We Sing the Fencing Electric
(Page 2 of 4)
September/October 2006
George DeVault
To establish secure outdoor pens for the birds, Silverman tested electric sheep netting, with mesh small enough to stop coyotes, but not weasels, “so we were still losing birds.” Next, he tried electric poultry netting with 2-by-3-inch openings and thin, rigid-plastic verticals that keep the fence upright without corner tension braces.
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“That pretty much took care of it,” he says. The netted fence keeps out predators as small as rats – as long as it’s moved regularly. When left in place for several weeks, such as around a greenhouse-turned-brooder house, rats eventually tunnel underneath to get at the chickens.
“In the field,” he says, “where we are moving the fence on a continual basis, they (the rats) respect it.”
How it Works
Electric fencing runs on a charger, which converts a typical 110-volt, 15-amp branch circuit, such as those you might find in a house, into a pulsed, high-voltage, low-current output. Although the potential involved may be on the order of 2,500 to 9,000 volts, the current is limited to a safe level and the actual pulse lasts only milliseconds.
According to David Hart of Underwriters Laboratories, a minimal one-second duration is mandatory between pulses to allow people who inadvertently grab onto a “hot” wire the time to let go and avoid injury. Continuous current causes the muscles to contract, making release difficult, and potentially interfering with the function of the heart.
The fence wire is connected to a ground rod, usually just a galvanized pipe that has been driven deep into the ground. Any conductive material, such as a critter’s nose or ears, that touches the wire after it has been electrified completes the circuit and – ZAP! The critter gets a short but unpleasant shock.
But gone are the days when you had to drive big metal or wooden posts into hard, rocky ground and wrestle with heavy reels of stiff wire that always wanted to go anywhere but where you wanted them to go. Permanent high-tensile electric fencing still has its place for perimeter fences, corrals and other applications where the fence is meant to last, but the new temporary styles are gaining popularity quickly on many farms and homesteads.
Most of the temporary equipment fits together easily with just a rubber mallet, screwdriver, pocketknife and a pair of pliers. And you can buy it at just about any farm supply center or from a variety of specialty companies, which often offer application and installation tips on their Web sites (see “Where You Can Find Electric Fencing”).