A treatise on Electric Fencing

[Howard E]

thanks for sharing the photo. I see two issues.

As I see it, from the bottom up, you are using positions 1, 3 and 5. If only running three strands, I'd use 1, 2 and 4. They won't get past that without getting zapped, and that will entice a dog or other varmint to try to crawl through the fence vs. jumping over it. Zappo city!!!

Second........assuming this is a permanent fence, in short order, the grass under that fence will be growing up and once it makes contact with the bottom wire, will short it out, and it won't take long, even with the solar charger. Once the battery is drained, no more zappo.

Two methods will work......one is to simply mow up one side and do"wn the other, then the part in the middle under the fence...... hit it with a weedeater........tricky under the wire, but doable. Another option is to use a chemical solution like Roundup. If you don't like Roundup, you can use an organic solution of water, dawn dish detergent, white vinegar and table salt to kill your weeds......a quick burndown, but they will come back. Can't use anything like plastic mulch that would insulate the animal from the ground. You might be able to use newspaper to smother out the grass. But whatever the case, you do need to keep it clear beneath the wire.....and animals will more likely get a better zap when standing on the bare ground.

Third.......if your wire fence is sagging, go back to TSC or wherever you got your parts and buy a wire strainer or tensioning ratchet for each wire. Will make it fiddle string tight so it won't sag between the posts to touch the ground. Won't make it work any better, but will look better and impress your friends and neighbors who will think you must install these fences for a living.

 

[Howard E]

PS: Forgot to mention........that is exactly the type of fence that will protect your birds and keep them in and alive and predators out. You or that other person did a really good job on that.

 

[MarilynHukill]

Thanks for the explanation. I've been so confused about the whole electric fence. I have some of the components and now know what else I need.

 

[Finnie]

, I'd use 1, 2 and 4. T

Ok, I was thinking the same thing this morning as I was looking at it.

Won't make it work any better, but will look better and impress your friends and neighbors who will think you must install these fences for a living.

Yeah, the video series I was following mentioned strainers, and there are a couple spots where I didn't get it very tight, that I thought could use some. Especially the gate. But I suspect the way I use the step in post to open and shutvtge gate might make it perpetually sag there.

Oh, and yes, I will be addressing the grass under the wire. I usually spray it with roundup and that is next on my to do list. Roundup lasts longer than weed wacking. However, as I was laying the grain-bait, I realized I will not want to be spraying that with roundup until they have eaten it all up.

And speaking of the grain bait. It doesn't seem to be working. Maybe my chickens have just learned the ins and outs (literally) of electric wire. I set out the bait before I turned them loose this morning, and it didn't take them long to find it. Then I watched as they all carefully reached their heads past the wire, picked up each morsel, and carefully withdrew their heads back. Some of them casually stepping through the fence to eat the grains from the outside. One hen got zapped which caused her and two others to retreat and a fourth hen to run through the fence. Then they all went back to eating the scratch again. I think the roosters with their big combs are learning the lesson a little faster.

Since they all seem to have the "duck and step through" maneuver down pat, I think your recommendation to space the wires closer might be my next best step. Thank you for all your help!

PS: Forgot to mention........that is exactly the type of fence that will protect your birds and keep them in and alive and predators out. You or that other person did a really good job on that.

Thsnk you very much! DH helped with some of the t-posts, but I did all the rest. I must admit, though, that it took me over a year from placing the posts to adding the wire. Life just got in the way. But I got motivated this week because the new teenagers started jumping into the next door neighbor's back yard.

 

[Howard E]

The training process that seems to work best for me is to use just the bottom single wire at first.......all my birds seem to find it by just walking up to it and stepping on it to go over. Hits them on the bottom of their foot. For most, that seems to end the travel. After that, I add the 2nd and any additional wires. To get over that, they have to hop or fly over.....meaning leaving their feet and going airborne.....and most won't do it. I suspect they fear what will happen when they come back down. The fear being it will get them and they won't be able to get away. The 3rd and 4th wires, if used, are for predators. If just the low wires, some dogs will see it as a physical barrier and just step over (if dog is large enough) or simply hop over.......that is before they get zapped. So a stray dog might just cross over it to do damage, never getting shocked.

So the upper wires......and a gap between them, entices them to try to crawl through. That usually gets them.

The other method of discovery is also to bait it. Put a smellable on the wire a dog (or fox, coyote, bear, etc) will sniff or lick. If the fence is running 7,000 volts plus, that well send most of them to the horizon.

On the gates, I don't typically use them as the fence is low enough I mostly just step over it. If you do want gates, for mowers, etc. they sell spring loaded handles for that purpose. Set T post corners where you want your gate to be. One T post on each end of the gate. The gate itself is a short segment of fence (as long as you want your gate to be wide), handle end connects to a small loop from the hot side source......other end dead ends on an insulator. That way, when you open the gate, that short segment of gate wire goes dead and you can lay it on the ground while you are using the gate. Use one handle for each segment of gate.

All this sounds complicated until a person has actually done it, and then you realize it is all logical and easy to do.........and most importantly of all......highly effective.

 

[Finnie]

other end dead ends on an insulator. That way, when you open the gate, that short segment of gate wire goes dead

Ohhhh! Now THAT would have been the smart way to do it.

My other (farther away) gates have this kind of handle, but the video showed connecting them to the hot wire at both ends. So I assume when I lay them down, they will zap and snap on the grass. I figured I will be needing to add kill switches. (I only made this main gate with the step in post because I would be hauling a wagon loaded with feed through it constantly, so I wanted to move all 3 wires at once every time.)

I think I will go back and reconnect the opposite ends of my other gate handles to an insulator instead of the hot wire. I did put down a wire on the ground bridging the gap of the gate. So when the gate is open, the rest of the fence is still hot.

 

[Howard E]

If building a fence from scratch, what I like to do is set my gate next to where my charger is. Say the charger is on the right side of the gate when facing the gate from the outside. Gate handles then go on the right side. The fence loop then returns on the left side. That way, when you drop the gate, the only part of the entire fence loop that goes dead is the gate.

The secondary benefit of setting it up this way (actually more like primary benefit) is when you test the fence, you test it on the left side of the gate. The only way it can be hot is if it is hot the entire way around. If connected to feed from both ends, it could be broken in the middle somewhere and you might not know it. But having your test end right next to your source allows you to test the whole thing without having to walk around and test the whole thing multiple times.

And even if you put in multiple gates in your loop, the only time fence segments go dead beyond the gate is when it is open.

 

[centrarchid]

@Howard E we are going to be building several electrified fencing setups very close to you, as in Jefferson City. Most components will be based on electrified poultry netting where we will have 11 discrete areas. The entire area is within a chain link fence that I would like to touch up with a hot-wire perimeter like you have. Dogs will be operating between the outer perimeter and the 11 discrete areas. My hope is also to employ some trapping outside the outer hot-wire perimeter. Would you be willing to look at this to see how the outer part could be made chicken tight?

Birds do not represent flighty breeds (i.e. Cornish x, Speckled Sussex, and likely crosses intended for meat production).

Area will be relatively high traffic as we will be visiting birds more than typical for production flocks.

 

[Howard E]

Hmmmm......a consulting gig? This might turn into a way to make some money if I was smart enough to charge for what I do, which I'm not.

Short answer......yeah, kidding aside, I'd come down to take a look. What you describe also sounds like a way to do some experimenting with what works and what doesn't.....to come up with recommendations for best practices.

Send me a PM with address and we will work out a time.

 

[ChemicalchiCkns]

I would like to suggest some phrasing changes on the technical end, since I am almost an engineer.