Losing Chickens With Electric Fence

[123RedBeard]

Just hook the ground to the welded wire.

 

[True Patriot]

Can you eliminate the t-post and put insulators directly on the fence? Reducing the free space will help.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

Actually I just went out to check. The gap isn't as large as it looks. It's about 3 inches. But there is a larger 4 inch gap at the t post. Something would be hard pressed to climb with that there. Unless it jumped over them all.

When you say hook the ground to the welded wire... Do you mean just connect the ground I have now to the welded? The ground I'm using now is an 8ft copper rod drove all the way in and it's connected to the fence charger. Can I just run a wire from the ground rod to the welded wire fence as well?

 

[True Patriot]

Run a ground wire from the fence to the rod. If the fence isn't earthed anything that climbs won't be shocked. I'd leave the existing ground connected. No chance of forming a "hot" loop.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

Sounds good. I'm going to do that right now. Thank you all for your input, by the way.

 

[cmom]

It could be an owl. I lost several birds. I have electric around my coops and pens and couldn't figure out how the predator got in. There were no signs of a breach anywhere. I put a game camera up and sure enough there was the owl. I have a video of it killing a bird. Since I have heavy duty netting over all of my pens. One time a fox dug under one of the gates to one of the pens and killed several birds. ( I have big pens) Since then I put concrete under all of the gates. It's been a long time (years) since I've had a breach. I still have a game camera out by the coops and now and then see a predator pass by but they don't get too close.

 

[DyingPhoenix]

Did your owl dismember the corpses like mine were? I don't mean to be grisly but I'm really puzzled! I also figured if an owl had done it, they would be left in the open.

 

[cmom]

Yes, my pens are also welded wire but on the inside inbetween the pens I also have 2 foot chicken wire I see you put yours to the top. My perimeter fence is like that.

 

[cmom]

It was a huge owl. Great Horned Owl.

 

[Soon2BChixMom]

It is my understanding that the electric wire cannot touch metal or it won't complete the circuit. We have a ground rod and then we have plastic insulator posts to hold the wire. It works because our dogs tested it out. Not on purpose of course, but they both got too close after we hooked it up - and didn't listen. Well, they listen now.