Well we have some chickens ordered Murray McMurray and I got to build a coop.  We are on the outskirts of town and have the occasional dog come into the yard.  I can some times hear coyotes at night.  My Idea is to run a hot wire around the coop from a few inches, to a couple of feet to bite all the critters that take an interest in our chickens.  

I don't know diddly squat about hot wire fencing.  Any input would be appreciated.

It's as simple as plugging in a light but you have to run the wire for the fencer.

Personally, if you are building the pen just bury the fence around the perimeter about 6"-8" deep at a 20 degree angle along your edges. Be be sure to use something like stakes or staples to secure it so it cannot be pulled up. A fencer would be a waste of money unless you just want to add one for more security. If you do I would use the poly tape and just make a continuous loop around your pen with the insulators. Be sure to add a quick disconnect handle so you can access you gate.

Since you are only going to us it for a pen I would look for the smallest fencer they have to save some money. The smallest one I have is a Zareba 15 miler hooked on a 12 volt battery with a solar charger to help it last longer.

If you can right this post you can install a hot fence. Just make sure all your posts are non-metallic or properly insulated. I'll be doing the same in the spring to keep my own dogs out. Plan is run 3 wires 1-3" up, 1-12" up, and one 30" up to keep the dogs in check. all 3 will be 3-6" away from the actual coup fencing.

We have always had a fenced in area attached to the coop for the chickens to roam with chicken wire buried in the ground 6 inches roughly then going up 6 feet with a possible fence roof to keep out the unwanted. Then have done a perimeter electric fence at different heights. Like mentioned make sure it is well insulated and have a quick disconnect so you can get through. Definitely recommend a solar charger for the fencer it does help. Good luck!

I was mainly concerned about getting one that was too powerful, or not powerfull enough.  As a youngster who grew up in the country, I learned at a young age about wire and insulators and such

Our chickens ran into the goat fence once or twice. Loud squawk, flapping, bird looks confused for a minute, life goes on. (We had a 20-mile fencer rated for cows feeding about 1200 feet of poly electric twince, and a couple sections of the electric netting.)

The dog touched it once - and only once.

I stepped over it when I thought it was off, and got zapped on my boys. I levitated and landed on my shoulder seeing stars... that went through my jeans and underwear, into my right nut, and traveled down my left leg to ground. It was .... not pleasant.

The hardest part of the whole install was driving the stupid ground rods. (Two eight foot rods, ten feet apart, driven to 6-8 inches below surface.)

I'd just depend on " bulletproof" wire enclosure.
Been raising chickens for years...

Lowes carries Fi-Shock, fairly cheap, and I've used it to break stubborn diggers.

I really don't think you need electric fence.  just get you some 6 foot poultry netting, and burry 6 inches if your real worried.  I used 5 foot netting and didn't burry any, my dogs, the neighbors, or the abundant coyote population in my area hasn't challenged the fence.  

we are actually removing the outdoor run this spring and going totally free range.  we close them up in the evening, and our 1 dog is our only slight worry... but he's been learning not to mess with the chickens.

plus, the chicken go through a lot less feed if not confined to one area.  its amazing how fast chickens will eat all the grass in an area if confined to it.

This is what I do.   Haven't had any problems.  I have the top open for the large chicken run, but haven't had any animals climb to get in.  I shut them up at night.

You can never have one too powerful.  make sure the fencer is well grounded also

Chicken Tractors take care of that and a bunch of other problems.

You have NO IDEA how hard it is going to be to keep critters out of your chickens...and a single wire won't do anything.  chicken wire is useless.  You have to use hardware cloth and fencing, bury under the perimeter and have walls strong enough to keep dogs/coyotes from breaking in.  EVERYTHING eats chicken!!!

strongest one you can get.  You want to shock the holy piss out of any living thing that touches it.