Electric fence around the Yard

[thebirdgirl]

We have had a problem with a fox lately. Our coop has a completely enclosed run, and an attached paddock area where the chickens and guineas are let out into during the day and closed up at night. The fox has been coming at dawn and dusk (before everyone is inside) and although the dog scares him off, he's been able to sneak in. We extended the fence around the paddock to 7 feet high so I don't think he'll be able to get in that way.

For extra protection, I want to set up an electric fence around my entire yard. The paddock area is in one side of our yard, and the entire yard (an acre) is surrounded by a 4 foot galvanized wire fence. The people at the farm store have been helpful, but I'm not sure they're giving me correct information. They suggested weaving wire through the fence and electrifying the whole thing. I haven't found anywhere on this site that suggests that.

So, my question is: what size/strength charger would be suggested to keep bigger critters out of the yard? And how many wire strands and at what heights should they be installed? We have lots of chipmunks that I don't want to zap. And if the guineas fly out, I don't want something that will kill them if they touch it.
The store has step-on plastic insulator posts that would be easier to use, but are these the insulators that are suggested?

 

[Ridgerunner]

You might want to look at Premier’s site to get familiar with the equipment and then call them and talk to them about your problem. They are professionals in this, the people you are talking to at the farm store may not really be up to the task. I’ve chatted with the ladies that answer the phone at Premier and found them quite helpful and knowledgeable. You may be able to buy the stuff you need less expensively at the farm store but let Premier tell you what you need to do and compare prices. That’s fair to Premier and really helpful to you. Remember to ask about gates and driveways if that is an issue. Those can be details that weaken your protection.

http://www.premier1supplies.com/c/fencing/

You do not want to energize that entire fence. It’s grounded so doing that would short out your system. You have to have a hot and a ground. The fence will act as a ground as long as it is touching the ground though you might want to add a cable specifically as a ground if your posts are not metal. Or you might attach your ground wire directly to the fence. The hot wires need to be put on insulators so they are separated from the fence electrically. When the critter touches the hot wire and the grounded fence at the same time it completes the circuit and gets shocked.

The hot wire is not continuously hot. The charger sends out a pulse around once a second. That allows whatever touches it to turn loose. If the current were continuous they could be stuck to it and it could kill them. That pulse is a huge safety factor. You need it.

I have the electric netting, not an electrified fence. I’ve found a couple of snapping turtles, a snake, and a possum tangled up in the netting over the years. One turtle and the possum were still alive even with the pulsing going through their bodies. The other turtle and the snake had been there too long and the pulsing current did eventually kill them, but that was pretty much overnight.

You might need to check local ordinances to see if you can electrify your entire perimeter. In suburbia it is quite possible you would not be allowed to do that.

Electricity is extremely effective when used right. Good luck!

 

[thomasboyle]

I like many others use electric net fence from Premier 1, but if you have an existing fence, you can easily add hot wires on the outside to keep out predators. Add a hot wire on plastic insulators 6" from the bottom to keep anything from digging under, and then you can add another hot wire on insulators in the middle and again at the top to stop a predator from climbing over. I use a 1 joule charger on my fence, and it will put out 8000 volts. I've been shocked by it, and its very memorable!

You don't want to try and electrify the existing fence. The metal in the fence is not the best conductor, and anywhere the fence is attached to a metal or wood post will ground the fence, rendering it useless.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

We have had a problem with a fox lately. Our coop has a completely enclosed run, and an attached paddock area where the chickens and guineas are let out into during the day and closed up at night. The fox has been coming at dawn and dusk (before everyone is inside) and although the dog scares him off, he's been able to sneak in. We extended the fence around the paddock to 7 feet high so I don't think he'll be able to get in that way.

For extra protection, I want to set up an electric fence around my entire yard. The paddock area is in one side of our yard, and the entire yard (an acre) is surrounded by a 4 foot galvanized wire fence. The people at the farm store have been helpful, but I'm not sure they're giving me correct information. They suggested weaving wire through the fence and electrifying the whole thing. I haven't found anywhere on this site that suggests that.

So, my question is: what size/strength charger would be suggested to keep bigger critters out of the yard? And how many wire strands and at what heights should they be installed? We have lots of chipmunks that I don't want to zap. And if the guineas fly out, I don't want something that will kill them if they touch it.
The store has step-on plastic insulator posts that would be easier to use, but are these the insulators that are suggested?

The people at the farm store are not farmers nor do they know or understand anything about what they are saying. Use extreme caution when listening to these people. Sorry in advance but this farm store advice is worth exactly what you spent to get it.

For an electric fence to work the target that you are attempting to exclude or keep in must provide the shortest and the best path for the electricity to follow to EARTH or ground. The better the target critter is grounded the better, the more severe and, lasting its education will be about the wisdom of killing your chickens. To better illustrate how this grounding or best path to EARTH thing works, in my misspent youth I enjoyed grabbing a hold of the electric fence after my daily work was complete. The multiple shocks seemed to loosen my joints and tired muscles after a hard days work. Of course I was not foolish enough to do this when the ground was wet or when I was barefooted but during the Dog Days of Summer when the ground was dry and dusty and the grass was dead or at least in a dry state. By August or September my work shoes were quite the worst for ware and every place where the soles were coming loose from the uppers would have an almost continuous blue flame of flickering electricity arching out of my feet and going to ground or EARTH.

Because I wasn't grounded well the electric shock was mild. Like wise when a bird perches on a 7,000 volt electric wire it is not shocked or electrocuted (usually) If the fence is not properly insulated from EARTH, and the charger unit is not itself well and properly grounded, all an electric fence is good for is to give vermin like foxes a good ladder to use to scale any fence that you erect.

Do be advised that deep snow (ie. solid water) shorts out electric fences rendering them useless. However with single strand electric fences you can install switches on the fence so that you may disconnect any of the lower wires that are buried in, or touching the snow. Therefor in your area I recommend a fence that is more than 3 wires high. You can build a high tinsel (single strand) electric fence for what a steak dinner for the family costs, maybe less im your case because you already have the post or something to attach the insulators to. I will predict that once your fox has a run in with your electric fence that you can take it down and your birds would be perfectly safe as long as they stayed within the former boundaries of your fence or until an unschooled fox or some other predator moves in.

Never underestimate the climbing ability of a hungry predator.

 

[thebirdgirl]

Thank you all so much for your help. This advice is just what I was looking for, and I'm very glad I didn't just go with the advice from the farm store. I'm going to contact Premier to figure out what will best work for my property and have something set up ASAP!

 

[123RedBeard]

I agree with the above!

Your exsisting fence is already grounded to the fence posts and probably actually touching the ground in most of its length! Besides may have stakes holding it to the ground ... Putting a positive charge to the exsisting fence will cause it to short out! In time damage the charger and will not zap anything!

Sounds like you need a charger (either plug in the house type (120v AC) or solar (solar will cost more for the same amount of "zap"!)) and some insulators to attach to your exsisting posts, and of course some wire ...