Going Electric

[hogges]

Being a good American, I just increased my defense budget again... Here is my brand new electric fence addition. About $80 total from Tractor Supply, actually not that expensive, and I even went with the stronger "5 mile" controller, mainly because it has better mounting options and a separate power cable instead of plugging right into an outlet. I put it on a timer so it's only active at night after the door to the coop is closed. I don't want any of the girls to get zapped if they fly over or onto the 5' fence, which they do on occasion.

 

[pibb]

Mine looks something similar to yours. Mine runs 24/7. I want my chickens to get zapped because they don't do that no more and learn to stay in the fence.

Your wire is on the inside, which doesn't really keep predators out. You need the wire on the outside too.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Good to know how much you spent. I'm getting ready to set up a new run after we move in a few weeks. I want to put up electric fencing because we will be living right up against some woods. Was it hard to install?

 

[hogges]

Mine looks something similar to yours. Mine runs 24/7. I want my chickens to get zapped because they don't do that no more and learn to stay in the fence.

Your wire is on the inside, which doesn't really keep predators out. You need the wire on the outside too.

The electric fence is on the outside the main fence. I am standing outside the chicken run in this picture. I'll consider keeping it switched on. So far I am assuming that the raccoons will only come at night. Is this a bad assumption?

 

[hogges]

Good to know how much you spent. I'm getting ready to set up a new run after we move in a few weeks. I want to put up electric fencing because we will be living right up against some woods. Was it hard to install?

Because I already have a main fence, I needed to make sure the electric fence is not touching it. Because my posts are spaced far apart (8-10 feet) I came up with this idea of attaching short pieces of 1x2" wood to the fence (wedged against similar sized plywood pieces) as anchors for the plastic insulators. So this took a little bit of time to figure out. Once this was done it was very fast.
If your fence is straighter than mine or you have more poles, then you should be able to us the insulators as intended. They also sell insulators that are twice as long for more spacing. BTW: I screwed mine in with trim screws instead of using the supplied nails.
My cost summary does not include the ground rods. I already had a couple of 36" long 1/2" solid galvanized steel rods and used these. The ground rods sold at Tractor Supply were I think $25 a piece and you are supposed to use 2 or 3. They are six foot long which seemed overkill for a maximum distance of 25 feet from the controller plus I also grounded the main fence anyway to ensure a "good" experience for any climber.

 

[pibb]

Oh duh. I see your coop on the inside now.

 

[Howard E]

Good job on all of it. But if you look around, you can probably find clip on, stand off insulators for the steel T posts.......4" or 6"......so did not need to make the wooden adapters.

And leave the fence on 24/7. Unless it's grounded, it won't matter to the fencer and that way you won't forget.....or miss out on the opportunity to zap a daytime predator.

 

[cmom]

The electric fence is on the outside the main fence. I am standing outside the chicken run in this picture. I'll consider keeping it switched on. So far I am assuming that the raccoons will only come at night. Is this a bad assumption?

Here I have only seen coons at night.

 

[hogges]

I switched mine to 24/7 as per the advice received. I forgot and got zapped, but it's not very strong so no big deal. I check it daily to make sure the wire didn't get bent and that nothing fell onto the wire.

 

[cmom]

Also, I check my wires every evening when I go out to collect the eggs.