Electric Fencing Blog

European badgers (Meles meles) are in the news again this week, this time as the focus of a study seeking to determine the efficacy of badger exclusion methods installed on cattle farms. Badgers are an important reservoir of Mycobacterium bovis, the pathogen that causes tuberculosis in cattle.

The study was conducted by researchers from both the Environment Agency and the University of Exeter. Farm buildings were subjected to a range of exclusion methods and these consisted of aluminium sheets, sheet fencing, solid fencing and electric fencing together with a “no change” control.

The scientists used infrared, motion-triggered digital cameras to record badger visits to farmyards, in general, and to specific areas in particular. Over the course of the initial surveillance period prior to the exclusion practice being installed, badger visits occurred on 59% of all farms, during as many as 71% of nights investigated.

All Badger exclusion measures significantly reduced badger visits to farm buildings. In fact, the anti-badger devices were 100% effective. Overall numbers of badger visits were impacted by the presence of an exclusion measure anywhere on a farm, but deterrence was most notable on farms where devices were installed on both feed stores and cattle housing buildings.

As was expected, excluded badgers simply used other sources of food within their territories and the areas targeted were quickly abandoned. The success of the exclusion measures is quite promising and suggests that badger-cattle contact on farms can be drastically minimized.

The improvised electric fence connected directly to mains. Direct electricity kills – Electric Fencing does not.

“Trashigang police detained a 16-year old boy yesterday after his hand-made electric fencing electrocuted a 65-year old man in Yonphu-Pam under Kanglung gewog.

The 65-year old man died on the spot on October 23 around 7.30pm when he accidentally stepped on the small electric fencing.

The man was returning home after leaving his cattle to graze a few meters below his house. Yonphu-Pam is about six km from Kanglung gewog.

Kanglung is about 22 kms from Trashigang.

The police, who were informed yesterday morning about the incident found that the fence was connected to a main circuit breaker (MCB) of 200V from a potato store near the suspect’s house.

Used to store potato seedlings, the potato house has an electric fan. The suspect, police said, had joined the naked binding wire directly to the store’s MCB.

In his statement to the police, the suspect confessed to have connected the fence with electricity and had switched on the MCB around 6am. “When he returned after breakfast in a hour’s time, he found the man lying on the ground,” police said.

The suspect who is a neighbour of the deceased also confessed that the fence was constructed for fun. He had pulled the fencing over a barred land about 200 meters from his house.

“The deceased stepped on the fence because it was not visible,” police said. “And the shock killed him before he could remove his feet.”

The suspect, class VI student will be charged for negligent homicide. Meanwhile the victim lived with his six children and wife in Yonphu-pam.”

Original report taken from Kuensel, Bhutan’s daily news site

The decision to use Electric Fencing situated in remote areas has been at a disadvantage due to the necessity of a regular power source normally supplied by a 12v recyclable battery. When using the larger 6 joule energisers drawing up to 500 mAmps this may be as frequent as every two weeks. Even then, as the voltage in the battery drops so does that in the fence as the energiser is a complex transformer converting the 9v to the running 6000+ volts. During recent years the development of advanced solar collection systems has changed the attitude of suppliers to this form of energy. In the past a panel could convert less than 5% of the energy available. However the efficiency of the modern monocrystalline panels run at nearly 20% and are better able to convert ambient light as well as direct sunlight to electricity. As a result a panel is no longer only suitable in the summer months and may now be used in the winter period as well.

Solar powered electric energisers work by first collecting and then converting natural sunlight through special paneling named solar PV panels. This energy is then diverted to power packs (batteries) ready to be released when the energiser draws power. The arguments for installing a solar electrified fence.

• A solar powered electric fence is able to run without access to mains electricity, this allows you to erect fences where it would usually be tough or not worthwhile. Isolated areas such as mountaintops or meadows can be contained without needing to struggle up and down every few days to replace the battery. A solar panel will energise the battery by day and the battery will provide energy to the electric fence all the time.
• Solar electrified fences are transportable Solar powered fence energisers are easy to move if you intend to relocate your fence to a different plot. This is particularly useful should you decide to relocate cattle to graze in different areas. Unlike mains charged fences which need to remain near to a power source, Solar powered electrified fences can be taken down and re-built anywhere they are needed.
• A battery will last longer by not being constantly drained of its charge. A battery who’s charge is maintained will last longer than one that is constantly being drained and recharged.
• Another common problem with energisers are power surges between the main source of energy and the fence system. Solar powered chargers just do not fail this way. They can’t because they are not hooked up to the main electrical energy source.
• The longer the section of fence you want to energise, the stronger the energiser you will need. These larger energisers will create a greater draw on the battery so a larger solar panel will be required.

When selecting a place in which to use your solar powered electric fence it is important to put thought to where to place the solar panel for the best exposure to the sun’s rays. The rest of your fence can be blocked by cloud but the panel must have access to as much direct sunlight as possible. Once you have decided on the placement of your PV Panels stop and ask yourself whether this panel will have sunlight year round or could a switch in season stop its access to sunlight. For this reason it is also advisable to check your panels once a month to ensure that they are constantly angled at an appropriate angle. In order to insure that an Electric Fence will remain functioning during the long winter months it is suggested that a larger than required panel is used. All modern panels protect the battery from over charging so there is no need to be concerned with batteries being damaged. A reasonable rule of thumb would be a 10 watt panel for energisers under 3 joules, a 20 watt panel for energisers over this.

There are tricks available to increase the output of a solar panel. A mirror placed so that it reflects suns rays on bto the panel will boost output. Care must be taken as it is possible to burn out the panel.

Electric Netting can be erected in minutes with no elaborate list of materials or special tools needed. It’s simple, lightweight design allows the netting to be moved and set up repeatedly, making for almost instant pastures and enclosures. And most importantly, an electric net fence protects precious livestock, produce and even pets from predators and pests.

It’s User-Friendly
One person can erect an electric net in ten minutes or less simply by unrolling the lightweight netting bundle along the chosen fence line and stepping in the posts. This is possible thanks to posts already built into the netting (one post every 11 feet in a standard 164 ft. roll). There are no pilot holes to dig and no special tools needed- simply push the posts into the ground. The posts are anchored in the soil with steel spikes. The posts also feature split-tops that allow easy adjustment or replacement of the posts and can be tapped lightly with a hammer when working in hard soils. Once the posts are stepped in, all that’s left to do is tie the end posts together and add electricity.

It’s Portable!
Electric netting is just as easy to dismantle and move as it is to install, making them a hit among pastured poultry farmers and rotational grazers. With an electric net fence, a pasture or enclosure can be set up in practically any location and then moved when necessary. And thanks to its bundle design, an electric net fence can also easily be stored away when not in use.

It’s Versatile
Another point of praise with electric netting is the variety of animals and applications it serves. While netting is a favourite among sheep and poultry farmers. Easy enclosures for horses, cattle, goats and pigs and even pet fences can be made. However, electric netting isn’t just an easy tool for animal inclusion- but an electrified safeguard against predators and pests. While the netting is an effective barrier against marauding foxes,  and other sworn enemies of livestock, it can also be used to protect gardens and crops from rabbits, deer and other nuisance animals. Electric nets have even been used to keep deer out of crops and bears away from beehives! This versatility of an electric net fence is determined by height and stay spacing.

The height of netting ranges from 28″ to 70″, small enough to keep rabbits at bay and large enough to pasture sheep, goats and cattle plus exclude Deer. However, an important consideration to make when choosing an electric net is the weave of the netting. A simple rule of thumb to follow is smaller animals require smaller weave, regardless which side of the fence they’re on.

It’s Sturdy
Agrisellex Electric Netting might be light and easy to handle, but it’s also very durable. Livestok Nets are built with vertical stays made from a semi-rigid material that, unlike twine nets, keeps the net from sagging and shorting out.

Electrification is Easy
Putting the “electric” in electric netting requires little time and few components. Both battery or mains energisers are suitable to power electric netting and a minimum .25 output joule energiser should be used per net (Eg; Four nets require a minimum 1-joule energiser). A ground rod is required for electrification. The final components are jumper clips, which are used to connect the energiser to the ground rod (green clip) and to the net (orange clip). Electric netting can also be powered by attaching jumper clips to an existing electric fence and jumper clips can also be used to connect and power multiple nets. Ideally, the power source should be located mid-way along the several fences and remain connected to the clips.

In general, electric nets should always remain electrified while in use, as rabbits can chew on and damage the net. And while all nets feature a non-conductive bottom line to eliminate shorting, care should be taken both before and after the fence is erected to remove any significant weed growth that might hamper electrification.

Electric fencing is moving into the Ground Positioning Systems age with trials being carried out linking a GPS receptor and an electric shock collar similar to those currently used by dog owners and an under ground cable. The current principle is that the collar responds to an electronic field in the underground cable and delivers a shock to the wearer, getting progresivly stronger the closer the target gets to the wire.

In the GPS system the collar will have a reader that links to position of the collar to a pre-set line generated by a computor ground linking system. As the target approaches that line it will receive a shock. 

It has possibilities in extensive livestock ranching systems where High Density, Low Duration grazing principles are desired. Currently, extensive expenditure is occured by considerable fencing or labour involved in repeated moving of electric fencing.

The idea is that the area to be grazed that day would be fixed in the morning so that cattle would be moving into fresh, ungrazed grass on a daily basis. It remains to be seen if cattle will be able to realise that the boundary set yesterday is no longer in effect today and they will not be shocked today. The other issue is an animal lagging behind may be cut off from the rest of the herd by the advancing rear demarkating line.