Again pigeons !

[Minnie&Moose]

We've been using electrified poultry netting for nearly 2.5 years now with now problems. However, our batteries (we have 2 that we alternate) are suddenly discharging very rapidly (in a matter of days as compared with >1 month previously). I've had a good look at the fence and notice that in some places the lower sections are folded over on themselves so that the first electrified strand is touching the ground in places (there's no vegetation shorting out the fence, I keep it clear). I've reset the fence but can't find a way of preventing this happening. I'm wondering whether it's either age (the netting is more saggy than when we first got it) or perhaps its been caused by the weight of the snow we had in Dec. Is it just time to get new netting, or new batteries, or is there something I'm missing here? Any suggestions most welcome.

[..lay a little egg for me]

I think that if the electrified wire is touching the ground and the ground is wet (which is likely if you've had as much rain as we have in the last couple of days) then it is shorting out through the ground. The thing about the vegetation is that it is wet (due to sap) and connected to the ground so when you have vegetation touching the fence it shorts out that way; now your fence is touching the ground directly, you are cutting out the middleman so to speak. Putting in some extra guy ropes may help or extra posts. You can buy extra posts from the Omlet shop and also from Flyte so Fancy and other such shops. That may be a cheaper option than getting an entirely new fence. I would try to sort out the fence before getting a new battery, but it could also be that your batteries are getting old. Are they deep cycle leisure batteries or standard car batteries? Lead acid batteries do not like being completely discharged so if they have been allowed to go completely flat ever it will shorten their life. The deep cycle batteries are slightly more resilient to discharging so are the best choice for electric netting, car batteries are designed to give a big whack of power to start the engine and then be charged up again as the car runs, whereas deep cycle leisure batteries are designed to give steady power for some time before being recharged.

 

Hope this info helps...

[Redwing]

More poles would certainly help

[Minnie&Moose]

Thanks Redwing and 'lay a little egg for me' - I'll try more posts and ground pegs and to see if that helps.