Quick and easy electric fence

[Howard E]

A few days back I found evidence that the coons had somehow managed to get past my primary electric fence to raid a small patch of sweet corn. No real surprise, as primary fence only surrounds the secondary area on only 3 sides. Fourth side is chain link fence which is primary yard for the birds. There is a gate that opens up between them. Coons have either managed to get past the electric fence, or else go under or over two sections of chain link fence, which is the most likely avenue of entry. Anyway, I wanted to construct a temporary electric fence to protect what is left of my sweet corn. Sort of a belt and suspenders approach. This one is closed in on all four sides. A hot fence within a hot fence. Double jeopardy! Will be curious to see if they get past it.

For this one, I used the poly tape fence material (has strands of stainless steel wire woven into the tape), as I had it around and I wanted it visible for human pedestrians. Entire process took maybe all of one hour to construct. Four steel post corners, set insulators, stretch the tape then prop it up on step in poly posts made for these light duty fences. Could have used the poultry netting, which would have been more effective, but this area was larger than what 160 linear feet would surround. Tape fence of this type is almost as easy to setup and costs far less than poultry netting does.

Spacing is 5" off the deck, then 2nd wire 5" above that. Coons typically try to crawl between the two, so may get it from above, below.....or both. They don't know it is a HOT fence, so don't know to avoid it until it's too late.

So here is the charger......running on a freshly charged battery. This is a 12 volt unit made by Parmak in Kansas City, and sold as a rebranded unit by our local farm coop. (MFA to those in MO who might want to know). Cost of these runs about $100. Battery charge lasts 2 or 3 months, depending on how clear you keep the fence.



On on a fresh charged battery, gauge on needle is maxed out. So how hot is it?



That is X1000, so 13,300 volts. Ouch.

And on the END of the poly fence run? (Test the end, farthest away from the connection......if it is HOT there, it has to be hot all along the way getting there)



A digital tester of this type is one of the best diagnostic tools you can have when messing with a fence. It tells you all you need to know.......and not the hard way.

So will this work? We will see. Probably won't know what happens unless I find the fence down on the ground (somebody got it!)......or else no more damage to the corn.

Bottom line is a fence of this type is quick, easy and effective. If I was to make it permanent, I'd opt for 17 gauge aluminum wire instead of the poly tape. Or if this was intended for full size bears (not these mini-bears), tape or rope would be a good idea as they are more visible.

 

[Howard E]

btw.......this is what happens when an animal encounters a fence of this type. They don't know what it is......are used to slipping through such obstacles all the time........so mostly waltz right into it.......not expecting what is about to happen. They seldom come back for more.

 

[Trish1974]

Hi Howard... curious about how your new line of fencing did against the coons? I will need to put up a temporary electric fence around my dad's sweet corn next year, as the coons got half his crop this year. I will probably use this thread for my blueprint! Great info!

 

[Howard E]

Have lost nothing since this 2nd fence went up, so one or both of them must be doing the job.
I remember last summer when my parents and a sister fought with the coons for their sweet corn. They used live traps and caught a bunch (the buzzard buffet) but the coons still got half of it anyway. This keeps them more at arm's length. Traps only work if they walk in them, so if they ignore the traps and eat whatever the traps are by, traps are not effective.

BTW, although this fence was put there for sweet corn, the same type of fence is what I use to surround the chicken yard, which was my intent for this post. A demonstration of how to build a simple electric fence to keep coons at arm's length, out and away from the coop and birds. Remarkably, it also works to keep chickens in.......or if it was garden area you wanted to keep the birds out of, it will also keep them out too.

 

[Trish1974]

I have recently added on to my chicken run, almost double of the original run, and had to make 3 splices in the electric fence. The splices and additional length of fence knocked 500 volts off what I was originally averaging. I am getting ready to make another add-on to the run (these add-ons are for rotational grazing) and will have to splice into the fence two more times, which I'm sure will bring down my voltage again. I currently have one ground rod, will adding an additional ground rod increase my voltage very much? I was originally kicking out 4000 volts, now down to 3500, and will not be comfortable with 3000 if that's going to be what I'm knocked down to after the next addition. My targeted predators are raccoons and fox.

 

[Howard E]

Sounds as if your fencer may not be packing enough punch to power up your fence to the level it needs to be. Most "authorities" on the subject suggest at least 7,000 volts min. You can see what mine does. You do not want a tickle......you want to ping em pretty good. Something they want no part of ever again.
I went to school back in the day when if you got out of line teachers could get out a paddle and use it on you. A teacher did that to my cousin once, who when he got a whack got cute and proclaimed to the rest of us........"that didn't even hurt". Teacher left and came back with the PE Coach and asked coach to do the honors. That hurt.
You want your fence to leave the same impression the PE coach did. You want them walking away thinking "that hurt".

 

[tigger19687]

FYI I just returned one of those "temp electric fences" they don't stay up stright and the middle sags. In order for them to stay up you would have to tie them down at an angle away from the fence . Was not what I was looking for.
Once I get acres to farm I will be doing what you did.
Thanks

 

[Howard E]

Observed another test of the fence yesterday. Was going out to lock the birds down for the night and one of the barn cats was on the wrong side of the fence, yowling at me. I turn to look and sure enough, it starts coming towards me to follow. As it approached the fence, I told it......"no, stop, turn back", but cats don't listen.

So it noses up to the fence.......which has been up for well over a year now, so I assumed this cat in particular would have bumped into it by now......but maybe not. Anyway, it noses up to the fence, stops.......then moves forward. Gets low and crawls underneath just as it does the adjacent chain link fence. Amazing to me.....nothing happens. Fence was on......right? So cat is brushing the bottom wire.....first the head, then front shoulders......cat is rubbing the wire, but is a long haired cat, so is insulated somewhat. Is now almost under, but raises up a bit as the back legs pass and that did it.ZAP!
Cat shoots forward about 50 feet before stopping to look back to see what bit it. A second later, jumps 3 feet in the air, and when it comes back down, runs to the nearest tree and shoots up it. Seconds later, comes back down and starts running in all directions inside a 20 foot circle. Stops for a second, then heads straight for the fence at a dead run. Hits the fence running (went airborne through the 2nd and 3rd wires) and does not even slow down until it is 50 feet on the other side. Then changes direction and heads across the yard faster than I thought a cat......that cat or any cat could go. It shows up at the barn for feeding time about 5 minutes later and is still acting nervous.
That pretty much sums up what happens when an animal hits this electric fence. It provides a memorable jolt they don't understand the source of, but don't like and certainly don't forget. Also an indication of why on some days you can find the fence stretched or down on some places. Some animals, when they get the hit are already partially inside, so scoot forward, then find themselves trapped within and have to once again tangle with the fence getting out. Once they realize they are trapped inside, some will panic and hit it running. Some will then get a strong second reminder of "keep out".
It seems to me that dogs, in particular, are fast learners. Dogs I've seen that have been zapped by this fence won't go near it. You can hardly make them go near it.
BTW, it has been a week now and not another ear of corn has been lost to the coons.

 

[Trish1974]

Some animals, when they get the hit are already partially inside, so scoot forward, then find themselves trapped within and have to once again tangle with the fence getting out. Once they realize they are trapped inside, some will panic and hit it running.

Ah yes, so true with livestock, which is where most of my electric fence experience comes from. Especially true with cows...if they get the jolt once their head is through they just keep going, dragging fence posts out and all! Craziest thing I'd ever seen was this psychotic paint mare I used to own; had her and my show gelding in a rotational grazing area surrounded by about 4 strands of polywire, highest one being about horse-chest height. She was in heat (but was also psycho when she wasn't in heat) and she saw 2 people riding their horses down the road. She touched the fence with her nose, got zapped, shook it off, backed up as far as she could and took a flying leap over the fence, catching her back hoof with the top wire and pulling the whole fence down! Luckily my show gelding was bomb-proof and just stood their continuing to graze not even realizing what happened while psycho took off towards the road.

Great story by the way, but feel sorry for the cat. Congrats on not losing any more corn! I am going to try adding an extra ground rod and if that can't bump me up to at least 5,000 volts I'll get a different charger. 4,000 was enough to repel my 250 lb. boyfriend who thought he was slick enough to feed the hens through the strands of polytape so I thought that would be enough to repel a fox or raccoon!

 

[Howard E]

Epilogue.....no more losses to that patch of sweet corn or the other one on in there that was a bit larger. On one occasion, however, we were out picking some corn and green beans and noticed our small house dog was INSIDE the fence with us. Fence was hot, but there he was. I then watched to see how he got out and he jumped over it. Only two strands and top one about 10 inches or so off the ground. Coons and most varmints would crawl through those and get zapped. Dog was jumping over. He WAS doing the same thing on the outside fence until I added two more wires......so basically wires at 5", 10", 15" and 20". He won't jump over that. He crouches down and acts like he wants to.....but won't.

So I'm thinking the two bottom wires will work to keep coons, possums, skunks, cats, etc. out and to keep the chickens in. Not sure about foxes, coyotes and dogs. Adding the 3rd and 4th wires seems to up the protection level from them. With 4 wires, it seems you filter out almost everything but hawks, owls, etc.

BTW, my birds were all trained to the fence using only 1 or 2 wires. Invariably, they would walk up to it and step on it to get over. When they got zapped on the bottom of their foot, they would launch about 5 feet in the air. After that, they will get near the fence, but won't cross it. If one does get outside, which hasn't happened in over a year.....but if they do, they can easily fly over it to get back in. You would think they would do the same to get out, but these birds don't.