Having predator issues? Get an electric fence!

[Abriana]

I see the foxes and raccoons, but have only had one predator issue the entire year and almost a half I've had chickens, which was a hawk. I've only had one death due to a predator. I use an electric fence, and it keeps everything out. Where i live, foxes and raccoons are very, very abundant, and all the neighbors without electric fences complain of attacks. If you are having issues, it is worth it to invest in one of these! If you have small children, which is the reason i have heard most often when i suggest an electric fence and people say they can't, it really doesn't shock very hard. It just scares you a little, and once they get shocked once, they will stay away from it. I have never had an issue with small children getting shocked.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Growing up on, and than owning a farm, I am quite familiar with electric fences and the effectiveness of them. Are you using regular wire or are you using the poultry netting? Fencers come in all degrees of shock strength. I have been knocked down by a shock from the fence. As kids we routinely dared the city kids who visited to touch it. It is the most effective way to protect your livestock when installed, maintained and used correctly. I don't know why more people don't use it, especially those with constant troubles.

 

[Abriana]

I use netting. Keeps out everything but the bunnies, I almost caught one this morning when it was having some difficulty escaping. I use PermaNet, which works very well.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have always been curious about the netting as it can touch the ground without grounding out, right?

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Wrong!!! With electrified netting the lower two or three wires are not electrified. So it has about the same efficiency as the lower cost old-style electric fence used to keep cows in their pasture.

In dry weather I use to grab a-hold of my electric fence to alleviate some of my aches and pains.

By using multiple strands of high tension wire you can customize your electric fence if snow fall is a problem where you live and results in the fence not working. One word of caution, don't go wee-wee on your electric fence, that is a no-no!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks, I think, for that. I didn't know the bottom wasn't electrified.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Thanks, I think, for that. I didn't know the bottom wasn't electrified.

For you city girls out there, I thought that you would like to see that if you have an electric fence around your place that it doesn't take a dog long to look at a herd of cows

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

That is hard to watch because I know what's coming, you never lose the fear of an electric fence once you get shocked, neither human or dog.

 

[Howard E]

On my Kencove poultry netting, only the bottom wire is NOT hot. The rest are, and that includes the second one from the bottom that is only 3 inches from the ground. So that makes in both highly effective at ground level AND highly susceptible to grounding out on either the ground or any vegetation that grows up through it.

This is the grid pattern for the Kencove poultry netting fences:



This image shows an available modification where the horizontal strands alternate between hot and grounded, which means you do not have to worry as much about your ground rod. If an animal tries to slip through it, it only has 3 inches of space to work with so well may hit a hot and ground wire at the same time (or just the hot wire will do if it still has a foot standing on the ground), making it almost certain he will get zapped. I doubt anything much larger than a baby rabbit could get through this unscathed, and that might even include weasels. Yes......those small animals can get through holes much smaller than 3 inches, but they don't know they can't touch the wire until they have touched it and after that, they may be reluctant to touch it again.

Two other things about poultry netting......some fence chargers are described as to how many miles of fence they will charge. Note that if all of the wires in this fence are hot, to get the linear feet of hot wire this fencer is charging, you have to multiply the linear feet of netting (say 160 feet) by 13. So you are actually charging 2,080 feet of fence wire. Not only that, but the actual hot wire in these poly rope wires is a braid of very small diameter stainless steel or aluminum wire, so these create some resistance to current flow, meaning the voltage drop off of the charge fenced can be significant. Beyond that, if the fence does ground out, the shock is diminished even more.

Bottom line is if you have one or more sections of these poultry netting fences, the low end fence chargers may not be up to the task of heating them up. So a weak charger may leave you with a weak shock, which is not a deterrent.

Although I have the poultry netting, my preference is to use 3, 4 or 5 strands of actual wire fence made from 17 gauge aluminum wire, set at 5 inch intervals up from the ground. Not nearly as effective as poultry netting, but effective enough and a whole lot easier to maintain.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You explained it all, thank you.