Electric fencing

[Chick_in_Indiana]

A friend of mine is bound and determined to keep her flock in. I found electric chicken fencing that is 48" high. Has anyone ever used such a thing? Does it work?

 

[kodiakchicken]

I've used electric fencing quite extensively for keeping predators (Kodiak brown bears) out and it works very well for that purpose. The great thing about electric fences is that they can use solar panels to power them, which eliminates paying for electricity, and they emit an electric pulse, which often is enough to prevent the animals from touching it in the first place.

I have always ordered from Premier One Supplies and they recommend electric net fencing for chickens. You could probably visit their website http://www.premier1supplies.com/ and garner quite a bit of information about the proper layout and installation of the chicken fence. I know their catalogs are full of helpful information.

I think your friend will be very happy with the electric fence. The only thing I'm not sure of is if 48" is high enough to keep the chickens from flying over it. I guess that depends on the type of breed and whether she clips their wings or not.

Just be sure to mark the fence with flagging or electric fence signs. The last thing you want to do is stagger into that in the dark when you're trying to check on your peeps!

 

[kodiakchicken]

Here's Premier's Q&A page on poultry fencing: http://www.premier1supplies.com/poultry/species.php?mode=article&species_id=6

It even talks about the type of energizers to use for poultry, since they are more resistant to electric shock.

 

[patandchickens]

Won't keep them in if they *want* to fly. (Wing clipping would help - just 1 wing). Mostly all it does is keep ground-based predators out -- raccoons, dogs, coyotes, foxes, that sort of thing. Hawks etc are still a hazard.

It needs to be moved religiously before the grass gets too tall (like more than 4" or so) and mowed under. You can't mow or weedwhack while it's in place. It doesn't take long to move it, like, two feet to the left, though.

Lots of people use it, and as long as you understand that its main purpose is just to keep ground-based predators out, it works good.

Pat

 

[Chick_in_Indiana]

Has anyone every used there existing livestock fence changer?
If the fence is 6 ft do you think the chickens can still fly over or would they have to land on the fence then hop over. What about w/ clipping a wing? She has a lot of EE and Standards. A few heavy breeds. No bantams.

 

[patandchickens]

Sure, you can run it off your existing charger IF (and this is a big if) your charger is considerably oversized for its current fence load AND you're only using a fairly short run of electronet (like, not a bunch connected together). The electro net draws quite a lot of current -- there is a LOT of running feet of wire in there! It would be a real good idea to test its voltage with an accurate fence meter, i.e. a digital one not one of the five-neon-lights jobbies that are extremely inaccurate. An electric fence with insufficient charge is almost worse than none at all, since it lulls you into a false sense of security and then you lose your stock.

If they want to, they can fly right over with no stop. Clipping a wing would help, quite possibly sufficiently. It largely depends on how motivated the chickens are, though.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[Kuvasz]

Opinions of this brand wanted.....I found a listing on ebay that I wonder if it compares to the Premium fencing? Also, very confused about what and how to hook up a charger, solar or electric. So far there are no predators, but just a matter of time, I'm sure. We have bear, coyote, raccoons, and everything in between.

Here is the ebay listing, if I'm allowed to post it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=360198414757&ssPageName=ADME:B:WNASIF:US:1123

Also, will an electric fence harm my tiny chihuahuas who are 4 lbs and 5 lbs?

Thanks so much for your advice! It's expensive, so I don't want to botch it with my decision of which one to buy!

Is the Patriot charger for $39.00 any good? Anyone used these particular items? Thankyou, from me and my Brahmas who are only 3 weeks old today.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Also, will an electric fence harm my tiny chihuahuas who are 4 lbs and 5 lbs?

It won't do any permanent damage. They will quickly learn to stay away from it

Is the Patriot charger for $39.00 any good?

NO!!! It only has .04 Joules My smallest good charger is 3 Joules, and I have one that puts out 15 Joules

Look at Parmak chargers, and get the biggest one you can afford.
Electro net has a LOT of resistance and needs a good charger to be effective.

I have MILES of electric fence and 6 different chargers, and I've wasted some money on small "bargain" ones before I learned better.

http://www.parmakusa.com/Fencers/110.htm​

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Go to www.premier1supplies.com, find their instructional tutorials on how to set the system up. (Other good tutorials exist online, that is just the best one I know off the top of my head)

Basically the charger has two terminals -- "fence" terminal connects to the fencewires you want electrified, "ground" terminal attaches to one or more well-driven ground rods. (On a very small fence, like *just* around the coop, you often can get away without ground rods, or just have 1 short one). Don't install ground rods too close to buried utility/phone lines, buried plumbing, or utility-pole ground rods. The electrified fence wires must be TOTALLY insulated from any point of contact with anything conductive -- use good-quality insulators, preferably with a 4-6" standoff from the rest of the fence. Test FREQUENTLY with a GOOD (meaning, digital, not four-neon-lights cheapie) fence tester to detect and fix any problems.

That's basically it

Pat

 

[valley ranch]

Greetings, We installed a 9 strand Electric fence last year for bear and coyote. We lost two goats to a bear, he is a good bear now. The fence is powered by a 9 joule charger. We love it. When the big snows come we disconect the three lower wires so they don't ground out on the snow pack.Lower joule chargers might not do the job when the time comes. We ground the existing fencing so the earth as well as the fence is a ground the 9 strands are isolated from the fencing material. It won't harm you or your animals if you touch it but you won't enjoy it. For way less than the price of that one on Ebay you can get a good one.
Bear foot, I like the sound of that 15 joule!

Richard