Spied a fox - will one electric wire do?

[True Grit]

I was fiddling with the waterer in the run and the girls were bummin' around, not really intent on roosting yet, when I heard a hen bawk loudly. Usually they aren't very vocal so when she did it the second time I went out and saw the fox across the driveway in the other yard. Big fox. When he saw me he moved off so I hopped the fence and chased after him, yelling like crazy. I never let the girls out before 10 am and this was at about 6 pm to 6:15 when they were just getting starting to think about going to roost. Usually I let them roost and then go out at 6:30 and close the door. I certainly didn't expect to see a fox when it was hardly dark yet but there he was. I don't want to kill or trap him so I'm thinking a hot wire 6 inches off the ground around our 4 ft wire fence might do it. It is about 1/3 to 1/2 an acre. Or should I use another wire at some distance above the first one? It was just luck I was out there at the same time the fox was. Even when the hen bawked the others didn't do anything to react.

 

[lightfoot]

some people use multiple wires. 2", 4" to 6", 8" to 12" and around the top of the run/coop. somewhere in the posts people have discussed it, even posting pics. as an example, about 3 miles from us, a bee keeper moves in a bunch of honey bee hives. first 2 years a bear tore them up. the 3rd year the bee keeper put a single strand of electric wire around the 50 x 75 foot area. no bear damage. 4th year still no bear damage. as you can see electric fence works. good luck.

 

[True Grit]

Thanks! I'll try one wire and keep a really close eye on them in the early evening. Once we have some snow on the ground it will be easy to see if the fence gets tested or crossed.

 

[lightfoot]

remember, snow could short out the fence.

 

[BlackBart]

If it were me I'd go with three strands. But it is up to you.
We used two strands to keep the Polar Bears away from the dumpsters.

 

[True Grit]

Quote:

Thanks! I realized this recently. I almost wrote a question about if I should put a wire at the top of the fence in case we get 3 feet of snow. Those'd be some tall chickens if they were out free-ranging in 3 ft of snow.
Is the second wire for taller predators? We wouldn't have anything bigger than a coyote here. I suppose stopping a weasel is next to impossible but I've never seen one here.