Electric Fencing

[anthonyjames]

Do any of you use electric fencing in your operations?

I am looking at Kencove and Premier 164 x 48 electric fences and wondering if anyone has preferences? My goal is to fence in 1/2 to 3/4 of my acre in sections and move the birds from section to section every 7 days to give the yard time to rest. Since I am raising 2 batches of meat birds this year and some turkeys I will also get an extra 21 days off the yard because they will be in the brooder.

I was thinking of making the sections 40 x 40 or so that would give them 1600 sq ft per batch. An figured every 7 - 10 days I would move to a new section of the yard. Or would that be overload?

And what are you using for electric? Solar, batter or plug into home outlet?

 

[sovia]

We installed the Premier semi-permanent 48" high netting this past weekend. We are trying to keep our free-range chickens confined this spring and off the areas with grass seed. Anyhow, we are using the Intellishock 42B battery energizer plus a 10-watt solar panel. We have three rolls of the fencing connected together. We opted to pay a little more and go with the double-spiked fence and I'm glad we did it made for easier installation. Speaking of installation, it did require two of us to do, but it will probably be easier and possibly only need one person next time. Premiere's customer service has been excellent thus far.

As my yellow lab found out this evening, it definitely packs some punch! This made me happy because later this summer, I will have meaties on pasture with this fence surrounding them.

 

[anthonyjames]

Sovia,

Thanks for the info. I ended up going with products from both.

From Premier I went with one 12/48/3 Kit - (48" x 164') ( http://www.kencove.com/fence/Electric+Net+Fencing_detail_NPCG.php )
And for power the Patriot PS15 Solar Energizer Kit (This one I plan to make into a 40 x 40 area for my 125 Naked Necks that are my meat birds. Based on this size I plan on keeping them in a location about a week to 10 days then moving them to a new section.)

From Kencove I went with two Electric Netting 14⁄48⁄3.5 Green 164' ( http://www.kencove.com/fence/Dual+Purpose+Unigizers_detail_EXD2.php )
And for power I went with Stafix X2 2 Joule which can run off a battery or my home electric. And this can run up to 7 fences if I decide to add more.

The one thing I did like about Kencove is all of their fencing was made in PA.

 

[petrelline]

I have the premiere fencing and it works good for me. You do absolutely have to make sure you keep the grass mowed underneath the fence or the power drains out pretty quick. I have the same patriot solar charger and I've found that unless it is is DIRECT sunlight for a good portion of the day it doesn't want to fully recharge. I take it in once a week and put it on a trickle charger. If I had to do it over again I think I would get a battery charger instead.

Also, do not attach one end of the fence to the galvanized downspout on the barn.

 

[anthonyjames]

Well last night I hooked up the Kencove fencing. The power is coming right from my house and I was able to take 2 rolls and completely fence in my backyard with little left to spare.

The charger I got will run a 20 mile fence according to the specs. And last night my do got a taste of it. It got tangled in for about 15 seconds before I could get the power off. It was pulsing every 3.5 seconds and according to the meter is was at 100% with no overload.

Poor dog.

As for the Patriot I will keep that in mind. My back yard is wide open to the south with no trees so I should have good sun. But right now I may add the Premier Fence to the Kencove and run of the power from my house as I am having no issues and I can create some good separate areas within my lot.

Thanks

 

[Andy J]

I use an AC powered fence charger connected to two single strands of wire around the perimeter of my chicken pen.One wire is 6-8" off the ground and the other wire is 6" above the first wire.The wires are about 1 foot from the fence.I also have a single wire running around the top of the fence about 4" from the top.This setup is kind of awkward,but it's the only thing I've found to keep raccoons from digging under and climbing over the fence.

Last year,I started the spring with 35 fine laying hens.By mid-July I was down to 8 hens.I then had to take those to a neighbor's pen until I could get the electric fence rigged up.

It is very disheartening to check on your chickens every morning and find dead hens,parts of hens and feathers everywhere.In the last 4 years I have lost probably 200 hens,roosters and juveniles to those darn 'coons.A lot of people think the coons are sooooo cute,but I'm telling you,they will destroy your flock in short order.I can't stand them and I kill everyone that I can.

Andy J

 

[Buster52]

I have two lines surrounding the entire perimeter of our 8 acres, one line nose high to my dogs, the other nose high to a coon.

But I don't really have to worry about coons and such because my dogs enjoy the occasional snack. The fence is actually to keep my Pyrs in.

Anyway, will be ordering some Premier netting and will run it off the perimeter fence using a gate connection. The charger is a 25 mile capacity AC running at 3 joules.