electric fence for a small run for dog attacks?

[vermontgal]

I'm in an urban/suburban setting and just lost a chicken this morning to a husky dog attack. Apparently this husky is somewhat frequently loose, and may have an irresponsible owner. It lives about a block away. I expect the dog to return now that it has had a taste of my chicken.

I am thinking about an electric fence. My run is only 8x8, and I'd also add electrical protection to the chicken tunnel and ladder (see video linked in my signature), for a total of around 50' of fence needed.

When I went to the feed store, their fences are talking in terms of how many acres they will cover. Um, I need a LOT less than an acre.

Any suggestions for:
• a short fence appropriate to my small run?
• fence strength or design to help specifically with a husky? Obviously one of the tougher types of dogs to repel.

One of my neighbors (about a block on the other side of the dog's house) also has chickens and has the Premier poultry netting. I wonder how this might stack up against a husky?

I should add that, for me, I am looking for an inexpensive solution that would buy us a little more time to respond to an attack. I probably won't spend $200-300 on a fence. $50-60 range is more what I'm looking for.

For example, something like this - http://www.flemingoutdoors.com/electric-fence-kit-for-pets--75.html

 

[patandchickens]

Sorry to hear about your chicken. An electric fence will definitely help, *but* remember that all electric fences fail sometimes, and predators can be pretty quick to notice; so if it were possible to put up a "real", physical fence as well, with the electric just as the cherry on top so to speak, that would be more reliable. Although of course somewhat more expensive and visible. In particular, electric fencing works poorly on frozen ground and especially when the ground is frozen with snow on it; you may or may not be able to keep sufficient zap in your fence under those conditions to deter a dog, unless you use a positive-neutral wire arrangement (see below)

If you are in a suburban area, it would be wise first to make sure what your local zoning says about using an electric fence in an area accessible to the public.

I know that chargers are usually billed in terms of number of acres or miles of fence but those numbers are totally bogus and irrelevant to real-world applications ANYhow, so just ignore them, k?

I would suggest a plug-in charger that is somewhat larger than the one you link to, and is livestock-type i.e. pulsing. (I could not find a detailed description of the charger in that link, but I am concerned that it sounds like one of the non-pulsed ones, which frankly are rather dangerous, and since it says 'a mile of fence under ideal conditions' I am also suspicious it may be somewhat underpowered). Something claiming 1-3 miles of fence charged, with like around 0.4-.8 released joules, would seem ballpark appropriate to me.

To keep out a determined (and fluffy

) predator, you want somewhere in the vicinity of 5000 v on the fence. Yes, really. (You'd use more like 2-4000v for horses, and even just 1000v will be momentarily unpleasant for a person to touch)

I would suggest buying a digital fence tester, or a voltmeter that will record into that range, NOT one of the cheap little five-neon-lights fence testers which are usually quite inaccurate. And get into the habit of testing the fence on a regular basis to make sure it is carrying sufficient charge.

Because of the frozen-ground-and-snow problem, you might consider running a neutral wire (connected to your ground rod, not the hot side of the charger) six inches or so below each hot wire. With this arrangement, even if the soil is not conducting well, a dog that touches both wires at once will still get its full 5000v allotment of *yelp!*.

One of my neighbors (about a block on the other side of the dog's house) also has chickens and has the Premier poultry netting. I wonder how this might stack up against a husky?

It should work well, if it has around 5000v flowing through it at all times (like is not grounding out) and the dog is either incapable or uninterested in a 4' high jump; if either of those things is not the case, I would not place too much faith in it.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​

 

[vermontgal]

Thanks, Pat, I do have currently a 4' high welded wire fence, but as you may know that is not enough to keep a husky IN so I doubt it is enough to keep a husky out. (I also skijor, so I know people with huskies - but I have a pointer mix.) The attack this am -- while the dog should not be off leash (we have a leash law) -- it was really my fault that the dog got a chicken in the time it had. My 4' fence consists of 8x8 panels, linked together, but I left the place where the panels connect (the door) just pushed closed, not fastened. THAT has of course already been fixed. I am sure that a determined husky can still get through, but it would take longer.

Yes, the electric would just be a backup. I do plan on doing a hot + neutral wire setup, and I am savvy to the snow factor with regard to grounding and shorting.

I'll look for a charger in the spec you suggest. When you say "pulsed" - do you mean AC or ??

I also have realized that I might be able to use the old knob & tube insulators from the unused wiring in my barn to run the wiring. That seems like a very cool / fun reuse of those old materials.

 

[cmom]

I bought my electric fence online after a lot of research. I agree with patandchickens.

My main fencing is chicken wire. I have electric wire going around the outside of my coop, run and my bird's yard. One night I was outside on my back patio which faces my chickens. I heard a really good "OUCH" scream like sound. Something came into contact with the electric wire. It's putting out 6000 volts. The amount of current also depends on how damp your ground is. A while back it was so dry and we were in such a drought that my voltage was around 2000 volts, but since we have had quite a bit of rain and pretty much no more drought it's at 6000 volts. I have gotten quite shocked by it myself so I imagine an animal who weighs far less than I really gets a good zap. I doubt it will be back. Some of these pictures are older pictures. I put the electric wire up initially because I believe it was a dog by the tracks, dug under my fence and killed one of my hens.

Make sure to keep the grass and weeds off the wires. I use my weedeater under my wires. Also make sure you got a big enough power supply. My ground rod is around 6+ ft under ground. I think it is a 10' or 12ft rod. I bought some splices so I can add wire if I want to. Originally as in the pictures I had two strands. Now I have 3 strands. TSC sells the power supplies, ground rods, posts for the wire, the wire.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

When you say "pulsed" - do you mean AC or ??

That means the charger cycles off and on, instead of always being "hot"

The more "joules" the better it will work​

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
No, it could be plug-in or battery operated, your choice (plug in is cheaper)... but you want one whose charge pulses on and off, rather than being continually on. The latter, nowadays found only in small pet-type units, does not work nearly as well or as safely as the normal (these days) that pulses every second or so.

Pat