An effective and common deterrent to prevent animals and people wandering where they shouldn't, an electric fence can be a simple solution and is easily set up. However, there are some important things to consider when setting up your electric fence. This blog covers the dos and don’ts of electric fencing and offers information for the placement of your electric fence, taking care of your fence while it is live and the best practices for using them on the whole.
Do:
- Use ground rods, also known as Earth rods, in damp ground. Up to 95% of problems with electric fences are as a result of poor grounding. Poor grounding gives ineffectual shocks.
- Ensure you have installed your ground rods properly. ‘Ground’ out the fence with a metal bar and check the ground rods with a voltmeter.
- Check your fence often. Look for a voltage between 5,000 and 9,000 volts.
- Use a voltmeter to check how hot the fence is, such as our Digital Voltmeter.
- Make sure your electric fence is touching nothing but plastic.
- Train your animals to respect the electric fence when using electric fencing for animal enclosures, such as for horses, poultry and ponds. The animals must learn that the fence hurts, and using a training fence enables the animals to do so in a safe space. Encourage the animals to try and cross the fence and if required flag the fence for visibility. Your animals should quickly learn to avoid the fence.
- Use a suitable energiser for the area of land you would like to fence. Use a bigger energiser for larger jobs. Here at Tanner Trading we offer both Mains Energisers and Solar Powered Energisers.
- Use galvanised materials to prevent rust.
Don’t:
- Place your fence where people and horses often walk through.
- Buy energisers that are not EU approved or certified. This ensures that the products are safe for both people and horses. All equipment should be purchased from a reputable source.
- Put the fenceposts too close together. 80 to 100 feet is adequate so that instead of knocking the posts out of the ground if something runs into it, the wire will just bend and come back up.
- Over-tense the wire. This will also help the wire to bend and come back up if something runs into it.
- Hook an electric fence to barbed wire. Animals can become tangled in barbed wire, and though electric pulses are rarely strong enough to kill animals, the effect of being trapped with repeated shocks can.
- Carelessly tie the wire. If the wire is tied properly, you will have a much more efficient and long-lasting fence. Here at Tanner Trading we sell a wide range of wire, such as Hotline 3 Strand Supercharge 400m Orange Wire.
- Leave your fence for long periods of time, especially in the winter months. Check for debris such as fallen trees which can affect the power running through the wire.
Remember: be as safe as you can when setting up and maintaining your electric fence. If you use reputable, certified equipment and look after your fence properly, you will have a permanent and secure structure for whatever your requirements.
References
https://www.agrisellex.co.uk/blogs/blog/six-dos-and-donts-with-electric-fencing
https://www.ibiblio.org/farming-connection/grazing/features/fencemis.htm
https://am.gallagher.com/us/in-practice/electric-fence-faq
https://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/livestock/production/beef/everything-you-need-to-know-about-electric-fencing.html
