Premier Fencing- Energizer and other questions....

[CityChicker]

Hey Everyone,

I am revisiting the idea of using some of the electric netting to create a pasture for my ducks/geese. I was checking out the Premier site and saw the 20" and 30" fence that I hadn't seen before and now I am really interested again in trying it. They say that even the 20" will keep in ducks/geese and keep out everything but coyotes. I tend to believe it because my waterfowl rarely try to fly.

Anyhow... this will be mostly a day pen unless it seems secure enough to keep them overnight in it sometimes. Here are my questions...

1. My biggest question is what is the most affordable energizer I can get? Solar might be an option because we get almost 365 days of sunshine. If that is too ineffective, plug-in *might* be an option also if I can run a wire somehow up to 30-40 feet from one of my outlets outside. Money is an issue because my husband and I are both in school.

2. How far does it need to be away from trees and wood fences to prevent something from jumping in? Our main predators are skunks, striped and spotted. The spotted skunks can climb which makes them even more annoying to deal with.

3. Has anyone had problems with electric netting hurting pets? We have a 14 y.o. Jack Russell and a 10 y.o. Mini Daschie that are both into everything. I don't want them to get hurt.

Any advice is appreciated. TIA!

 

[chcknrs]

We have the electric mesh fencing for our chickens, it's 4' high and they fly over it all the time! However, the dogs have gotten used to it and don't go near it. The electricity is in pulses and is fairly mild, so doesn't hurt, just a little shocking (I have been zapped more than once!). It has been very effective for us when the chickens decide to stay inside the fence, and we have heard neighbor dogs as well as coyotes get stung by it. They let out a yelp and run off! I also took some of the fencing and put it around my garden and that keeps the deer away. Great stuff, worth the price. We have electric and run the wire down to garden/chicken area. Some wire comes with it, but you can get more rather cheaply at Home Depot, etc. Good luck!

 

[CityChicker]

Thank you! I might try some around my garden too if I can figure out a way to position it. I am not too worried about the height. Ducks/geese can usually be kept in shorter fences than chickens. Mine seldom fly over even 2 foot fences. I will occasionally have one that will fly, but they always seem to go quickly back to their group.

 

[cmjust0]

As to question 1):

Yes, you can have a plug-in, which means you can buy a more powerful charger than if you were stuck with a solar.

Fact is, you can put the fence charger (energizer) about anywhere you want, so long as you can run a hot wire out to the fence.

If you don't like the idea of having a hot wire running from the charger to the fence, just buy a spool of insulated hotwire and bury it a few inches into the ground for the length between the fence and charger. No problem.

As to question 2):

No clue.

As to question 3):

I wouldn't worry too much about pets getting seriously injured by an electric fence. I suppose they could, theoretically, get tangled in it, but my solution to that -- and you may not like this, but... -- my solution to that would be to "introduce" them both to the electric fence under your supervision. Once they get a taste of it, they shouldn't want anything to do with it ever again.

FWIW..the grounding is the number one weak spot in most electric fence systems. If ever you hear someone complain about having tried electric fence and it never working right for them, there's about a 90% chance they didn't ground it properly.

Too many people think the grounding system is some kind of safety feature or some extraneous BS that's not necessary, so they bury a rusty piece of rebar and wrap a flimsy piece of wire around it.. That doesn't work! Remember -- the ground is half the fence!

If you bury sufficient groundrod, you won't have too much trouble. I pull well in excess of 6kV with a heavy wet weedload on about 1.5mi of 12-1/2ga hotwire with a 50mi "zereba" (cheap TSC model) charger, no problem...that's what four 8' groundrods will do. Oh...if your ground is rocky, bury your groundrod at an angle.

Personally, I

electric fence.

 

[patandchickens]

1) Don't buy solar, it is a waste of money in nearly all circumstances. (MUCH more expensive, and you STILL have to replace the batteries every few years, more often if you let the fence ground out for lonng periods of time and it kills the batteries dead). Either go plug-in (by far the most affordable option, and unless you have unusually unreliable power or can't run an insulated wire out to the fence it is generally the best) or get a battery operated one. If the latter, whether to use a replaceable or a rechargeable battery is a personal choice and depends on how much you think you're going to use it.

Make real sure you get a powerful enough charger for your fence - to repel dogs/coyotes you need a pretty stiff jolt. You might ask Premier for their recommendation (although obviously they will recommend one of their chargers, you can take it or leave it, and will have some idea of the specs to shop for if you don't buy one of theirs)

2) You'll have to make an educated guess, but I can't see a skunk or much of anything else trying to jump into the pen from higher than maybe 6' or so max, which would mean that a fence 5-6' away from anything climbable should be safe unless there are low overhanging branches.

3) Train them to the fence, perhaps with it only half-charged (i.e. half grounded out) if you are concerned about the power of the charger; and they should leave it alone after that first zap.

What cmjust0 said about ground rods. Seriously. That, and crappy insulators, and crappy electrical connections, and inappropriately chosen chargers, accounts for virtually all electric fence problems. Do it RIGHT and it works really well.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[CityChicker]

Thank you all so much! I checked out those chargers on the TSC website and they are *much* cheaper than Premier.

I have never installed an electric fence so I am not sure how hard it is to run wire to the charger and all that. I do have two outlets outside, but both of them have several things plugged into them. One of them I think it pretty much out of the question because of its location.

The other one is on our covered patio connected to the house. It is a brick patio about 25 feet long, so there is not really any way to dig to bury an insulated line. The end of the patio though adjoins to our privacy fence and our barn and duck run is pretty much a straight line from there (hence the 30-40 feet I mentioned).

Can the insulated line be done above ground? If so, I might be able to attach it to the house and then down the fence to where I want to start the electric netting unless that is a fire risk or something.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Can the insulated line be done above ground? If so, I might be able to attach it to the house and then down the fence to where I want to start the electric netting unless that is a fire risk or something.

It doesnt have to be insulated wire if not buried.
Just use insulators where needed to route it to your fence.​

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
It doesnt have to be insulated wire if not buried.
Just use insulators where needed to route it to your fence.

It doesn't *have* to be, but it is much more pleasant to be around if it's insulated (esp. if this is your yard), so that people do not go accidentally zapping themselves on it. Also if it is good insulated wire you do not have to worry about things grounding it out (tall grass, branches, etc). So, personally I'd spring for the insulated wire for a lead-out, unless this were inside an already electric-fenced field.

Insulated wire (and if you're bothering at all, then really, do buy the proper electric-fence insulated wire, don't use household wiring the insulation of which does not necessarily stand up to these high voltages for real long) is not especially expensive, buy it wherever you're buying your other electric fence supplies.

JMO,

Pat

 

[CityChicker]

It sounds like it would have to be insulated of some sort. The wire will have to go across several feet of our patio including over the top of a door, so I don't think I could use regular electric fence wire. My husband already thinks I'm crazy. An electric fence on the patio would probably send him right over the edge. LOL

 

[patandchickens]

I suppose you could conceal double-insulated wire inside that plastic stuff (not real conduit) they sell for doing the same purpose with *indoor* wiring, to conceal it running along moldings etc. Or perhaps run the wire through something to discourage shovels and trench it into the ground out of the way.

Or, maybe look at battery-operated systems, they are intermediate in price between plug-in and solar. It isn't necessarily horribly expensive to replace the battery periodically. You do need to be more religious about checking your fence (not just visually, but with a fence tester) b/c if you let a battery run too low, e.g. b/c the fence has grounded out, it can be permanently damaged to the point of needing replacement no matter how 'new' it is.

Good luck,

Pat