I spent the whole day Monday setting up a solar electric fence to stop raccoons from getting to my chickens and my garden. The electric fence is set up just a few inches off the ground to keep raccoons from getting underneath.
I first took some weed barrier which was 3 feet wide by 100 feet long. I cut it in half with my sawzall so I had double the length. Then I spread the weed barrier out along the edge of my garden and chicken fences and placed rocks on top of it along the edges for now.
Next I put my electric fence posts in the ground dead center in the weed barrier at intervals along the edge of the garden fence. The electric fence is about 9 inches out from the chicken fence and goes all the way around the perimeter of both the garden and chicken areas.
This took me most of the day already, just setting up the weed barrier and the fence posts. It was windy so I had to work slowly and put rocks down as I went. I used rocks that my rototiller dug out of the garden as I worked the dirt.
Then I ran the electric fence wire. I got it at Tractor Supply and it only costs about $12 for 1/4 mile of wire. Not bad.
I ran a wire along the lowest rung of the electric fence post, which is about 3 – 4 inches off the ground and then I put a second wire another 3 inches above that one. And for good measure to protect the chickens from coyotes and foxes I ran another wire about 6 inches above the last one.
I have an old solar electric fence controller from TSC that my parents got for me last year used. It needs a new battery though because it is not holding a charge. I tried it out and it only sparked a few times and then died.
For a ground I used a 4 foot long piece of galvanized steel water pipe and pounded it into the ground about 2 feet deep. Then I wrapped a lot of electric fence wire around that and ran it to the fence controller. This should make a very good ground because the soil here is always wet.
I used some plastic insulators and ran some electric fence wire up to the fence posts on either side of my garden gate and also on both sides of my chicken coop gate.
I used a tube insulator from TSC and used zip ties to fasten some electric fence wire to the door of the chicken coop as well. The wire flexes when I open the door and is tight when I close the door. There is no need to shut off the electric fence power when I am entering or leaving the free range chicken area. The way I set up the fence wiring there is hardly any gap at all for an animal to get through and attack my birds. A raccoon or any larger animal will not be able to harm my birds at all without suffering a 9,000 volt shock first.
My electric fence controller is designed to handle 10 miles of fence line and puts out 9,000 volts which is meant to stop a horse. It should work nicely for any predators out here.
I sat back and had a look at my work and I am very pleased with the results. I will set up the garden gate and put a new battery in the electric fence controller tomorrow.
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Post time: Feb-13-2017