better than you might think.

Otherwise? Maybe make an inner ring with smaller holed chicken wire. It wouldn't be for protection, but to contain the chicks so they can grow large enough to not fit through the fence. It would be a hassle to put up a slightly smaller fence inside the electric fence, but it sounds like you need some kind of something to keep the chicks from running all over the county, or at least your backyard.
I'll try to brainstorm and see what I can think up.
Best of thoughts!

Hi Edward,
I too used the Premier 1 poultry net with great success... on adult chickens. With all their feathers, I just resigned myself that the shock was more about keeping predators out then keeping chickens in. I ended up clipping their wings so they would stay inside.

I too had problems with half-grown chicks getting out of the fence and had similar thoughts to Kristine about having a second interior fence for the younger birds. However, I noticed the other day that Premier 1 has a new shock or not product. It has a much smaller mesh on the bottom that they say is chick tight. I don't know if any of their Poultry net products have the tighter mesh, but at least one of their fences could be used for chicks.

https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/shock-or-not-poultry-fence?cat_id=139

Same for me. My teenage girls will just charge the premier 1 and go right through. I’m currently working on a moveable chicken wire are the will remain inside the premier 1 fence for physical containment of the birds.

The vinyl chicken fencing works good for this but costs more than straight chicken wire.  Straight chicken wire works but it’s more of a hassle to reuse and move.

I think I would use chicken wire (aka 'poultry netting') for now.  I would definitely put the electric netting away for now; you don't want the chickens to get used to running through it.  Pull it out again once they're bigger.