Electric Fencing

Going to be obnoxious and not even read all the posts,

Easy electric fence. TSC. strand wire... two strands 4 in or about first level of 2x4 wire and then about 2 feet above that.

Done deal, Cheap, Trains territorials foxes etc. Never had an issue, even in deep snow (doesn't last long in PA, or pour hot water on perimeter of electric strands, not need to dig, but I haven't done either) Never had a breach or loss. Even in rain, not much voltage but, it's only for a day or so and the preds are trained that these chickens "bite".

Safe for kids and even me, got zappe by accident yesterday, felt better after so...

yep, coopers hawk (tiny) took two Duccle bantams, didn't mess with the standard chickens. Rooster did not attack. Strings of twine or fishingline work great for hawks.

Howard E said:

Actually, I use something similar to the Smart Fence, except it is stuff I have pulled together on my own. A 4 wire system that looks like this:

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@Howard E and @sdm111 can you post up what kind of wire/posts/insulators you used?

I have a 2-wire fence: 3-Joule charger, polywire fence wires at 6" and 12", held up by Fi-Shock step-in posts from Tractor Supply. This is not working AT ALL.

Every single day there are wild animals (mostly deer or turkey) walking into the fence, and they break the plastic tabs off of the fence posts and the polywire falls on the ground and shorts out. The fence is shorted so often that coyotes and raccoons learned to just scoot under the wire to get in (if there nose doesn't touch the wire, they don't feel any zap). I bought some steel t-posts, but it looks like the plastic insulators will pop right off if something walks into the fence.

Is high-tensile wire better? Or poultry netting? Please help.

Steel T post corners with hard plastic donut insulators..........


Baygard white step in insulated posts (Baygard is by Parmak). Mine have been up for over 3 years and still doing well. For 2X to 4X the expense, you could also use steel T posts with clip on insulators. Those are durable and should last years.


For the permanent fence, I use 4 wires clipped to the 4 lowest positions. Bottom is about 4" off the deck, with 4 to 5 inch intervals after that. Top wire only 20 inches or so high, so can be stepped over. Spaced like that, almost nothing can get past it unscathed. If need be, bait it to hasten the journey to discovery.

For wire, I prefer 17 gauge aluminum. Soft to work with, shiny (visible) and soft enough so that when you tension it up, wire will turn through the donut corners to tension long runs on both sides of a corner. Wire is far and away more durable that poly tape. The latter works really well for temp fencing.

Ratchets (called strainers) used to tension the wires to avoid slack that will dip to the ground. These are critical.



To follow uneven terrain, put a white step in post on high spots.......put a steel T post in the bottom of a dip. Then use the yellow clip on insulators on that dippy steel post, installed upside down to hold the wire down. White posts near it on the edge of the dip? Or if a sharp dip or ditch, just hang a tin can (aluminum beer can or bottle?) from a wire directly over the dip.....so that any animal trying to sneak in will brush up against the bottle and "get it".

Although I've never used one, I'm seeing examples of special electric deer fences that use a similar system, except they use two parallel fences spaced about 4 or 5 feet apart. They are still only 3 feet or so high. It is said that deer won't try to jump over both. Other sources seem to think a deer will lick a piece of foil draped over the hot fence if the foil has a wad of peanut butter wrapped in it. Deer version of baiting. Never tried it myself. Or they might lick a range cube or piece of mineral block. Or salt block?

Small yapper house dog got sloppy and got nipped the other day while going out to the yard and now refuses to go in the yard at all. If you pick him up and carry him in, he will race to the fence, jump over it to get out and then cowers on the patio trying to get as far away from the fence as he can get. Will jump over it to get out but refuses to go near it to get back in? He is terrified of it.

That is what you pray for with varmints but hate to see that with a pet.

Howard E said:

Steel T post corners with hard plastic donut insulators..........

View attachment 1595246
Baygard white step in insulated posts (Baygard is by Parmak). Mine have been up for over 3 years and still doing well. For 2X to 4X the expense, you could also use steel T posts with clip on insulators. Those are durable and should last years.

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Thank you that is really helpful information! What are those yellow donuts you use for corners? I have not seen those before. It looks like you have mounting wires and hot wires crossing awful close. Any danger of a short there?

Sounds like the key thing is to have some t-posts combined with wire and tensioners. My polywire was convenient while testing different setups but it is just too floppy weak for a permanent fence.

Howard E said:

Although I've never used one, I'm seeing examples of special electric deer fences that use a similar system, except they use two parallel fences spaced about 4 or 5 feet apart. They are still only 3 feet or so high. It is said that deer won't try to jump over both. Other sources seem to think a deer will lick a piece of foil draped over the hot fence if the foil has a wad of peanut butter wrapped in it. Deer version of baiting. Never tried it myself. Or they might lick a range cube or piece of mineral block. Or salt block?

Small yapper house dog got sloppy and got nipped the other day while going out to the yard and now refuses to go in the yard at all. If you pick him up and carry him in, he will race to the fence, jump over it to get out and then cowers on the patio trying to get as far away from the fence as he can get. Will jump over it to get out but refuses to go near it to get back in? He is terrified of it.

That is what you pray for with varmints but hate to see that with a pet.

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It's not a big deal if deer come in. I think they are looking for scratch and vegetable scraps that the chickens leave behind. As long as they don't knock over the fence anymore it is fine.

Did your little dog accidentally touch the fence with his nose? I thought animals only feel a zap if they hit the fence with a nose or comb or wattle. My fence tester reads 10,000V+ on a good day.

I think he just brushed a leg or foot against it. This one...... just a single strand of poly tape. He got sloppy and didn't get all the way over.

I've seen a long haired cat try something similar and got halfway under before it rose up high enough to get it in the back through all that hair. It went ballistic.

Sorry I skipped over the donut question.......it is these. Note how they are installed with corner brace wire through the middle and hot wire passing around the outside. Installed like this, they will not short out. This enables the hot wire to continue on the run through the corner. TSC and similar farm and home places will have them.

https://www.amazon.com/Zareba-ICDY-...=B005MNJHWW&psc=1&refRID=8K9BPPBA2QYCG301068H

Thank you for the good info @Howard E . I see all the items on the TSC site and will go shopping at TSC's black friday sale! Hopefully I can upgrade the fence over the christmas holiday.