Will a 5 strand electric fence keep out foxes?

[Folly's place]

Check in with @Howard E , @cmom , and Premier1supplies.com. The plan is to bait the wire at first, so critters avoid it entirely.
Hitting a top wire while not grounded won't shock anyone; think about birds sitting on power lines! Electric fencing works because of that fear factor, which comes from that first unpleasant contact experience.
Mary

 

[ColoradoPip]

If they jump over it how do they get shocked?

If you look at the picture/attachment in Mtnboomer's post you will see the offset wires at the top. The fox jumps up, hits those wires which are extended out from the top, and is sent running.

Check in with @Howard E , @cmom , and Premier1supplies.com. The plan is to bait the wire at first, so critters avoid it entirely.
Hitting a top wire while not grounded won't shock anyone; think about birds sitting on power lines! Electric fencing works because of that fear factor, which comes from that first unpleasant contact experience.
Mary

That's why I said you need a positive and negative wire at the top. It will be a stronger shock than touching a hot wire and the dirt/ground because the animal would be touching the hot wire along with real ground wire...and receives the entirety of the shock! This works and unless you leave bait on your fence all the time, that solution isn't long term.

 

[Mtnboomer]

I found out you can attach wood to a tpost...so I was thinking of putting a top and bottom hot wire and put some simple type of fence in-between but the only simple fence material I can think of is chicken wire. Hardware cloth would too expensive, to use for 1 1/2 acres of fencing.

I have same issue with a section of field i am fencing off for goats. I dont want to electrify it because I have small children, but 1 ac of woven wire fence is over $1k.

Chicken wire is for keeping chickens in not keeping other animals out. Hardware cloth is overkill. See my other post for fence style I would choose. A farm i pass by in my travels uses this fence for a flock im guessing 100+ (maybe underestimated) on about 1/2 ac lot. Ive never inquired as to its effectiveness, but theory is sound.

 

[hayley3]

A red fox can jump vertically over 6ft. Unless you have a secure "roof" and subgrade anchors, a determined fox will find a way in eventually. So make it difficult enough to make the fox not want to put in the effort. If using fencing alone without a roof I would electrify a style like this to increase the horizontal distance the fox must clear. But not as tall.

That would be great but I am only using tposts, so there is no way that I know of to make that angled area at the top.

 

[hayley3]

I have same issue with a section of field i am fencing off for goats. I dont want to electrify it because I have small children, but 1 ac of woven wire fence is over $1k.

Chicken wire is for keeping chickens in not keeping other animals out. Hardware cloth is overkill. See my other post for fence style I would choose. A farm i pass by in my travels uses this fence for a flock im guessing 100+ (maybe underestimated) on about 1/2 ac lot. Ive never inquired as to its effectiveness, but theory is sound.

Yeah I like that top extension but not sure how to achieve it with a tpost.

 

[cmom]

Here is a picture of my wires. Nothing will get through. When I first put the wires up many years ago some predators did test it but not in a very long time. Also if you put wire up get a good fence charger and a good long ground rod. I only have 2 wires around the chick/grow-out coop but the predators know it's there.

Since this picture was taken I have added another coop on the end but the wires are the same.

 

[hayley3]

Here is a picture of my wires. Nothing will get through. When I first put the wires up many years ago some predators did test it but not in a very long time. Also if you put wire up get a good fence charger and a good long ground rod. I only have 2 wires around the chick/grow-out coop but the predators know it's there.View attachment 2018422
Since this picture was taken I have added another coop on the end but the wires are the same. View attachment 2018424View attachment 2018425View attachment 2018429

Yeah that's kinda what I was thinking...you have the chicken wire behind it...I felt i needed some kind of barrier even if it wasn't that strong to go along with the wires. It seems to confuse the fox and coyote...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Call Premiere1 and talk to them directly. I've chatted with them on other issues and they were really helpful. Call Premiere1, tell them what you want to do, and see what they say. How big is the area? Your best bet may be electric netting or a mesh fence with hot wires.

For a critter to get shocked it has to touch both a ground and a hot wire at the same time with something that conducts electricity. Their fur insulates them so touching a hot or ground with fur does not work. Their paws, nose and tongue conduct electricity.

A fox can jump quite well. So can coyotes and many other critters. But typically they don't just jump. Typically they inspect the fence first, usually with a nose or tongue. I've used 48" high electric netting for years and never had any issues, though fox, coyote, and bobcat are plentiful. They may be able to jump it but they typically don't. I've never baited it with peanut butter or anything else. Do an internet search on a fox climbing a fence. You might get a video that shows that foxes don't just jump.

Electric netting and an electric fence work differently. With electric netting the hot wires are horizontal and the soil acts as the ground. The critter touches a hot wire with its tongue or nose while standing on the ground, it gets shocked, and runs away.

If you are trying to keep horses or cows in, all you need is an electrified barbed wire fence. But you are not, you want to keep foxes and coyotes out. You also want to keep chickens in. You need a wire mesh fence. Talk to Premiere1 about which mesh they recommend. Some people use chain link, but unless you find it on Craigslist it can get pretty expensive.

With a wire mesh fence the best way is to wire it so the wire mesh fence is the ground and you run some horizontal hot wires using insulators. In this set-up the soil is also usually a ground though you an run some specific ground wires too if you wish. There are different ways to set that up. But he idea is that the critter touches a hot wire while also touching the grounded wire mesh. You probably want one hot wire pretty close to the soil to stop critters going under and one or two higher, maybe one at eye level for the critter to touch and one up higher if it tries to climb.

@cmom looks like you have it set up for the soil to be your ground. Is that mesh wire (looks like chicken wire) also a ground?

 

[hayley3]

I have 100 foot of Premier netting and I am constantly straightening it so I wanted something else. Also I have 1 1/2 acres to fence in for the chickens so it would be too expensive to go that way. I am not near the woods *thankfully* but my neighbor says we have a lot of coyotes. I am more worried about the fox who you think is not around but is really silently tiptoeing past your flock. Also I want to be prepared for that wandering dog.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Yeah I like that top extension but not sure how to achieve it with a tpost.

T posts can be bent by either heating or being very very strong/heavy but heat would be the way to bend them once in the ground. Use 8' posts. After hammering them in and bending top you would have about a 5' fence. Labor intensive and difficult...YES!
Other options would be to attach any material you have to the top of the post via bolts, wire, or brackets to which the wire can then be attached. This is easier, more affordable but won't be as uniform and requires some creative ingenuity. PVC pipes come to mind, rebar, etc. With PVC you use 45 degree bend tapped over top of T post then a reducer and thread in smaller diameter to hold the offset lines. But as big of a perimeter fence as you're looking at, all that PVC could get pricey.
Just spitballing ideas that are popping in to the ol noodle