Premier1 Net Fence Review

This is not a sponsored post, just simply a review of one of the best products we use around our homestead. Premier1 Net Fence is used daily around our farm and keeps our animals safe when we are not around. Here is why we love it!

Best Solution for Homestead Fencing

Premier1 Net Fences are top of the market for homesteaders looking for a simple solution for their fencing needs. It is difficult or impossible to do pasture rotation with traditional fencing setups. That is why net fencing came on the market. We began using net fences with our first batch of turkey poults. It was an old fence we had bought used and had many holes from goats and sheep chewing on it. It worked though and sold us on the idea. We were able to move the turkeys every week or so as needed with minimal help.

Concerns with Net Fencing

There are a lot of concerns with the use of net fencing, the biggest one being safety. Animals can easily get entangled in the fencing if proper measures aren’t taken. The net fence should always be used with an electric fence charger. They do offer one type called the Shock-Or-Not which has a smaller mesh overlay that won’t allow birds to slip through if you choose not to electrify. Not electrifying your fence also puts your animals at a greater risk of predator attacks.

Other Brands of Net Fence

Premier1 is not the only brand of portable net fencing. There are several other brands available, some may be available at your local feed store. We have not used those other brands, but I have inspected them at stores and I have not felt the quality was the same as the Premier1. It’s hard to say without using it though. We choose Premier1 for other reasons too, they are a family-owned company, they are also small farmers themselves, and they provide great customer support.

Pro and Cons of Premier1 Net Fence

Pros

• Cost-Effective
  • Compared to a traditional style fence, creating a pasture rotation system with net fencing is much more cost-effective. For instance, to rotate turkeys around a pasture you would have to develop a grid system with posts and wire to create the same effect, which also presents other challenges.
• Easy Set-Up
  • Setup is a breeze even for the newest electric fence user.
  • If you’ve ever set up an electric fence you know that creating connections and finding shorts in your system can be daunting. Premier1 has made that easy with the connection points, and the woven nature of the fence.
• Options
  • Premier1 has so many options for a variety of situations
  • We use the Poultry Net Plus because we have only used it with poultry at this point, but if we had other animals we definitely use the other options.
  • Options for spikes, this is important, in our area a double spike is the best because we have sandy wet soil and single spikes tend to fall over. A single spike is useful in areas with hard soils because it is easier to drive in one spike rather than two. Premier1 explains all of this on their site, I recommend reading through it before you decide what to get.
• It Works!
  • We have had no losses inside of our net fencing.
  • Just last week a coyote was lazily walking around the outside of our net fence which contains our cornish cross tractors, he has not breached the fence despite being seen out there several times.

Cons

• Cost
  • It took me a long time to finally just buy the net fence, because of cost, I can tell you now it is 100% worth it.
  • We used an old net for a long time that was full of holes because it had been used with sheep and no electric charger, it was always a mess and got tangled easily, upgrading to a new net solved most of those issues.
• Heavy
  • The Poultry Net Plus at 164′ with double spike posts is heavy, I will not lie.
  • I can move it on my own if I have to though. I would prefer not to but it is possible and I have done it.
  • There are lighter options; the larger mesh, single spike posts, and shorter fence will all help.
• Grounding Rod
  • This isn’t really a Premier1 issue but moving a grounding round every time you move the fence can be a real pain. The rod has to be deep enough in the ground to create a good charge and for some areas that could be 4-6′. For us, it is only a few feet but in the summer we have to add water around the rod.
• Terrain
  • Net fencing does not work great in uneven terrain, this is why we do not use it for our pigs in the woods. The areas are heavily brushed which we have to clear anyways, but the first wire is 4-6 inches off of the ground which keeps the wire away from roots, ferns, and branches that get pushed up by pigs.

The Best Purchase for Your Homestead

Premier1 net fence is a great time-saving solution. As homesteaders who are working outside of the home, we embrace any idea that will save us time. Net fences definitely save us time. Currently, we have 4 nets set up on our property with 2 more planned later this summer. We use it to contain turkeys, ducks, chickens, and as a predator perimeter for our meat bird tractors. The meat birds are still in tractors due to flying predators that net fencing will not prevent, but without that threat, we would have them contained in the net as well.

So if you been debating purchasing a Premier1 Net fence, I hope this helps make your decision clearer. Let me know below if you already have net fences and love them.

• Premier 1 Supplies
• Poultry Net Plus (the fence we are using)
• Shock-or-Not