A treatise on Electric Fencing

[Howard E]

A few more things. A couple posts up I made reference to a fence being used to confine some horses. I checked it the other day and the line voltage is starting to drop. Still pretty hot, but not as hot as it was. Nothing on the line, so I figure it is time to charge the battery.

So the test is with a digital tester. Again, test at the beginning.......I test at the leads coming straight out of the fencer.......that is the maximum shock voltage fencer is capable of delivering. Then pushing the tester probe into the ground at the fencer.........that confirms a good ground........then at the end. Unless they are all about the same, there is some problem to go looking for.

Batteries: If you use a 12 volt model as I'm using, you will encounter a number of options. Best one is a deep cycle marine battery. These are different that starting batteries used in cars. Deep cycle batteries are capable of repeated deep discharges and are used where the loads are not a heavy sudden burst as is the case when trying to start a car, but rather are long extended load. In marine use, that means things like navigation lights, radios, electronics, trolling motors, etc. So for an electric fence, a deep cycle marine battery is the best choice. Starter batteries will work, but if you use one, charge it often. Also, if you ever get weeds on your fence or for some reason the fence gets grounded to the point the battery is pulled way down or even goes dead, car starting batteries may not come all the way back up to a full charge. Deep discharges affect them.

It used to be simple. Go get a lead acid deep cycle battery. That is all there was. Likely as not what you may find now is one called an AGM, which stands for Absorbent Glass Mat or gel cell. For fencer use, I'd suggest you avoid the AGM and gel cell and stick to lead acid, which are less expensive and can be charged with a normal automotive type battery charger. Not only are the AGM and gell cell batteries more expensive, they require a special type of 3 stage battery charger to charge them. If you use an automotive battery charger, you will likely damage if not destroy them. But, if you get one, and get the charger to match, they will work. It is the more expensive option, but will work.

 

[Howard E]

Got a chance to check out some of the bear fence youtubes. This one was pretty good.....for bears and all things fencers.

I do note that for some temp uses, they are using poly tapes and poly ropes, as were some of the other bear fence videos, including those from NOLS. The one they show for the dead animal composting site was what I had in mind for a permanent fence.

Then there is this video:

Not sure what else they did wrong, but who put down all that plastic? As in insulating, non-conducting plastic? Don't make it that easy for them.

 

[Howard E]

I'd say anything you might get from Premier 1 or Kencove would be OK. Make sure the size you get matches up to your fence type.

The Premier Hot Shock and Itelli-shock have a pretty good reputation:

https://www.premier1supplies.com/c/fencing/energizers_-_solar

And those from Kencove:

http://www.kencove.com/fence/Electric+Fence+Chargers_products.php

Gallagher also has a pretty good reputation and is widely available locally at many farm supply stores.

https://am.gallagher.com/us-en/products/electric-fencing/power/fence-energizers/solar

Parmak makes a couple solar powered units:

http://www.parmakusa.com/subcategory_details.php?SId=2

The 12 volt model from Parmak is featured on the bear video. These are also what I use, except mine just run on 12 volt batteries and are not rigged to a solar panel. The 12 volt model from Parmak is also sold by Kencove.

My only suggestion is whatever it is you get, if in doubt, move up to the higher output. You want the lucky recipient to experience at least 7,000 volts of excitement. Mine run hotter than that.

 

[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.

 

[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.

 

[Howard E]

This is what I use:

http://parmakusa.com/product/professional-digital-fence-tester/

I prefer the digital ones that give you a numerical readout. As long as it has that, brand may not matter.

I got mine from Amazon, but it appears they are not currently available from them.

Found this on ebay:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Parmak-Prec...826494?hash=item21174cbf7e:g:vwAAAOSw3v5YnKUO

 

[Richard Pryor]

The volt meter arrived today. My fence is testing at ~19k volts. My german shepherd made contact with it and I could tell she was in pain. I'm confident it will deter anything that touches it.

But will it kill my chickens?

 

[Howard E]

No......but it might launch them about 10 feet in the air.......once.

They may get near it after that, but probably won't be crossing it much after that. Except if they do get out, in a panic, they may lift up and hop over it to get back in. None of mine have been out in over a year.

 

[harveyhorses]

What are they climbing? I put a ground and hot on three sides of the top.

Trees, the side of the shed, and a privacy fence.
I believe Rocky got hit but good the other night going over the fence, from my CSI point of view, he stood on the aluminum ladder and tried to go over and hit the wire. it takes more than a little jostling to move the 40 ft extension ladder from it's nice little rack to 8 ft away on the ground. in the cold rain/sleet/snow.

 

[Molpet]

well the poultry net is off because of the snow and there was coyote tracks in one poultry yard Tuesday morning. It jumped the 4' net near my house and looked around some areas with lots of cover. The closest it got was 3-4ft to the main coop. I think it was looking for rodents, no sign that it got any. it then went over to the other side which has a 6' field fence, the top 18" is floppy. It tried to go over but fell back in. it then paced that fence line and went over the corner that wasn't floppy and got out. A larger set of tracks was around the poultry yard perimeter. They left together.
This morning tracks by the house and out to the field but not in the poultry yard.