Electric fence - netting type

[LuciferRoo]

I am hoping to get some advice from someone who used or uses electric netting to protect their flock.
I am currently using Premier1 PoultryNet 48" 164' long.
While I think the netting itself is good, I find the posts to be weak garbage. They are thin and bend easily. They are spaced 10' apart and it causes the netting to sag.
To rectify that, I purchased their FiberTuff posts and placed them half way between the posts that came with my PoultryNet.
This gives me 5' between the posts and makes the fence much better.

After looking at all the Premier1 available electric netting, I do not see a better option.
They have another netting -PoultryNet Plus which has posts spaced at 6'8", but I think uses the same lousy posts. Sure it's better than 10' spacing but seeing how flimsy those posts are I don't consider that a good option. Also, the price per foot comes out to $1.91 but my current setup costs $1.81 per foot.

Has anyone used something else, which they are satisfied with?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I have the same netting you have. I understand the sagging. My main problem with the sagging is that if the second horizontal wire up (the lowest hot wire) touches the ground or wet vegetation the fence shorts out.

When installing the fence I stretch it out as tight as I can. That is not sufficient though. At the corners I guywire the top of the fence to a stake in line with the fence, so two guywires at each corner. By tightening these guywires I get most of the sag out of it.

That's not enough though, especially when it gets older. I cut some stakes from a forked tree branch to raise the netting off of the ground in between the posts where it sags. That worked for a while but now I do as you do, put posts in between the 10' posts to raise it off of the ground where necessary. I have not come up with a better solution.

 

[kattabelly]

I used to like the heavy duty version that Voss makes, but they'd stopped shipping to the UK last time I wanted to buy some. I'm not sure if their stuff is available in the US but decent quality electric netting does exist.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

T-posts?

I don’t use the electric fencing, but I do use the chick fencing (?), which is equally floppy. I’ve had good luck mixing t-posts in, especially on corners and midway through a long run.

I still haven’t really grasped how electric fencing works, so I don’t know if a metal t-post would mess it up, but I’m very happy with its non-floppiness, which I save for the straight runs.

 

[LuciferRoo]

Metal t-posts will not work with chicken netting as it will short it out. The post have to be made of non conductive material.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Metal t-posts will not work with chicken netting as it will short it out. The post have to be made of non conductive material.

That’s what I was afraid of. So there’s no practical way to isolate the netting from the posts?

 

[StinkyAcres]

I have the ChickenNet which I believe has even flimsier posts and are spaced even farther apart. I have solved the sagging issue with T-posts at all corners tied to the fiber posts with baling twine. Then I keep it from sagging further with fiber rods in between each existing post. Each fiber rod has two fence insulators that slide on the rod - one at the top and one at the bottom. The bottom of the netting is secured close to the ground with the bottom insulator and the top of the netting is pulled tight vertically with the top insulator.

That said, I do not electrify my netting. So you may need more posts/insulators than I used to keep the netting from shorting out.

 

[LuciferRoo]

That’s what I was afraid of. So there’s no practical way to isolate the netting from the posts?

I cannot think of anything easy and practical.
You could however use 3/4 PVC pipe.
It is what I planned on using but then just decided to buy better posts from Premier1 and same myself the work. They have what they call FiberTuff and these are pretty good.
https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/fibertuff-posts?criteria=Post

I think that the 3/4 pipe is also stronger that most of the posts that come with electric netting. Amazon sells solar light spikes which fit into these PVC pipes.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0D4H1V4V8?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I have bought these and confirmed the fit but have not used them yet. I plan on building a door using 3/4" PVC pipe and plan on using these spikes.

I think I concluded that I would rather but the FiberTuff posts at $5.50 each than make my own and spend almost the same amount.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I still haven’t really grasped how electric fencing works, so I don’t know if a metal t-post would mess it up, but I’m very happy with its non-floppiness, which I save for the straight runs.

Electric fencing and electric netting are two different things. With either, you have to have a "hot wire" and a "ground". The critter is shocked when it closes the circuit between the hot and ground.

With the Premier electric netting, all horizontal wires are "hot" except the one nearest the ground. You drive a metal stake into the soil and connect it to the ground side of the energizer. So when a critter touches the soil and a hot wire at the same time it gets shocked.

Electric fencing can be configured different ways. The basic idea is to stretch hot wires horizontally at different heights. These wires are supported using insulators to avoid grounding them out. You normally drive a metal stake into the soil similar to the netting to provide the ground. If you are trying to contain animals like sheep, horses, pigs, or cattle that's all you need. It will keep the animals in but will not prevent smaller animals like dogs, fox, raccoons, or such from going through the fence. I've seen many electric fences for horses or cattle that consist of one hot wire up high.

A common configuration to keep smaller animals that can climb out (think of raccoons and a garden) is to use a metal mesh fence they can't go through and use two or three hot wires, one really low to keep them from going under the fence and another up high to keep them from going over the fence. The hot wires have to be insulated from the metal mesh fencing or they will ground out. If you drive a stake in the soil to use as a ground your wire mesh fencing is probably also a ground if it is touching the soil but you can also attach a grounding cable directly to the wire electric mesh.

Metal t-posts will not work with chicken netting as it will short it out. The post have to be made of non conductive material.

Excellent point, one I missed mentioning. I use non-conductive posts or trimmed wooden branches to raise the netting hot wires off of the soil.

 

[Mother of Chaos]

Electric fencing and electric netting are two different things. With either, you have to have a "hot wire" and a "ground". The critter is shocked when it closes the circuit between the hot and ground.

With the Premier electric netting, all horizontal wires are "hot" except the one nearest the ground. You drive a metal stake into the soil and connect it to the ground side of the energizer. So when a critter touches the soil and a hot wire at the same time it gets shocked.

Electric fencing can be configured different ways. The basic idea is to stretch hot wires horizontally at different heights. These wires are supported using insulators to avoid grounding them out. You normally drive a metal stake into the soil similar to the netting to provide the ground. If you are trying to contain animals like sheep, horses, pigs, or cattle that's all you need. It will keep the animals in but will not prevent smaller animals like dogs, fox, raccoons, or such from going through the fence. I've seen many electric fences for horses or cattle that consist of one hot wire up high.

A common configuration to keep smaller animals that can climb out (think of raccoons and a garden) is to use a metal mesh fence they can't go through and use two or three hot wires, one really low to keep them from going under the fence and another up high to keep them from going over the fence. The hot wires have to be insulated from the metal mesh fencing or they will ground out. If you drive a stake in the soil to use as a ground your wire mesh fencing is probably also a ground if it is touching the soil but you can also attach a grounding cable directly to the wire electric mesh.


Excellent point, one I missed mentioning. I use non-conductive posts or trimmed wooden branches to raise the netting hot wires off of the soil.

Thank you! I almost get it now.