Thinking about electric fence?

[h_musick]

OK We were thinking about putting up electric fence for our chicken pen. (to keep out animals. not to keep them in)
I was wondering, before we did anything, if anyone has tried it. and how it turned out.

ok let me know!

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

It will do great at keeping most predators out if the wires are correctly spaced. Make sure to get a good strong charger

 

[h_musick]

ok thank you!

 

[FarmGirl21]

about how far does the wire need to be spaced from the chicken wire or yard "wall"?

 

[azelgin]

Quote:
I used the short spacers, only about 1" standoff. Three strands of electric twine. One @ 6", !8" and 36". You can see it in the pic. So far, it's worked out great. No chickens in the pic. but they're around there somewhere.

 

[FarmGirl21]

it looks good, I've been thinking of doing that...since we lost so many over the winter. Predators havent been much of a problem until last december. we have raccoons, possums, and coyotes but they RARELY come anywhere near the house or coop because of our dogs, i guess the geese help too though. we did have a problem with muskrats in the creek getting the ducks but havent seen any for a while now. hopefully that worry is almost gone with the better weather.

 

[farrier!]

The most common mistake with fencing is a lack of a good ground. Be sure to get your grounding rods deep. The dryer your area the more or deeper you need to go.

 

[Freebird]

I used two strands around my run, all on 5" stand-offs. One strand runs around the base about 5" from the ground to deter digging critters, the other is about 10" from the top of the run fence to deter climbing. I've got lots of skunks, coons, coyotes, and dogs in my area, and so far I've not had a break-in. And as mentioned above, make sure you get a good ground. I drove an 8ft ground rod in for my ground..it sticks up about 5"-6" at most.

 

[patandchickens]

I'd suggest longer standoff insulators, rather than the little 1" jobs. Partly because it is better insurance against the wire blowing against the fence; but mostly because you can run into problems inducing current in the run fence itself if the wires are too close. An induced current can make the run fence unpleasant to touch but moreover it extra resistance your charger has to overcome, i.e. your charger will not work as well as it would otherwise. The longer the parallel (metal wire) fence and the closer to the energized wire, the more induction you get.

And it is best to regard electric as the 'cherry on the top', not an essential part of your predatorproofing. Because all electric fences lose power *sometime*, be it from grounding out or the battery dies or the power fails or whatever... and predators can be pretty quick to notice.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[azelgin]

Quote:
My hot wire ends up being 4 1/2" from the coop wire, because it is on the opposite side of the 2 x 4 from the copp wire. I do get induction on humid days, but we don't get alot of those around here.

Nothing is fail safe. from the tires on your car, to the regulator on your propane tank. Asses the risks and do what works for you.