Tips For Electric Fence

[RossAcres]

Hello all,

I just bought all of the items needed (hopefully) for an solar electric fence. I have a general idea of how to construct it, but wanted to see if you guys had any tips for me. I have only repaired barbed wire fence at my old job on the university farm. I'll make a list of my thoughts/tips.

1. I'm not sure how long the fence is going to be, but I estimated 250 ft. I am planning on having the first three (bottom) strands 6 inches apart. Then each strand after that 9 inches apart. Total of 6 lines. I'm trying to keep anything and everything out. Racoons, coyotes, fox, etc. Is this many hot wires overkill?
2. Is a 4ft fence tall enough to keep predators at bay? The birds will be inside their cages at all times (no free range) and the fence will basically be a perimeter fence.
3. Do I need to have all 6 wires hot? I am not sure how long my solar battery will last with 6 250ft strands being hot. My solar charger is 1.5 joules with a 15w solar panel. The battery is a 12V/12Ah. Can someone help me with that math?
4. ALSO - Where in the WORLD do I find T posts that aren't so darn expensive?? I don't remember them costing $6 a piece

I'll take any and all tips and advice. I'm determined to keep my birds safe.

 

[LaurelC]

It depends a lot on the type of charger you have. I'm using premier1 intellishock chargers and they keep ~600 feet of net fencing hot enough to deter predators for my sheep without issues. Also - because it's not intuitive - as long as the strands aren't making contact with anything, the charger will be fine. The only time there's any "real" draw on the battery is when there's a ground. This could be grass touching it or whatever. Generally I find that as long as I don't have lots of new growth touching fencing, my fence gets hotter over the course of the week it's set up as the vegetation touching it dies back.

You can always run fewer t-posts and supplement between them with step-in posts. They're never tall enough (IMO) but the $2 plastic ones seem to do a fine job of holding tape or wire where you want it.

 

[RossAcres]

It depends a lot on the type of charger you have. I'm using premier1 intellishock chargers and they keep ~600 feet of net fencing hot enough to deter predators for my sheep without issues.

You can always run fewer t-posts and supplement between them with step-in posts. They're never tall enough (IMO) but the $2 plastic ones seem to do a fine job of holding tape or wire where you want it.

The one I bought was a highly rated one on amazon. Solar energizer 1.5 joules, 50 miles (idk about that lol) is what it says. It has great reviews, so I'm hoping it's a good one.
Putting step in posts makes sense.
What can I do about a gate? This is a temporary/semi-permanent set up, so I don't want to set up an actual metal gate. Is there something I can construct that will keep a charge on all levels? I've used the spring gate things that hook onto the fence but I would need multiple to cover all the way up.

 

[LaurelC]

There's a lot of different options. The simplest is turning off the energizer and simply stepping over the fence. This is how I get into my sheep paddocks nowadays. Premier1 sells an electric fence gate that is highly rated, but I don't own any. (I don't work for them, but I've been satisfied with everything I've bought from them) https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/easy-gates?criteria=gate

If you're not actually using it to hold any animals in and it's more to deter predators, you could always make an overlap and hope for the best.


If you're asking about how to energize all strands, there are a few ways. The first and simplest is just to use a single wire. Once you hit the end of your run, secure with a few loops around your insulator and then run it up to the next layer up and run that strand around. The other option is jumpers. I've used cheap little alligator clip ones, but I also have heavier duty clamp type ones that I feel less bad leaving out in direct sunlight.

 

[RossAcres]

There's a lot of different options. The simplest is turning off the energizer and simply stepping over the fence. This is how I get into my sheep paddocks nowadays. Premier1 sells an electric fence gate that is highly rated, but I don't own any. (I don't work for them, but I've been satisfied with everything I've bought from them) https://www.premier1supplies.com/p/easy-gates?criteria=gate

If you're not actually using it to hold any animals in and it's more to deter predators, you could always make an overlap and hope for the best.


If you're asking about how to energize all strands, there are a few ways. The first and simplest is just to use a single wire. Once you hit the end of your run, secure with a few loops around your insulator and then run it up to the next layer up and run that strand around. The other option is jumpers. I've used cheap little alligator clip ones, but I also have heavier duty clamp type ones that I feel less bad leaving out in direct sunlight.

Thank you! I think I will use the single strand method. Seems like the easiest and most efficient.
For the gate, I think I have it figured out. I'll either do a step-over, or I could use a step in post. I could turn off the fence, pull up the push in post, and push it in the ground away from me, creating an opening. Then after I'm done, I can just put it back in where it's supposed to be. Does that sound like something that would work?I want to have some way to bring large objects in and out.

 

[LaurelC]

Thank you! I think I will use the single strand method. Seems like the easiest and most efficient.
For the gate, I think I have it figured out. I'll either do a step-over, or I could use a step in post. I could turn off the fence, pull up the push in post, and push it in the ground away from me, creating an opening. Then after I'm done, I can just put it back in where it's supposed to be. Does that sound like something that would work?I want to have some way to bring large objects in and out.

Yes, using a step in post should work, BUT, please consider that you may end up needing to replace the step in post occasionally, the plastic step in posts are unfortunately just not super robust, and are also prone to bending, so you'd ideally want to figure out a way to tether the top to an actual T post to keep it from bending under the strain of the fence and making things saggy (see attached photo). Also, depending on the type of soil you have and how much rain you get, regularly taking the post in and out of the soil may break it up to the point that it will no longer hold. You'll also want your gate "section" to be separated from the rest of your fence at least when it comes to stress, as moving the gate section and maintaining tension (to keep the actual fenceline tight) is a lot harder than it seems. better to somehow do multiple loops or tie your hot wire/tape off on insulators before continuing on to the gate.


These are all things you'll figure out, I have a few reels of hot tape and as needed, use them to contain my sheep, but it's a lot more challenging than it seems, and takes a lot of fussing before you figure out some of the weirdsies with it.

 

[NanaThomas]

The one I bought was a highly rated one on amazon. Solar energizer 1.5 joules, 50 miles (idk about that lol) is what it says. It has great reviews, so I'm hoping it's a good one.
Putting step in posts makes sense.
What can I do about a gate? This is a temporary/semi-permanent set up, so I don't want to set up an actual metal gate. Is there something I can construct that will keep a charge on all levels? I've used the spring gate things that hook onto the fence but I would need multiple to cover all the way up.

I just received my Premier fence but haven’t set it up yet because I need to get my lawnmower in there. I’m looking at their 8’ wide gate that you just move to open it. (It’s not framed). Committing to protecting less than a dozen chickens is getting expensive which means I’ll just have to get more chickens!