Meriel Younger, from Electric Fencing Direct, joins us again on the blog and continues her guide to electric poultry netting kits.
Last week the guide covered:
Mains, Battery or Battery/Solar – which power is best for you?
Which Energiser – which energiser is best for you?
Earth Stakes – are these essential?
Netting – which one is best for your hens?
If you missed last week’s post, you can read it here.
This week we’re going to look at:
Access to the Netting Enclosure – how do you get into your netting enclosure?
Accessories for Electric Netting
Electric Fencing for a Permanent Enclosure
Access to the Netting Enclosure
For many years electric netting simply had an extra fence post placed at one end of the netting and this was used as a swivel gate – i.e. the netting swivelled around on this post as you moved the end post to access the enclosure. Last year, Hotline Electric Fencing developed a ‘hot gate‘. The hot gate comes in two heights – 1.1m and 1.2m. It can easily be added on to the end of a net and the power transfer is completed by connecting the two metal clips.
The main advantages of the ‘hot gate’ are two-fold: 1) the gate can be opened with-out having to turn the power off as the gate has an insulated handle 2) the movable gate post has no spike and so is slotted into a foot plate – meaning that in wet weather this post will not make a mess of the grass as you go in and out of the enclosure as it is not being pulled in and out of the ground all the time. There are also netting gates which constitute a couple of posts and a section of netting – nothing fancy but will do the job.
Accessories for Electric Netting
Sometimes if your ground is very windy or exposed it is advised that you should add extra posts to your kit to help prevent sagging and to create good tension in the netting. The extra strong corner posts come in two sizes 1.1m and 1.2m. They are actually slightly taller than the netting and so can tension the net too. These extra strong corner posts and any extra post can easily be fitted into the netting. The netting will come to you as it left the factory… the posts are set in specific positions… but if this doesn’t work for your set up … move the posts. They are easy to undo and replace.
The bottom line of an electric fence is not electrified and should be pegged down.
Guy ropes should be used – these come with yellow pegs. Guy ropes should be attached to posts in the corners and should be attached half way up the post and then tensioned out the way. Putting up an electric net without its guy ropes is similar to putting up a tent without guy ropes!
Fence testers – I guess you could use your finger… but it is not all that pleasant! Use your tester regularly to check for shorting (i.e. foliage growing up around the bottom of the fence) and to see if your battery needs charged.
Electric Fencing for a Permanent Enclosure
Perhaps you already have a permanent enclosure in place and would like to make it doubly secure? Why not add a couple of lines of electric fencing around the enclosure?
…Last but not least here are a few set up tips:
Ensure you use a tester to check that you are getting enough zap around your fence – should be at least 3000v.
The bottom line is not electrified but the next horizontal line up is. Use guy ropes and extra posts to help lift the net and prevent sagging. If the second line up touches the ground it will cause shorting. It is possible to cut the second horizontal line at both ends to prevent it touching the ground and therefore shorting.
If you have not got enough power going through your netting (less than 3000v) please check that the netting is not touching any of the metal prongs. Please make sure you have not attached the netting to any wooden posts.
We love talking electric fencing… so if you need to contact us: call 01620 860058 or email info@electricfencing.co.uk
