Help choosing best electric fence for predator protection

[Chook-A-Holic]

The first thing that I would do is to make absolutely sure that nothing can get into your enclosure before adding the electric fence. An electric fence is just another barrier in discouraging predators. I am also a firm believer in installing the most powerful fencer that you can afford. The little Fido fencers at the hardware stores are a waste of money against determined predators. They are no more than training fencer IMO. Keep small children in mind when doing this. Also make sure the fencer in UL approved. A UL approved fencer is both animal and human safe. It will hurt like heck, but it won't harm. You need to be aware that it will take more power in the winter to keep the same predator discouraged than it will in the summer due to their winter coats. You need to hit them and hit them hard. I've been accused of overkill due to the power that my fencer is, but I can sure sleep good and night and I don't worry if I go off for the weekend knowing my birds are safe.

When you get the fence installed I also suggest baiting it. I bait mine every 2 to 4 weeks. I put tin foil on the bottom strand corners and put cat food or hot dogs on it. Anything that come by for a quick snack will learn to stay away and not challenge the fence any further. I've seen smaller animals hit it and not harm them. It does stun the smaller ones worse, but they eventually shake it off and move on. It has never killed anything.

Last week I had a brain cramp and went to go into one of the runs before turning off the fencer. This is the first time in years of having electric fences that I ever did this. I got a good dose of shock therapy when over 11,000 volts(digital fence tester) knocked my 200lb butt to the ground. It did hurt bad and that 1/100 of a second jolt felt like it was 10 minutes long. I hopefully won't be doing that trick again anytime soon.

Good luck!

 

[ottodog]

WOW great advise, thanks everyone! One question, I assumed you would put the electric wire on the run itself. Is it better to have a fence around the run? I guess it'd be an external barrier, rather than putting it on the run.
If you do use an external fence around the run, do you just loop the wire to form a fence, or do you also use fencing material in addition to the hot wire?

 

[BlackBart]

If you do use an external fence around the run, do you just loop the wire to form a fence, or do you also use fencing material in addition to the hot wire?

Yes I use internal fencing as well. The electric is for perimeter fencing.

I use electrobraid. It is white (visible) poly rope with metal wire running through it. Very strong.

I used pound in posts with adapters screwed in to hold the electrobraid.

The first strand is about 8 inches off the ground, the second about two feet, the third approx 3 feet, the forth about 4 feet. I put the lowest strand at 8 inches because of the Raccoons and Cougars. But if you had a smaller predator problem, mink/weasels it could be lower.
As long as it doesn't touch anything and grounds it self out.

I have a solar powered fence charger as they electricity can be down sometimes because of the wind storms and falling trees. When the Bears are around I switch the charger to a cattle charger that packs a powerful jolt. It can get through all the thick fur.
Once they hit it, they never come back.
The honey bee farmers use the same charger to protect their honey hives in the mountains.

 

[ottodog]

Any brand recommendations as far as chargers go?

Thanks.

 

[dirtsaver]

Quote:
Most chargers (just like lawnmowers and kitchen appliances) are made by a handful of companies. More important than brand to me is a good dealer/farm supply that supports the charger you buy. A store that can get your unit repaired when lightning strikes it(and it will at some point) and a good warranty are the key things to look for. When I worked for Southern States Coops several years ago we sold a line of chargers from the Aussies called Gallagher. They seemed to be the best I'd seen or used. They sell a full line of chargers and acessories. www.gallagherusa.com is their site.

Larry

 

[BlackBart]

I use Hallman and haven't had a problem yet.
http://www.hallman.ca

Just remember to get the correct voltage for what you want to keep out. Minimum effective voltage, 2000V for long haired animals, 700V for short haired.
I have a ancient Hallman charger that has a switch on it. Three settings, low, high, stun. They used it to keep the grizzlies out.

 

[a5ftfury]

Powerfields is a nice brand that makes a poultry-specific electric fence.

 

[Sledrock]

How do you run the wire for a gate to the run? Just run wire across it and step over it when going through the gate? (Or do you have two doors on the hen house - one where there's no wire and another from inside the house to the run?)

 

[patandchickens]

So the main concern is bears?

I would suggest three things: 1) put the fencing as far away from the coop as you can, ideally around the *yard* or something like that, so that you are keeping the bears as far as possible from the chickens. 2) Use something hard-to-break, like electric rope or electrobraid, for at least one strand of the fencing; a reasonable argument can be made for having some strands be semi-invisible i.e. 16 ga wire, but if you want them all electrobraid/electric-rope that works for lots of people too. And 3) Have the fence ALWAYS running at like 5-7,000 volts (this is higher than you'd typically use for coyote or dog deterrence, or for livestock, but it is what you need to deter bears - though keeping the fence baited will help if you *have* to run at a lower voltage) -- so buy a GOOD DIGITAL tester [and by digital tester no I do not mean your finger <g>] and check that fence every day so you can troubleshoot when necessary. Not one of those five-neon-lights jobbies, they are too inaccurate.

What fencer to buy depends on how large an area you will be fencing (see #1 above), but unless it will be measured in acres, a 2-5 mile fencer is likely to be quite adequate for you. MIND YOU, this "charges X miles of fence" promotional copy is UTTERLY MEANINGLESS and generally incorrect (sometimes very, very incorrect), for a whole slew of reasons I will not take up space with here, and you should just IGNORE it if you have a more normal situation where you are fencing a larger area; but in your case, if this is a small area, it should be adequate to give you a vague idea of what to shop for. Again, though, do not get sucked into believing that a fencer that is labelled "charges 5 miles of fence" will ACTUALLY charge a 5 mile fence for you, because it almost assuredly will not and often nowhere *close* to it.

Do stay away from inexpensive fence chargers intended for dogs. They are generally too weenie for your needs, plus a distressing number of them are non-pulsing (always on) which is pretty dangerous. There may be a few situations in life that really require non-pulsing chargers but this is NOT one of them, really.

Personally I would suggest a battery-powered unit. Once you figure in the difference in initial purchase price vs solar, and the fact that solar batteries cost almost as much and still have to be replaced every few years, they usually make more economic sense. Or, if you have VERY RELIABLE electric service and somewhere to house the charger where you are ok with the risk of lightning blowing it up and starting a fire, you could consider a plug-in unit, which is the cheapest type to buy and operate. (You can add a lightning diverter to the system but this does not totally prevent the possibility of fire).

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Electric doesn't work well as a perimeter fence if there are gaps in it, so it is best to have gateways electrified same as the rest of the fence.

The most common way of doing it is to have a wire going across the gateway (on a standoff, like it is for the rest of the fence, so it doesn't actually *touch* the gate) that you disconnect when you want to go thru the gate. Smart people make wire that crosses the gateway live on only the HANDLE (hook) end, and a dead (yet insulated) connection on the other end, so that when you unhook it the now-loose wire is dead not live and can't 'bite' you

Smart people also run a double-insulated wire over or under the gateway so that even when you have the gateway wire unhooked, the REST of the fence IS still live. Other schemes are possible of course, but this is the one I'd recomend for most situations.

Pat