Oneillsa Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 Good morning all. Up until last week I had a lovely flock of 4 hens - had them about a year. I would typically let them out of their pen to free roam for a few hours each day when I'm home. Unfortunately we lost two hens to young foxes, in the middle of the day! This is not the first time it's happened and I'm looking to get an electric fence so my remaining and future hens can have a bit of freedom outside of their pen. I have no clue of where to start and would welcome any tips and advice re basic requirements/brand etc. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted June 16, 2021 Share Posted June 16, 2021 We have have and electrified fence and and electrified net. The difference being the fence is just that, rigid and fixed to posts. The net is just made of plastic cord with conductors in the strands and is supported by plastic posts. There are two components to the circuit; the high voltage 'pulse' and the earth. They are both equally important, something often overlooked. Both our systems use the meshing as the earth circuit. Now that's not what the electric net manufacturers tell you in the instructions, but the problem is the net sags between the posts and the undergrowth grows into it. Both these issues cause a short circuit to earth and reduce the effectiveness dramatically. So we turn that to our advantage and let the net go to earth. Outside the net and fence we run two high voltage wires set on posts at 8" high and 18" high and 12" away from the fence. These are easy to strim around with a small battery machine. The other components are the energiser unit, battery (which you may not need if you have mains nearby), optional solar panel (or a spare battery and a charger), lead-out cable and a fence voltage tester. Our one energiser is a Rutland unit; quite powerful (for enclosing sheep over 20 km) and fairly expensive. The other unit is a German made unit (P1 something) which is far less powerful because the line distance is very short and that small type of unit will be fine. I would always put the energiser in a building away from the elements. Despite having foxes, wild boar, wandering hunting dogs and escaping cattle, these fences have (touch wood) never been breached. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oneillsa Posted June 16, 2021 Author Share Posted June 16, 2021 That’s so helpful. Thank you very much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
