A treatise on Electric Fencing

[Lookin4GoodLife]

Howard, the electric fence is obviously not just a tool for you to keep animals in and out, it's also a hobby. LOL

 

[Howard E]

Hobby? Not as much as you might think. More like a staunch advocate. My first experiences with them were over 50 years ago and I've been using them off an on in one way or another since then.

Bottom line is as a way to keep some stuff in and other stuff out, they work so well. Especially if you don't need or want the fence to be permanent. When you see how animals react to them it will make you a believer.

I currently have a small pasture out back where a tenant keeps her horses. That has a woven wire fence with single wire top and the horses thinking nothing of sticking their necks over that to graze on the other side. They have ridden that halfway to the ground in more than a few places. That fence does not bother them. On the other hand, we have another place we put them and it is ringed by a single strand of electric fence poly tape hooked to a pretty hot fencer.. Nothing else at all. They won't get much closer than 5 feet to that fence out of fear they might get zapped by it. Yes.....they do work well.

 

[jnr005]

I need some advise on my fence installation. I am running an electric fence on the outside of the run enclosure/outdoor range area. My yard is half an acre fenced in with wood privacy fence. Most of the area to be enclosed I can run the lines (using wire and a 25 mile plug in fence charger) outside of their enclosure, but still in my yard. The issue is where their enclosure butts up to the privacy fence. I can't run the lines outside as that would be on the neighbors side and could be a liability. In this area I want to run the line or lines along the top of the wood fence to keep coons/possum/skunk from climbing the wood fence and coming in. My hope is that the chickens will not fly up and touch the fence (I clip their one wing).

So, for grounding purposes since a wood fence is not the best conductor...do I
(A) Run one line across and hope for decent ground? Bought those insulators you nail into wood. Has anyone done this?
(B) Run two lines across and close to each other so the animal will hopefully touch both and complete the circuit
(C) Do something else...

Obviously the big goal is animals out without too much chicken interaction on the fence. My previous fence run around the garden only and did kill a squirrel and a small song bird so I want to keep it as safe for them as possible but don't want my entire flock slaughtered if I get home late or some day predator chooses to try to come in. The squirrel may have been a fluke as I have seen other squirrels touch it and bounce back in shock but shake it off and go away. (Needless to say, squirrels don't play in my yard anymore...)

 

[Howard E]

Who's privacy fence is it? Yours or the neighbors?

Either way, unless you are going through some type of blood feud with the neighbor, I'd run it on the outside, and just below the top of the fence. That way, any climbing predator is going to have to get past it to get over the obstacle. A two wire obstacle. One of them hanging on this insulator, with a 6 inch hold out?

https://www.amazon.com/Red-Snapr-Ex...6_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WPASYXQ1R7P6NBWVJCSW

The other on a similar insulator, but not held out so far. More like 2 inches and just below the held out wire. A raccoon or such will likely try to slip between the wires......one hot and one grounded.....and should get zapped in the process. I'd be inclined to start with the hot wire being about 2 inches BELOW and on the short insulator.......so when the coon tried to slip between them, likely his foot will still be on the hot wire......the top outside wire being grounded and it I'd think it would send him flying. With a ground wire up high on the fence, it could be wired direct to the fencer to assure a good ground.

I would explain things to the neighbor and let them know what is going on. It should be at least 6' high, so well up off the ground within reach of any kids or pets.

I would not want it on top.......birds could land on it and not entirely certain varmiit will touch it AND the ground there anyway. If forced into it, that would be my 2nd choice, but still retain the 2nd ground wire. You are correct, the wood fence is not a reliable ground.

Second issue with the wood privacy fence is how to keep a predator from digging under it if it is on a property line. The apron or hot wire needs to be on the outside. If you used a hot wire on your side, it would need to be nearly at ground level so when they surface on your side of the fence, the first thing then encounter is the hot wire. Not entirely foolproof.

 

[jnr005]

Who's privacy fence is it? Yours or the neighbors?

Either way, unless you are going through some type of blood feud with the neighbor, I'd run it on the outside, and just below the top of the fence. That way, any climbing predator is going to have to get past it to get over the obstacle. A two wire obstacle. One of them hanging on this insulator, with a 6 inch hold out?

https://www.amazon.com/Red-Snapr-Extender-Insulator-IW5XNYRS/dp/B007PARUDI/ref=pd_day0_86_2?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WPASYXQ1R7P6NBWVJCSW

The other on a similar insulator, but not held out so far. More like 2 inches and just below the held out wire. A raccoon or such will likely try to slip between the wires......one hot and one grounded.....and should get zapped in the process. I'd be inclined to start with the hot wire being about 2 inches BELOW and on the short insulator.......so when the coon tried to slip between them, likely his foot will still be on the hot wire......the top outside wire being grounded and it I'd think it would send him flying. With a ground wire up high on the fence, it could be wired direct to the fencer to assure a good ground.

I would explain things to the neighbor and let them know what is going on. It should be at least 6' high, so well up off the ground within reach of any kids or pets.

I would not want it on top.......birds could land on it and not entirely certain varmiit will touch it AND the ground there anyway. If forced into it, that would be my 2nd choice, but still retain the 2nd ground wire. You are correct, the wood fence is not a reliable ground.

Second issue with the wood privacy fence is how to keep a predator from digging under it if it is on a property line. The apron or hot wire needs to be on the outside. If you used a hot wire on your side, it would need to be nearly at ground level so when they surface on your side of the fence, the first thing then encounter is the hot wire. Not entirely foolproof.

Thanks for the info it's my fence, butts up to mostly woods on their side. Only issue with putting it on the ground over there is all the leaves, branches, and weeds. (Literally a forest back there). Maybe what I will do is the top fence lines like you said then run a low wire on the inside and run some low fencing up near the wood fence to sandwich the wire inbetween. That way any diggers get zapped but chickens can't get to it.

 

[Howard E]

I have a similar issue on the hot wire surrounding a spent garden area that I now have the birds using as a playpen. They get to run around under old sweetcorn stalks, sunflower stalks, tomato vines and now a patch of fall turnips. One side of this garden area is bounded by a woven wire fence. Predator control is different than keeping in livestock, which the woven wire fence is good at. I looked at hot wires along the ground along the woven wire fence, inside and out, and concluded it would not work as I wanted it to, so ran the hot electric fence a foot or so INSIDE the woven wire fence. Essentially treated the woven wire fence as is if were not there, as I once witnessed a raccoon go through that woven fence like it wasn't even there. So I moved the electric fence back and inside it so even if they went through the woven wire fence, the very next thing they encountered was my hot fence. Essentially, the predator would be trapped between the two and getting chewed on by the electric fence the whole time it was there. I guess it worked. To my knowledge, nothing has gotten past it.

So yes, I think you could setup a second ground level electric fence inside the wood privacy fence as backup in case some varmint did climb over or dig under the wood fence.

 

[Howard E]

Since the last post, I have noticed a number of predator related posts that likely could have been avoided if the person had installed and was using an electric fence. The issue is that without some form of deterrent like an electric fence, which is on guard 24/7, rain or shine, day or night, there is nothing preventing the predator from attacking your birds. They can easily defeat a whole lot of fences and obstructions. They struggle with electric fences, as they can't see or understand what it is that hurts that much. They only know if they go near it, they get whacked. So they quickly learn to not go near it.

A couple new videos........one showing animal reactions to touching a fence...........and a second showing how a guy setup a small electric fence kit. The fence I used around my garden is an upscale version of the kit fence.........I assembled the components on my own and use a really hot fencer, but the concept is the same. Follow the fencer kit video to the end and watch him touch the fence, then ask yourself if you would do that twice? Most predators won't either.

 

[Usrudd]

Hi Howard,

I think you're a fount of information and so,I wanted to ask u what You thought about brooder lamps. I got a free one from a friend that has a broken clamp but I'm wondering if there is a way to get it to work or whether they were too risky in general. It has a red bulb. I have seen the brinsea eco glow warmer but it's more expensive of course, Probably safer. Also I'm not sure whether I can also use the red heat lamp in the coop in winter. I thought of it's super cold, I could attach it to ceiling? Someone told me they do that. I welcome your thoughts on that too. Getting ready for the chicks this spring!

I look forward to hearing from you. Th akin advance.

Ursula

 

[Usrudd]

Oops typo. I meant thanks in advance!
Ursula

 

[Howard E]

Well I'm definitely full of something.

Maybe information too?

Your question is probably one best suited to the Raising Baby Chicks forum. There are a lot of folks who hang out there who know more than me and would have some good advice to share. But since you asked, I'll take a stab at it.

To start with, the time period for brooding baby chicks runs about 5 weeks. After that, they may have enough feathers to survive inside their coop without supplemental heat. That depends a lot on where you are and how cold the nights get when they get to that age, but that was when mine no longer needed any heat. I started the last batch in the last week of April, so they had access to heat all through May. We had nights down in the upper 30's a couple times before they had feathers.

The way I've done it is to use a cardboard box in my garage or basement for the first two weeks. After that, they are big enough and busy enough they won't stay in the box, so they need to go somewhere else. For me, that has been into the coop.

I have used a single bulb heat lamp for the birds I've raised. I suspect a majority of folks do the same. That has a seriously big risk in that if for whatever reason the one single bulb goes out, no heat. So ideally, there should be two heat lamps. For a small bunch, rather than using the large red heat lamps, an alternative is to use two red colored flood lamps in the range of 40 to 60 watts. If they are the incandescent type, they will also put out some radiant heat. Or stick with the actual heat lamp bulbs and raise them up until the surface they are aimed at is warm, but not hot. Aim them at a corner or one end of the box. Leave the other end unlit. That way the chicks and move in or out to find the sweet spot where they are most comfortable. If they are huddled in a puddle under the light, they are cold and the light can be lowered. If they have scattered, and won't stay under the light, it is too close, and therefore too hot and can be raised.

BTW, the bulb is red. Always red. With bright white heat lamps, chicks may instinctively peck at spot or something on one of the others and tear them up. They don't do that with red bulbs.

That is pretty much the process I used to get them up to two weeks or so. I then move the thing to the coop, suspend the lights from the rafters and do the same thing. By this time, the area can be expanded a bit as the birds will be active and trying to get out. That is OK by me as long as they can easily get back with no chance of getting locked out. I've used hay bales for this to make my barricade. This provides a pen of sorts, but also a wind break in my wide open coop. Some might pass out from the excitement of pointing a heat lamp near a hay bale (fire hazard), but I'm no where near letting it get hot enough to start a fire.

As for hanging the lamps, I do not trust clamps. so I only hang mine from the ring clip on the back of it. I use lamps with the guards on the front, and when I hang it, I use two wires or if only one wire, wrap it in such a way it is not coming off. I only use strong wire.....no string. I also don't use chain or clips that can get knocked off. Only sturdy wire, twisted on the ends. Again, there needs to be a warm or hot spot under the light, with plenty of room to escape to and explore away from the lamp. They can then adjust to their comfort level as as needed.

The birds will continue to sleep as a puddle on the ground, under or near the lamps until they are about 7 or 8 weeks of age, at which time, they will begin to start using the roost. After that, the heat is gone for good. No more heat for them, even in the dead of winter. These larger birds will now be flying and banging around all over the place and can and do knock heat lamps off and start fires and burn the house down.

Lastly, I am convinced horizontal nipples are the best way to go, even for these small chicks. A person might need to use an inverted bell for a few days to get them started, but then switch to a closed up container with nipples. Within 48 hours I found chicks perched on the bell and droppings in the water. Nasty droppings water. I think a person could change that every hour and it will still be nasty most of the time. Even baby chicks can learn to use the nipples. Once one learns it, the others pick it up really fast.