Electric fence and trench and screen

[Kaesi2020]

Hi all, we added trench and screening all around our coop and run- about 1 ft. Deep and a foot out, with hardware cloth as screening. Will the hardware cloth in the ground pick up voltage or cause a problem if we were to install an electric fence? We planned on installing a hot wire directly on the coop and run. This diagram concerns me as it looks like the hardware cloth could pose a problem. Anyone with this experience? Thank you.

 

[DobieLover]

Where are you planning on mounting your charger? What type of charger are you using?
You would basically want to do your setup as shown in the second picture. That is the way I have mine set up.
I built a sheltered box to put the charger in and the ground rods start about 8' away.

 

[Kaesi2020]

Where are you planning on mounting your charger? What type of charger are you using?
You would basically want to do your setup as shown in the second picture. That is the way I have mine set up.
I built a sheltered box to put the charger in and the ground rods start about 8' away.

Do you have trench and screening with hardware cloth in the ground around your coop as well? Not sure of the details yet for us, just know we want the hot wire directly on the coop and run. My partner says that we can only have one or the other- trench and screening OR electric fence. I thought I've read on here that people do indeed have both sometimes so it must be possible?

 

[Kaesi2020]

Do you have trench and screening with hardware cloth in the ground around your coop as well? Not sure of the details yet for us, just know we want the hot wire directly on the coop and run. My partner says that we can only have one or the other- trench and screening OR electric fence. I thought I've read on here that people do indeed have both sometimes so it must be possible?

Would the trench and screen we have be the equivalent of the water tank and water pipeline in the first picture titled Poor Installation?

 

[DobieLover]

Do you have trench and screening with hardware cloth in the ground around your coop as well? Not sure of the details yet for us, just know we want the hot wire directly on the coop and run. My partner says that we can only have one or the other- trench and screening OR electric fence. I thought I've read on here that people do indeed have both sometimes so it must be possible?

Yes, I have a 2' HC predator apron but my setup sits inside a 1/3 pen surrounded by poultry netting.
If you want it directly attached to your coop/run and you have the apron, you would want to set a post well outside the buried apron and build a protective box on it to mount your charger in so it will not get rained on. Mine is plug-in so I ran a UF-B wire to it and wired in a switch controlled receptacle in a weather proof box. When I want to turn off the fence, I just flip the switch.
Once you have power to the charger you will set your first ground rod even further away from the coop than your charger is, ideally in chronically damp soil. I used two 6' ground rods. Send an insulated lead out wire to the ground rod by running it below the surface in a small trench. Hook up to the first rod then set another rod about 10' away and jumper them together with another length of lead out wire.

Use this same insulated lead out wire to connect the fence hookup on the charger to your hot wire(s) on the coop. You will run this wire sub-surface as well and just strip the end of the lead out wire enough to spice to your hot wire.

 

[DobieLover]

Would the trench and screen we have be the equivalent of the water tank and water pipeline in the first picture titled Poor Installation?

If you set the ground rod through it or too near it, yes.

 

[Ridgerunner]

For the animal to get shocked it has to complete the circuit between the hot wire and the ground. You install the hot wire on insulators to keep it electrically isolated from the ground. In your set-up the soil will be the ground but so will your metal fencing.

It would be interesting to see the write-up about those sketches so I'd better know what they are trying to show. I think what they are trying to show is that the grounding rods need to be far enough away from the piping going to the metal water tank so the tank is not part of the grounding system. But that "poor' sketch shows the electrified fence close enough to that metal tank so that a cow can touch the hot wire fence and the grounded tank at the same time. As long as the cow is not close enough to the hot wire to touch it she can't complete the circuit.

Your buried wire will be part of your grounded system, it should be. As long as the hot wire is insulated from the grounding system it should not short out. Did you get this from Premiere1? Call them and chat about it.

I will point out that this shows how to not shock your cow when she is getting a drink. A shock is what you want to happen if a predator touches a hot wire.

 

[Kaesi2020]

For the animal to get shocked it has to complete the circuit between the hot wire and the ground. You install the hot wire on insulators to keep it electrically isolated from the ground. In your set-up the soil will be the ground but so will your metal fencing.

It would be interesting to see the write-up about those sketches so I'd better know what they are trying to show. I think what they are trying to show is that the grounding rods need to be far enough away from the piping going to the metal water tank so the tank is not part of the grounding system. But that "poor' sketch shows the electrified fence close enough to that metal tank so that a cow can touch the hot wire fence and the grounded tank at the same time. As long as the cow is not close enough to the hot wire to touch it she can't complete the circuit.

Your buried wire will be part of your grounded system, it should be. As long as the hot wire is insulated from the grounding system it should not short out. Did you get this from Premiere1? Call them and chat about it.

I will point out that this shows how to not shock your cow when she is getting a drink. A shock is what you want to happen if a predator touches a hot wire.

Thank you. I will give them a call. It is Premier 1. Glad to hear that we can in fact have a hot wire and trench and screen so long as the hot wire is installed properly.