Electric fencer ?

[zekii]

I am considering putting an electric fence around my chicken coops, and run areas.
Looking for recommendations on a Fencer, anyone have good results using the solar powered fencers ?
Been looking at the Zareba line of fencers, is this a good brand ?

 

[Capvin]

I will be putting up my electric fence around the perimeter of my coop and run. My coop and run is completely enclosed and covered but we have bears and feral pigs and we felt an electric fence would deter them. I purchased the Zareba 50 which I really like. The fence will be about 25 feet x 10 feet and will have metal T posts with insulators. I plan on having five strands of wire. Three hot and two ground each about eight inches apart. I will not be using solar but will have it plugged in directly.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Been looking at the Zareba line of fencers, is this a good brand ?

Zarebas are pretty good, but Par Mak is better, and made in the USA:


http://www.parmakusa.com/​

 

[mywifewasonherenowiamalso]

solar is weaker, more maintanence, less reliable, and i think more expensive

 

[Chook-A-Holic]

I chose Zareba because I live within 25min of a very reputable parts and service center. Last weekend we had a severe storm that resulted in lightning hitting my house and cut a path straight to the hen house taking out two large trees in the process. The fencer got blown off the wall. I reset the main breaker, took the fencer to the shop, returned home one hour later with my fencer repaired and back in operation. The repair was $22.00.

Good Luck!

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
As far as I am concerned any major brand is basically ok, what matters is picking the right fencer for your needs and then, the biggie that most people blow right past, installing and maintaining the fence setup correctly.

I would not recommend solar, it is usually a pointless waste of money. Plug-in is the cheapest, plus IF YOUR GRID SERVICE IS RELIABLE then it will be the most reliable fencer too. If you just can't do plug-in, either because of unreliable grid service or because the fence will be soooo far (like hundreds and hundreds of feet) from the nearest usable outlet, then I would recommend battery operated, not solar.

(Note that solar IS battery-operated, thus subject to the same exact problems such as having to pay for a new battery periodically and the battery will be fatally killed if you let a grounded-out fence draw it down too low -- the only thing solar does is trickle-charge your battery for you and cost you a whole lot more money to purchase, especially if you compare equal-strength chargers)

Whether to get a rechargeable or single-use battery depends on how you will be using the fence. If it will only be on at night or part of the year, single-use might make the most economic sense; for continual use, rechargeable can become more economical in some circumstances. You'd have to price out your options and take a flying guess. It is not likely to make a *huge* difference one way or the other.

Without knowing what your fence will be like and what conditions you will use it in, I can't really make any more specific recommendations. Except, TOTALLY IGNORE this malarky about "charges X miles of fence", it refers only to basically-theoretical ideal conditions that have nothing whatsoever to do with anyone's real-world fence setup; also, make sure you buy a charger that pulses, NOT one of the always-on ones (few are sold anymore, but a few *are* sold, mainly marketed for use with dogs).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[zekii]

Ok ... thanks for the replies.
Guess I'll avoid solar, I have a reliable powere outlet close by.

Electric fencing is all new too me, so can you explain >>>
>> plan on having five strands of wire. Three hot and two ground each about eight inches apart.<<

Do you run the two ground wires around the whole fence perimeter line parralel with the hot wires ???
For some reason I was thinking that the ground wire from the fencer just goes too ground rods, and does not run along with the hot wire ??

Clint

 

[mywifewasonherenowiamalso]

you are right about ground rod,
i grounded mine to the fence cause its buried 2 ft in the ground not sure if its correct but it has worked over a year


i was having the neighbors cats get in the coop so i put a wire about 10 in from the bottom of coop and around the run, and around the top also, i have never had problems since. i see foxes around sometimes though too, so i guess its doing the job

 

[mywifewasonherenowiamalso]

and if you look in the instructions for the fencer you can run hot and ground wires but you still want a ground rod, and its meant for frozen or dry ground.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
The only thing -- I am not trying to discourage you from plug-in, this is just "full disclosure" here so you know what you're doing -- is that a) a plug-in charger needs to be installed OUTDOORS with NO EXTENSION CORD but protected by some sort of a shelter against rain/sun; and b) in the [very unlikely, for a very short coop-and-run fence] event of a lightning strike to your fence, it can explode yer charger and start a fire where it is attached or in the wiring the charger's plugged into. I would not personally worry about that with a real short fence but, I'm just sayin' it so you know

Whereas, obviously, a battery-operated charger, although you have to keep a close eye on the battery and replace it before it gets too old or if it gets drained stone cold dead by a fence malfunction, you can plunk it anywhere you like and it isn't going to catch anything on fire if there should be a lightning strike.

Electric fencing is all new too me, so can you explain >>>
>> plan on having five strands of wire. Three hot and two ground each about eight inches apart.
Do you run the two ground wires around the whole fence perimeter line parralel with the hot wires ???
For some reason I was thinking that the ground wire from the fencer just goes too ground rods, and does not run along with the hot wire ?

The previous poster was describing a positive-neutral fence, which is a "variant" design used mainly in areas where you may sometimes have very dry ground or frozen ground. If it *also* has a good ground connection it works as well as a normal system; if it lacks a ground connection or the ground is nonfunctional (due to dry or frozen ground) then it doesn't repel animals AS well as a normal fence would but then a normal fence would not work hardly at ALL under dry/frozen conditions so the pos/neutral setup at least gives you SOME useful fence in those conditions.

If you were going to set up a many-strand total perimeter fence, it might be relevant to you.

If you are just gonna put a coupla lines of hotwire onto your existing fence, though, it is not something you need to consider. Just do the usual setup, which as you say involves connecting the ground terminal of the fence charger to one or more deeply-driven ground rods.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat​