Livestock Fencing Guides

Horse Fencing

Being fast moving animals, horses need a fence to be visible so they don’t go charging into it and damage both themselves and the fence. This being the case, polytape or polyrope are the recommended conductors to use.

Conductor Quality

The qualities of these can vary as the more basic tape or rope may contain fewer and thinner conductors than the superior grades of fence line. This effectively means that it can’t power as long a fence. If the electric fence has only to be a few hundred metres then it won’t matter and a standard quality conductor will be fine.

Permanent Horse Fencing

If the fencing is to be permanent then it’s best to have wooden posts sunk into the ground and insulators attached to hold the conductor in place. The insulators prevent the current from earthing out and can be offset from the fence if necessary. For most permanent perimeter fencing, we’d recommend a 40mm diameter tape except in exposed areas where we’d recommend 20mm tape or a rope. The reason being that 40mm tape can sometimes catch the wind and flap causing damage to itself.

The height, spacing and number of conductors depend largely upon the horse being contained. The more spirited the horse, the more lines of electric fencing you’ll need. For all horses, a conductor at nose level is ideal as this will always be a reminder of the fence and once the horse has touched the electric fence, the barrier becomes not so much physical as psychological. The line around the 1m mark is really a backup to the higher line and it can prevent the horse from stretching under the main line. The additional visual presence only adds to the horses respect of the fence line.

Temporary Horse Fencing

Polyposts and tape or rope should be used here. One or two lines should deter the horse and the polyposts are very easily moved. For most horses, the 105cm posts are perfectly adaquate and are fine for strip grazing but for larger horses, the tall posts give that extra element of security.

Energiser Choice

For a permanent fence and if mains power is present nearby, a mains energiser is the best option. The power can be taken from the energiser to the fence (and the earth stake) by lead-out cable and all you need do is plug the energiser in and switch on. Battery energisers are great if your fence is remote and the 12v energisers and leisure batteries are the most common. The battery is easily recharged but heavy to move about (Tip – By placing your 12v battery on a section of wood slightly off the ground you can extend the battery life by a few weeks). These are great for temporary fencing but if it’s for seasonal use and strip grazing then the lighter 9v energisers are perfect. They use a dry battery which is contained within the box and the earth stake sits underneath the unit and holds it securely next to the fence. The batteries are non-rechargeable but will last a considerable time especially with those units with power saving features.

Horse Fencing Kits

We have put together some kits which are perfect for novice and seasoned users alike. The strip grazing kits use the DB350B energiser which comes with 4 D cell batteries and can also run from a 12v battery – ideal if you’re needing a very mobile fencing kit to strip graze a field or if you need something easy to pick up and take to provide a quick and effective fence at a show or similar. The 9v kits also come with a battery ( 55Ah) to get you started. Please note, the 12v powered kits are stronger in power and recommended for well-insulated ponies like shetlands or if your horses are rugged in winter. The 12v kits do not come with a battery and you will need a 12v leisure batttery or similar to power the energiser. Please feel free to call us if you arre unsure which kit would suit you best or if would like ay further information or advice on horse fencing.

Sheep & Goat Fencing

Sheep and goats tend to have an inherent desire to get through fences. To them the grass is always greener on the other side and the fence is simply a challenge to while away the hours. The fact that it drives the animals owner round the bend only provides further motivation. This can be stopped by two methods.

Polypost & Twine / Wire

This is probably the best method. Posts spaced out about 5m apart with a few lines of wire or polytwine will suffice. The bottom line need not be as near to the ground as it would be for rabbits or poultry although we don’t advise it is any higher than 15cm especially if there are lambs present.

In our diagram we’ve shown 6 lines of wire but this can vary and depending upon factors such as deterring foxes, strip grazing etc and as few as 3 lines may be all that’s necessary.

Electric Sheep Netting

Electric sheep net is fine for both sheep and goats and probably best as a temporary fencing measure. Great if you need to make up a quick pen to hold the animals. Easily moved about, electric netting can be prone to earth leakages. This is due to grass growing up and touching the first horizontal conductor. This causes the pulse from the energiser leaking to the ground making the fence less effective.

Energiser Recommendations

A fair sized energiser is needed as sheep (not so much goats) have considerable insulation so we recommend a minimum energy level of 1.3 Stored Joules. The Copel M2 would make an ideal mains unit and the Copel A2 would be fine for powering your fence from a 12v battery.

Electric Pig Fencing

For most breeds of pigs three lines of wire with even spacings will provide an effective electric fence. Obviously, the smaller breeds should have the bottom wire closer to the ground and with piglets a couple of extra lines will be needed to ensure that they stay in close proximity to the sow.

We’ve created many pig encloseres over the years and found that the most basic setups make the best systems.

A wooden corner post with ring insulators in it and a few lines of either stranded steel or polytwine held in place by plastic posts makes an excellent pen for keeping your pigs in. When going through the rings at the corners wrap the wire round the insulator too to help keep the tension on the line.

For a gate we’ve found that having a specific gate in place can be of little use when getting on with the day to day jobs and most people just step over the wires. For taking a vehicle in or the pigs out our customers have found that by having the individual lines of the fence end in a loop on the same corner post they can just turn off the energiser and unclip them easily. To get the power from one vertical line to another, it’s best to use a lead like this or like this.

Rabbit Electric Fencing

Rabbits can devastate an area VERY quickly. To keep them out is fairly straightforward and can be done in one of two ways.

Rabbit Netting

Electric rabbit netting is great for flat areas or areas with closely cropped grass. The netting starts off with 5cm horizontal spacings and these only increase to 10cm high after the 30cm mark. This provides pretty much blanket coverage of an area that a rabbit cannot penetrate. The close proximity of the bottom strand to the ground means that the net could be prone to a slight earth leakage if the vegetation grew up and into it. This isn’t a problem if using a larger energiser but may affect the smaller models.

Post & Twine / Wire Electric Fence

We’ve used this type of system as a permanent fence before for football training pitches that were inundated with rabbits. If worked very well but it did need tensioned every now and again. Wooden stakes hammered into the ground at 5m intervals with wire or polytwine at 10cm intervals should be enough to deter them. Using this method, you can hug the ground contours as closely as necessary.

Occassionally the rabbits learn to jump through the wires. As they are going between two live electric fence wires mid-flight they rabit does not receive the shock. The way to resolve this is by adding another line of twine and rather than connecting this to the other wires, connect it to the earth stake. This will cause the rabbit to touch both a live and an earth wire and so receive the shock. If posts are fairly thin garden posts around 2″ wide then you’ll be okay to run the earth lines on the other side to the powered lines.

Dog Fencing

How to set up an electric fence for a dog depends entirely on the dog, it’s size and temperament. There are 2 options which we would recommend.

Electric Netting

This is a very effective electric fencing method and extensively used to exclude dogs from areas as it provides a ‘wall’ of electric conductors that deter the dog. Several nets can be joined together to cover a large area.

The only problem with using electric nets in gardens is that if there is considerable vegetaion, an electric net will invariably touch this and cause an earth leakage. This causes the power to be reduced and the dog is less likely to see the fence as a deterrent.

Posts & Tape / Twine

Slightly different to using a net, this method gives the user the option to select the height of the conductors to suit the dog. It also allows for the fence to easily change direction and go over uneven ground.

If the dog is small, then a few lines of wire or polytwine should be placed lower down the post with the baseline around the 10cm mark. Lines higher up the posts will deter the dog from jumping over the fence. If the dog is a larger variety then the conductors will need to be higher up the posts but it is important to retain a line along the bottom around 10 cm. This deters the dog from trying to dig under the fence.

In some cases the dog may even try to jump through the fence which is rare but does happen although normally only with rabbits. The dog can discover that it doesn’t get a shock if the wires it touches are live and the dog isn’t touching the ground to earth them. To resolve this, another strand of conductor is run along the fenceline at the nose-height of the animal and is attached to the earth stake only and NOT to any of the other lines. When the dog jumps through, even though it is completely off the ground, it will earth out the current by touching the earth wire and a live wire and will therefore receive a shock.

Chicken / Poultry Fencing

When looking to fence chickens, ducks, geese or any poultry you must consider the purpose of the fence. Is it to fence the poultry in, to keep predators like foxes or dogs out or both? Electric poultry netting and Post & Twine fencing both have their own pro’s & con’s.

Electric Netting

Using electric netting for poultry has long been seen as the best electric fence to keep both poultry in and predators out as it provides a ‘blanket coverage’ going from ground level up to 105cm. The gaps in the netting start off at 5cm horizontal spacings (even bantams won’t escape through them) and get increasingly larger as they get higher. The bottom horizontal strand is not electrified as this touches the ground and would cause the fence to earth out.

While a 50m electric net comes with 15 single spike posts, more posts can be added and these are particularly useful if you have undulating ground. Grass length must be kept in check as if it gets to long it will cause an earth leakage and as the first conductor is only 5cm off the ground, people tend to employ one of three methods to keep it down. We now also stock a version of our green chicken nets in with double spiked posts>! which have a far better grip on the ground and perfect if your pen has curved edges. For pens that are rectangular in shape we recommend using our !!< EXTRA STRONG double spiked corner posts as these will strengthen the corners of the net and help reduce power leaking to earth considerably.

• Strimming – just turn off the power, lift up the netting and strim. A bit of a pain and easily put off but the most effective without spraying the grass.
• Plastic Growth Restricter – Strips of plastic pinned down along the fenceline to block out the light from the soil so stifling the vegetation growth. Used extensively on commercial organic farms
• Spray – By spraying Roundup or some other foliage killer, the fenceline is kept clear. Fast acting & very effective but can be unsightly and NOT SUITABLE for those wanting organic status.

If more than one net is needed, they can easily be joined with the clips at the ends. All the conductors from all the horizontal lines come together in a ‘tail’ with a clip. These will clip together and will give perfect conductivity to as many nets as you choose to attach.

Note – Each 50m net contains 0.5Km of electric fencing and because it can be prone to earth leakages we recommend you use an energiser which has at least twice the capacity required and three times the capacity if the energiser is a smaller one.

Post & Twine / Wire

This is also a very effective method of fencing in poultry and keeping foxes / dogs out and it has the advantage of being a more flexible method than using netting as it can hug the contours of the ground very easily.

This method is not as effective at keeping smaller birds in as it doesn’t hug the ground as closely as the netting. Also because the feathering on a bird acts as a good insulator, smaller birds can nip under the lines if they spot a dip in the ground. Predators like foxes cannot penetrate the electric fence and this method is the one used on most commercial free range farms in the UK. They tend to have 9 lines of steel wire with small spacings at the bottom and gradually the spacings increase the further up the post they go.