Advice about installing an electric fence (not netting) around current fence!

Hi, I had free-range chickens until a fox ate one in front of my kids. The fox came back about five times (that I saw) over the next month. So I know that free-range is risky and it only happens now when we are all out in the yard. Afterwards, I built this large fenced area that the chickens can hang out in during the day. It is about 5-6 feet high and is made of regular chicken wire (still need to bury around the bottom). It is really just to keep the chickens in, although one of our spring babies flies over every day with a big grin on her face. I looked into electric netting, but it is really expensive and I have about 150 feet of fencing to go around. So I'd like to install regular wire around the fencing with an electric fencer. I'm wondering a few things: How high up off the ground should I start the wires? How far apart should I place the wires? How many strands of wire do you think I need? And the big question is, what fencer do you recommend that is powerful enough to do this job, but not too expensive?
Many thanks!

First off, if the fox is discouraged from jumping or climbing over the fence, it is possible that they can break through it or dig under. Chicken wire is only meant for keeping chickens in. Regardless, you only need one wire if it is positioned correctly (though more is always better). On my fence the wire is at the top. This prevents the fox from just jumping over it. The wire can either stick up from the top about six inches or stick out away from the fence about six inches. Hopefully you can visualize that. This will prevent the fox from both jumping over and climbing under. Make sure that the wire is not in contact directly with the fence. Also, the fox needs to be in contact with the ground or, in this case, the fence (which must be in direct contact with the ground) in order to get shocked. This is due to electricity wanting to flow to the ground. If it doesn't have a clear conducting path to the ground, it wont shock. Ex. if you stood on a plastic stool and touched an electric fence, you wouldn't get shocked. But if you were to stand on a metal stool, you would. Ahh science. I am about to buy a solar powered electric fencer. This will save cost on electricity/batteries and save the environment! You don't need that much power for a small fence. Just enough to discourage the fox from trying again. Hope this helped.

I'd put one wire about 12"-15" off the ground, and another at the top ... Make sure the exsisting fence is hooked to the ground, and keep weeds away from the lower charged wire. (The lower the wire is to the ground, the more trimming you have to do)

.5 Joule charger is plenty for what you want to do ...

I use three or four strands at 6" intervals with first about 6" off the ground. Charger used is 0.5 J powered by solar. The hot-wire coupled with chicken wire will be at least as good as electrified poultry netting although not as easy to move and in reality not cheaper if you have to by the chicken wire.

Thank you for the advice!
Yes, I would love loved to have gotten just the netting, but had already purchased the chicken wire last spring.

Thank you HomeSteadDucks!
Yes, I can visualized that. I was thinking of putting 3 or 4 strands near the bottom, but hadn't thought about the top.

123Redbeard, thanks for the pictures! Great idea to use the piping as insulators.

You will get more bite for your buck if you'll install a non-charged grounding wire (barbed wire is good) about 3 inches above the ground then your first hot or charged wire about the same distance above that. This first wire acts as both a grounding wire and a steering device to help insure that any varmint trying to slip between these first two wires makes a shocking discovery. That shocking discovery being that they don't want nothing to do with your poultry. The way that fence chargers are rated is in MILES of fencing not feet. However get one powerful enough that it will burn down grass or weeds that grow into the fence between trimmings.

BTW, you'll need more fence posts or else use extra long insulators like 123RedBeard did to hold the hot wires away from your chicken wire so that the hot wires don't short or ground out on the chicken wire. Remember that electricity always flows to the best ground. You want that source of ground to be the fox.

chickengeorgeto said:

Remember that electricity always flows to the best ground.

Click to expand...

This is not true, it's better stated that 'more' or 'most' electricity flows the path of least resistance/impedance... In truth electricity will take any and all paths available to it to balance the potential difference, this is expressed by Kirchhoff's Law and Ohm's Law...

How much are the solar powered fences? We have a den of foxes on my street and they can jump my 4 foot chain link. i have 6ft chicken wire enclosures with and electric fence with one strand about 10 inches off the ground, with tops on them, none have been lost inside the chicken wire, but i have recently lost 2 while they were free ranging within the chain link. I am thinking of installing a solar with a strand above the chain link as i have actually witnessed the foxes jumping this fence, Any advice?