Low charge electric fence for foxes?

[Kyguylal]

Hi all, just had a fox try to get my 6, seven week old chickens. Hardware cloth kept it out and I fired a couple shots and scared it off. Couldn't get a shot on it without hitting my birds, so I shot into the ground.

Looking at electric fences now. The Patriot PE2 is only 0.1 joule and im only looking at a 40' line around my coop and run.

Will that amount of power work? These things as easy as just running the line around the area and plugging it in? I qas thinking of using those plastic offsets and running a single line along the bottom section of my coop.

 

[CindyinSD]

I use the solar fence energizers. I have several Patriot ones, but I love my Premier One energizer best. Using grid-powered energizers is a bit more complicated than the solar ones. Here's a book I bought for Amazon Kindle that might help you.

 

[EggWalrus]

You will be better off spending a few more dollars and buy one that will teach the fox a lesson. Do at least 3 lines around the coop about 8-12 inches apart. And don't worry about the chickens getting shocked, mine walk thru/rub on a 50 mile charger and has never bothered them. Feathers are great insulators.
Solar is expensive and doesn't work nearly as well as plug-in chargers, plus you'll be disappointed and wind up buying a plug in if your serious about keeping predators away long term.
Do it right the first time and don't waste your money and time, or your chickens lives.

 

[EggWalrus]

Plug in E-fence is simpler than solar. No batteries to worry about staying charged or replacing every couple of years. Don't have to worry about if the sun shines or not. If your of grid, solar is your only option, but if you can run a heavy extention cord to the coop, plug in is the way to go.
With either system you'll need to read up on installing it. You want a good ground, and no shorts in your hot wire. Its really simple once you have read up on the basics of how it works.

 

[pintail_drake2004]

I wouldn't use a low charge. If I'm trying to deter a critter, I want it to singe the hair off of whatever it touches. Look online for videos of critters touching a "low charge" fence. They literally step back, and look at it, and come back for seconds. I keep a fence "hot" enough to knock them on their arse and involuntarily void their bowels. I also advise against using an extension cord to plug in a charger, but that is just how we were raised. Be sure to ground your fence if you do go electric.

 

[Trisseh]

You might be able to get by with less “juice” if you bait the wire with tin foil smeared with bacon grease or something similar. They’ll get a much nastier shock if they touch that wire with their tongue.

 

[centrarchid]

If the fox is getting zapped at the same time it is obstructed by another barrier, even a mild zap will get him / her to back off. I have had to employ fencing for some of my own dogs that can tear through most typical fencing types, yet they will not try when getting zapped with the mild shocks. The mild shocks appear to annoy the dogs. Much stronger zap needed if no obstruction to promote multiple zaps.