HI-
Wondering if anyone uses the electric netting fencing and their experiences with it? I am planning to acquire 2 does, thinking about wanting a moveable pen, though I haven't figured out housing yet, so if anyone has any idea on moveable housing, I am all ears. We are looking at the electric fencing to keep dogs, bears, coyotes, and possibly cougars out. Not sure how that would work with bears and cougars. Thanks for any help.
Laura
Replies
PS you can put it up so that it sags very little...depends on how perfectionistic I am when doing it & how many extra step ins I have to spare. It does need some reinforcement after a turn in the fence. If you set it up in a perfectly straight line you can keep it up pretty well but on turns it needs help. I usually use 5-6 extra step ins for a 164' net. It is my go-to buck containment when they start running amok.
Deborah,
It is definitely the right charger. I have used a fence tester but I don't remember what it says. Maybe 6000? I am sure it is at least partly shorted, because I am not willing to use herbicide and the way the weeds grow in FL wherever you put it they will be touching it in days.
I am sure Premier could offer good advice- I haven't bothered because I am basically happy with it. Maybe I sounded too negative in my other post. It does keep my bucks in which is saying a lot. NOTHING keeps them in. I have had an excellent experience with Premier's customer service.
I don't use it all the time, and I don't totally trust it against our predators, but I do like it otherwise and it has held up well. We have had it for a couple of years now.
I did expect it to be a little more "shocking" lol but maybe I have a skewed idea of electric anyway from my deadly hotwire that literally knocked me senseless.
Sounds like you either have the wrong charger for the fence, or maybe the fence is shorting out. If it's sagging a lot, are the bottom wires on the ground? I've never used the poultry netting, which has the string verticals. The ElectroNet has plastic struts instead of strings, so it doesn't sag at all. We use a solar charger. The source of power doesn't make a difference. It's the strength of the charger. If you have a fence tester, you should be able to see what the fence is producing. If you call Premier and talk to them, they should be able to give you some ideas on improving your situation.
Juliana Goodwin said:
Laura,
We use electric net fencing, and I have left them out in it overnight but I don't like to do it for long stretches at a time. We are also in a very scary predator animals, almost the same as yours. Probably the two biggest threats to our little goats here are our abnormally big bobcats (which I think are interbreeding with the panthers), and feral dogs.
I like the electric fencing in a lot of ways, but in a lot of ways I don't like it THAT much and here's why: I use the poultry version for my goats, and it is 48" high at its highest point, not counting the sagging middle. Any self respecting big cat could jump that, same for coyotes. Dogs, maybe not. But I will tell you that the shock is not that exciting. My regular hotwire is a life changing experience. I have a pet dog who still wont set foot in my barn after he accidentally touched it. All my dogs have touched the electric net and they do pull back from it but they are not very wary of it. It is not a strong shock. Perhaps because I use a solar charger, I don't know. I am not sure it would stop a very determined dog from running through it.
So, I like it for moving the goats around but I don't totally trust it to protect them. Though as I said, I have left them out in it overnight and never had a loss, but I don't do it too often.
http://nigeriandwarfgoats.ning.com/forum/topics/movable-pens
There is a thread here about portable fencing, and a lot of us use a chicken tractor or something similar for our goat's shelter. There are also a lot of housing ideas in the thread!
There are folks near me that use the electric fence for sheep and it just occurred to me (DUH) that they don't also use secure fencing. I am wondering if I could get away with an XL dogloo for 2 goats for shelter and maybe make a lean to for food/water/hay storage. Any thoughts? Thanks. I was thinking I need to lock the goats up at night.
I live in Cougar and Bear country, and I know several sheep farmers that use it successfully to keep most predators at bay. They do use LGD too, but they all seem pretty happy with the netting!
Wow! you've got some mean predators in your area! We've been using ElectroNet from Premier for five or six years and love it. We just keep buying more and more because we keep finding more uses for it. I think we're up to about 9 or 10 rolls of it now. We just bought two more and are talking about buying one or two more, as we've put all of ours into use. It definitely keeps dogs and coyotes out. Thankfully we don't have the other critters in our area, so don't have personal experience with them.