Will a 5 strand electric fence keep out foxes?

[hayley3]

So you couldn't reach to start the pounder?
Do you slide the pounder on the post before setting upright?
A milk crate and the pounder would be easier,
and safer,
than a sledge hammer on a ladder<cringes>

No, I couldn't lift up the pounder up and slam it down with enough force. I didn't have anything to stand on.
The only problem with the sledge hammer is wow that thing is heavy. It was hard for me to lift it up almost. It works good if you don't miss often which I didn't. It actually works better than the pounder for me.

 

[littledog]

You could use the short insulators for your bottom wires and the longer insulators for your top wire, to give you that offset.

 

[hayley3]

You could use the short insulators for your bottom wires and the longer insulators for your top wire, to give you that offset.

I was just looking at those long insulators...great idea.

 

[EggWalrus]

If they jump over it how do they get shocked?

They don't. And unless their feet are on the ground (or grounded), they won't get shocked either. That's why the other member mentioned putting a hot wire (positive) and a ground return wire (negative) up top.
You could probably get by with using chicken wire if you do it right.
I would put a hot wire about 6 inches off the soil, then another at about 10-12 inches, then another hot wire at about 24 inches outside the chicken wire. You can buy stand off insulators online for chainlink fence and they should work. At the top of the chicken wire, I would put another hot wire even with the top. Make sure that the chicken wire is grounded well, that way anything that tried to climb it will still get shocked when they reach the top hot wire.

 

[microchick]

I have to read through all of the posts but in answer to your question and in my own experience, YES!

I only have one hot wire around my run and coop and while I find fox prints all around my coop, not once has one breached the parameter....so far. Never say never. I have a combination of long and short insulators and have the height from the ground varied from a few inches to 5-6 inches.

My best advice is to make sure that your power pack has enough bang for the buck so to speak. And make sure you keep the grass trimmed from around and under the wire. Tall grass wet from rain and hanging over the wire can decrease the shock value. The current will kill short grass but not tall. It's up to you to keep it trimmed back.

 

[schmedlap]

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.

it would be difficult and expensive to protect that much area. I would concentrate on protecting where they roost.

 

[Roosterbreaux]

Hello there, Roosterbreaux here !({^o^})!

While an electric defense will give you a good guarantee to discourage the foxy little critters I feel that it may be slightly on the unsafe side. An innocent bystander or passerby may get zapped inadvertently like, a pet, maybe 1 of your chicks or chickens, YOU, or maybe even A CHILD !!! However if you install a good timing system you can rest assured that the system will be deactivated during times of higher traffic. But, then again, during the times of deactivation there's no guarantee that the fox will not return. On the other hand you may want to consider a natural deterrent like One of these !
The first method described is a homemade formula, which is non poisonous, that deters more than just foxes and is very effective, not only in cost, but in effectiveness also, I know because I've made it and used it myself with my own homemade recipe(I added some of my own tee-tee).

Hope this helps !
That's all for now.
Roosterbreaux out. {^_^}

 

[microchick]

@Roosterbreaux, I've had my coop hot wired for 5 years. I've got zapped, my husband has gotten zapped, our dogs have been zapped, predators have been zapped, chickens have been zapped.......starting to see a pattern here? Sure people and animals make contact with it but it doesn't kill anyone or anything, at least my hot wire hasn't and it's strong enough to handle cattle and yes it's unpleasant but trust me, it only takes getting shocked once and human and or animal alike will avoid that hot wire or at least be careful around it.

Two years ago we had a female fox take up residence under a neighbors holiday cabin across the road from where we live. That fox had a litter of kits that she fed by decimating the local chicken population. Everyone lost birds. Either a few or like our immediate next door neighbor, who lost their whole flock to her. Everyone except us. Our hot wire kept her out of the run and coop. Plus my coop is metal clad and sits on a concrete slab. Nothing is getting in unless it knows how to use a grinding wheel or tin snips. I found adult and juvenile prints around the outside of the run in areas without grass so they checked it out more than once.

If a person is really worried about unintentional contact with a hot wire, there are signs you can get to put up alerting the public to hot wires being used. Of course animals can't read, but the goal of hot wires is to keep undesirable predators out and your chickens or other livestock safe.

 

[Folly's place]

x2! None of those repellents will work for long, but that electric fence will do it's job as long as it's out there pulsing. Ours gives a god 'zap' too, and it's worth it! We have the signs on it near our farm entrance, and then it's all good.
Of course toddlers need to be kept away from it, and away from the horses, the cattle, and so many other attractive dangers.
Mary

 

[Roosterbreaux]

@Roosterbreaux, I've had my coop hot wired for 5 years. I've got zapped, my husband has gotten zapped, our dogs have been zapped, predators have been zapped, chickens have been zapped.......starting to see a pattern here? Sure people and animals make contact with it but it doesn't kill anyone or anything, at least my hot wire hasn't and it's strong enough to handle cattle and yes it's unpleasant but trust me, it only takes getting shocked once and human and or animal alike will avoid that hot wire or at least be careful around it.

Two years ago we had a female fox take up residence under a neighbors holiday cabin across the road from where we live. That fox had a litter of kits that she fed by decimating the local chicken population. Everyone lost birds. Either a few or like our immediate next door neighbor, who lost their whole flock to her. Everyone except us. Our hot wire kept her out of the run and coop. Plus my coop is metal clad and sits on a concrete slab. Nothing is getting in unless it knows how to use a grinding wheel or tin snips. I found adult and juvenile prints around the outside of the run in areas without grass so they checked it out more than once.

If a person is really worried about unintentional contact with a hot wire, there are signs you can get to put up alerting the public to hot wires being used. Of course animals can't read, but the goal of hot wires is to keep undesirable predators out and your chickens or other livestock safe.

Roosterbreaux here {^_^} !
You are so right, it won't kill anything but it certainly is unpleasant and very effective also(I have to give credit where credit is due) !!! I had used electricity before a time or 2 myself. {>0<}