Doing a test run of the new solar electric fence...

[RossBantams]

I am diving into a much needed project. If you don't want to read the back story, just scroll down to the bold text

I breed and exhibit poultry and waterfowl. The catch is that I don't really have any land to keep my birds on. Technically I do have land, but it's about an hour and a half away from my mom's house, where I currently live. So, I can't keep my birds there yet. I can't keep my birds at my mom's house because she's crazy and lives in an HOA (the crowd boos). So, I keep my birds on one of my mom's friend's property. I have kept my birds on her property for about 5 months or so and it's been great. Unfortunately, the property owner informed me last minute that she is selling her property in a few weeks. They live in a VERY high demand area. They have not only a great house with detached garage and 3 stall barn, they are also on 5 acres with a beautiful pond and two fenced pastures. It's perfect for someone like me, but they're selling for about 1.4 million.
The selling of the property means I have to move my birds somewhere else. I was freaking out because I knew I had a hard time before, trying to find a place to keep them. I was pretty much ready to move out to my (completely RAW, never ever lived on) land. I was planning on living out of a cheap yurt and moving my birds out there. I wouldn't have water, sewage, or electric. I would be completely off grid. But I refuse to give up my birds.
Luckily, a lady offered her land that she isn't living on currently. It has a very small barn with an attached covered area. It's pretty much perfect for what I plan to do.

Testing Out The Electric Fence
I bought a 1.2 joule solar electric fence energizer, polywire, step-in posts, and a voltmeter. All of my birds will be secured in coops or show cages, so the electric fence is not to keep them in. The fence is to keep predators out. The land is in a rural area near thick woods, so I'm trying to eliminate any chance for a predator to get into the perimeter. The fence wil basically be a circular shape, running around the barn and the outside coops. I still need to knock some brush down, but that'll be done when the rain stops. Anyway, I have built an electric fence start to finish. I worked on my university's farm and repaired electric fences, but never built one. I am supposed to get the last piece of the fence in tonight and I think I have an idea.

I think I am going to grab three or four step in posts, and the other materials, and construct a mini electric fence. The point being that I want to test my ability on a smaller scale before I try and build a 180 foot perimeter fence. I think this is a good idea since the test location is my house. This allows me to troubleshoot with all of the tools and computer access I need. So basically, I'm building a tiny electric fence to make sure that I know what I am doing before I go out to the property to build the real thing. This also allows me to make sure all parts work together properly. I will keep you all updated!

 

[RossBantams]

Shocking Update
So I tested the fence energizer yesterday afternoon after work. When I picked up the package off of the porch, I heard rattling. Uh oh. I open the box and see a tiny screw and a few tiny plastic pieces underneath the energizer. I look over the energizer and don't see any issues, so I assume maybe the pieces were from another product or something. Anyway, I put the energizer together and take it outside.

I did a test run of the energizer by placing two fence posts in the ground, and then wrapping two lines of polywire between them. I inserted the ground rod into the ground and hooked up the hot wire onto the fence. I turned on the energizer and heard the audible "click" indicating that the energizer was sending out a pulse. I place my very cheap voltmeter onto the hot fence wire and it freaks out. I don't know exactly why it was happening, but the voltmeter was showing all lights blinking, which made me wonder if the fence was actually working. The voltmeter was only supposed to show one light next to however much voltage was going through it. Instead, all lights were going off. I placed it on a different part of the wire and it wasnt illuminating at all, but made a clicking sound. I gave up on the voltmeter, and decided "you know what, I'll just touch the damn wire." Well, I touched the wire. And let me tell you, that thing works. I felt it go from my finger all the way down to my toes. Before I bought the energizer, I spent days researching on what size to get. I was worried I'd get one that was too light for coyotes or fox. Once I put my finger on that hot wire, I wondered no more. That fence is hot enough for most animals. Maybe even a bear, that's how strong it was.

Even though I had to touch the wire to test it, I'm elated that the energizer worked. I got it for about $50 cheaper than usual because I bought it during prime day. I was able to gather the rest of the items either on amazon (prime day ) or from barn sales. The only thing I bought at full price was a single t post to hold the energizer and a metal grounding rod.

If the rain holds off today, I hope to start setting up the fence in its semi-permanent place. I assume the battery is not fully charged since it's probably been in a warehouse until now. So, I have it hooked up to a charger because it's cloudy today. In my next update, I will let y'all know how setting up about 180ft of fence goes. I'm going to have to weedeat about half an acre of waist-high grass due to not having a mower or bushhog available, but I'm going to get it done lol.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

This is very stressful! Glad you found a spot for your birds and that you did not have to resort to going off-grid! Also, happy that your fence is working, even though the way you discovered that was less than optimal!

Fingers crossed for a smooth transition and no more *shocking* situations!

Looking forward to the next update!

 

[RossBantams]

This is very stressful! Glad you found a spot for your birds and that you did not have to resort to going off-grid! Also, happy that your fence is working, even though the way you discovered that was less than optimal!

Fingers crossed for a smooth transition and no more *shocking* situations!

Looking forward to the next update!

It was super stressful! Luckily my grandma was watching over me and helped guide me to someone willing to be so generous to lend me their land.
Yeah, maybe touching it wasnt the best idea but I've touched them in the past and had way worse experiences so why not

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Grandma's are the best!

 

[Penpal]

Instead of cutting the grass, you might get a couple of sheep to do the work for you

 

[RossBantams]

Instead of cutting the grass, you might get a couple of sheep to do the work for you

I would, but I don't have the time to wait for them to mow it down. I have to move my birds this weekend. Plus, I don't know anyone with sheep lol

 

[RossBantams]

So I started on the fence yesterday!

One of the big hurdles to overcome was weed eating all of the waist-high grass along the area I wanted the fence to go. I did a light weeding along the general are I wanted to place the fence posts.

As you can see in the picture above, I trimmed enough on both sides of the fence posts to make sure the grass was not contacting the fence wire. I had to do this with a battery powered trimmer, so that was a little bit of a struggle.

When placing the fence, I put my first post against the back wall of the barn. I would have run a complete circle, but there is too much dense growth behind the barn, so I just made it incomplete.

I decided to place my posts about 12 feet apart, which is the maximum distance that is recommended for polywire. I would have done 10 feet, but I had a limited number of fence posts. I ended up having exactly enough for the area I was fencing.

I used step-in fence posts, since this isnt going to be the permanent fence. Depending on how long it takes to get my land in Vanleer ready for living, I may eventually set up a more sturdy fence with T posts. For now, I'm trying to stay budget friendly.

Once I had all of the fence posts in their proper places, I trimmed once again to get the overhanging grass and small patches cut down. During this, a man in a red pickup truck pulled into the driveway. This was actually the second person to come up to me while I was doing this project. The first guy that came up was wondering if I was selling the property. I told him that I was just leasing the property and the owner plans to move out there in the next 5 years or so. He thanked me and we had some small talk, then he left. The man in the red pickup truck was much younger than the first guy, but still a little older than me. He asked me if I was selling the land. I informed him the same as I did the first man. I told him I was just leasing the property. He asked me what I was leasing for, and I explained that I was bringing my showbirds and ducks there until my property was ready to live on. He was super nice and we talked a little more. I showed him the fence and then he asked, "Do you want me to go grab my mower and mow this down for you?" I didn't know what to say at first. I had been stressing out over the waist-high grass for weeks. I thought I was going to have to cut it all down with my crappy battery trimmer. I told him I would greatly appreciate it and that I would pay him some gas money if he could mow it down for me. He told me not to worry, he could get it done for me right now. He then ran home and drove the zero-turn mower up the driveway and went straight to work. I was overwhelmed with gratitude. He didn't even hesitate to help me out. Once he was done, we had some small talk about our lives and how we got here. We exchanged numbers and he told me if I ever need help with anything, to give him a call. He also told me that he has a 14 year-old daughter and she would love to help if she can. So not only did I have the help of this man, named Bobby, I had a kid that I can pay in exchange for help with my birds whenever I'm out of town at shows. Below is a picture of the fenced area after Bobby mowed it for me.

I felt so grateful for his help. One of the things I love about the south is that most people are ready to help at any moment, whether they know you or not. They just genuinely care about their neighbors. Bobby even called me a few moments after he left, asking me if I needed any water.

So after he mowed everything, I continued with the fence. I ran one single wire for the entirety of the left fence. I did it this way so that I did not have to run connectors to each wire. I set up the solar energizer and ground rod. I was going to buy a galvanized metal ground rod, but Home Depot and TSC only had 8 foot rods ($20 at HD and $30 at TSC) and I had no way of driving an 8 foot rod into the ground. Plus, the kit said I only needed a 3 foot ground rod for this kit. So, I decided to go the cheap route and buy a 4 foot piece of rebar. Now, rebar is not going to last nearly as long as galvanized metal. But for my temporary fence, it will do the job for a while. Pus, it was only $4.

I made sure to face the solar panel true South, since that is the direction that will get the most solar radiation. When I first placed the energizer, I faced it towards me, naturally, but quickly realized it needed to face south. I then hooked everything up and tested the fence. I did actually use the voltmeter this time, not my hand
The fence was working great!

I left the fence on, even though I had only finished half of the fence. I am doing this so that I can test the longevity and efficiency of the energizer. It has been cloudy here the last few days, so I want to see how it does with this weather.

I plan on going back today to finish the rest of the fence. So far, everything is going great! I do need to find a way to tighten the wire, but not sure how to since it's polywire and temporary fence posts that arent as sturdy as T posts.

I'll update on the finishing touches tomorrow! Sorry for the long read today.

 

[ChickyCh00k]

In today's, often hyper-polarized, and sometimes just plain awful social environment, a little bit of my faith in humanity is restored when I read about someone doing something just because it's kind and helpful, with no expectation of reciprocation. That person mowing the area for you out of the goodness of their heart is so awesome, and it gets you that much closer to where you need to be! It's comin' along!

You must have good juju, @RossBantams !

 

[Penpal]

Good neighbors, priceless

I also have a solar charger, put it up Sunday. Now, I don't have to be worried about power outrages, which we have at least twice year.

You can buy fence posts that are lighter and cheaper than the big metal ones and put one in between each green post if you need to. I use them with my netting.