Electric Fencing for garden (for Deer and small animals)

[The_Al]

I have a small garden area (100x60) that we use to plant veggies, and had issues issues with Deer and small animals eating the plantings; as an example we planted ~72 tomato plants and was able to pick ~4 plants in the end, the same can be said for other plant types. I am looking to setup this area with an Electric fence.

I am looking for suggestions on a setup. I would like the area to keep out Deer (3 or 5 wire), and also small animals (Racoons, etc.). The area is pretty rectangular 100'x60'.

So the questions I have are:
- Best options for both Deer and small animal control?
- How does one connect up an entrance/gate?
- I have a rock wall on one of 60' sides which I would like to start hte Electric fence on the outside of the rock wall, but not have to disassemble a 150 year old wall. Any suggestions on connecting edges between two in-congruent poles that are a foot or so apart?

Thanks all

Al

 

[skeets]

Al well set your posts and along the bottom your first line about an inch off the ground, and the next 4 rows the same, then go 4 inches for like the next 2 feet and then about a foot apart up as high as you want to go. With the deer in mind I will pass along a little trick a pine tree farmer uses here.. he has a permanent fence where he plants all his seedlings, about 400 by 300 and he uses a unit called the BURNER, will burn off grass and such and will light up your life,, don't ask,,, Anyway he trains he deer,, YEAH RIGHT, well he does what he will do is in the spring he hangs tin pie pans off the hot wire all the way around the area and smears peanut butter on them then turns the fence unit on the deer smell the peanut butter take a lick and get knocked on their arses. He says it only take once or twice and they don't even come near the fence, he has been doing it for over 30 years and clams it works. I like a 165 BTHP my self

 

[The_Al]

Al well set your posts and along the bottom your first line about an inch off the ground, and the next 4 rows the same, then go 4 inches for like the next 2 feet and then about a foot apart up as high as you want to go. With the deer in mind I will pass along a little trick a pine tree farmer uses here.. he has a permanent fence where he plants all his seedlings, about 400 by 300 and he uses a unit called the BURNER, will burn off grass and such and will light up your life,, don't ask,,, Anyway he trains he deer,, YEAH RIGHT, well he does what he will do is in the spring he hangs tin pie pans off the hot wire all the way around the area and smears peanut butter on them then turns the fence unit on the deer smell the peanut butter take a lick and get knocked on their arses. He says it only take once or twice and they don't even come near the fence, he has been doing it for over 30 years and clams it works. I like a 165 BTHP my self

Skeets,

Thank you good Sir. I will most definitely use the PB (hold the J) trick, thanks.

Do you think that 1" off the ground is low enough to stop the "digging" type critters?
Do you happen to know if it more effective to hot tie all wires together (for a given pole set) versus alternating?

Thanks again.

Al

 

[skeets]

Al you can buy fiberglass rods with plastic clips and they can be set any height you want and its hot on every wire. The horse fence I had was just like what your saying every other wire was hot. This way every line is hot all the way around.
It seemed to me the ground hogs and wabbits got their noses close to the bottom wires they didn't seem to go any farther but you will on occasion find one with enough balls that will test the fence, and a good 22 will end that problem.
Other than that you kind of have to play it by ear, watch and see what works well for you.
Now the crows and turkeys, are another matter altogether

 

[BotaDriver]

T-posts with these type clips work great....
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/zarebareg;-yellow-screw-on-t-post-insulator

Use a charger with 1 Joule + power to burn any green stuff growing around the wire. They are usually labeled as 25 Mile. Unless your soil is really dry, don't worry about having any neutral wires. MAKE SURE to ground the charger properly. 3x 6ft deep rods 10ft apart (makes a world of difference). You'll want the corner posts to be pretty strong so that you can tension the wire enough so that it doesn't hang and ground itself out. If you plan on keeping this area the same shape / position for a while, I'd suggest getting the small wooden 3-4" x 6.5' posts and putting them in with some quikrete. No need to mix, just pour it into the hole dry and let it take in ground moisture for a couple days. Use 5 posts in total so that you have all 4 corners, plus 1 for an entrance. Use 1 of the corner poles as 1 side of the entrance and place the 5th pole at whatever distance from the corner post you want your opening. You can make some type of wooden gate with a hot wire on the bottom for borrowing critters, or use a pre-fab chainlink gate.

Do it right the first time, and it will last for many years.

These work great for rounding wood posts with hot wires. Do not staple around this insulator, place 2 protruding staples, 1 above, 1 below, and wire tension will keep it in place.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/zarebareg;-wrap-around-insulator

All of our animals avoid the wires at all times, except the goats who test it daily. It's hard to not laugh at a pygmy goat going to play with the wire, getting zapped with a loud pop, followed by a yelp/scream and jumping up and back 2.5x their height. Goats are supposed to fairly smart animals, so I can only assume it must give one hell of a rush that they just happen to enjoy.

 

[Burt]

T-posts with these type clips work great....
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/zarebareg;-yellow-screw-on-t-post-insulator

Use a charger with 1 Joule + power to burn any green stuff growing around the wire. They are usually labeled as 25 Mile. Unless your soil is really dry, don't worry about having any neutral wires. MAKE SURE to ground the charger properly. 3x 6ft deep rods 10ft apart (makes a world of difference). You'll want the corner posts to be pretty strong so that you can tension the wire enough so that it doesn't hang and ground itself out. If you plan on keeping this area the same shape / position for a while, I'd suggest getting the small wooden 3-4" x 6.5' posts and putting them in with some quikrete. No need to mix, just pour it into the hole dry and let it take in ground moisture for a couple days. Use 5 posts in total so that you have all 4 corners, plus 1 for an entrance. Use 1 of the corner poles as 1 side of the entrance and place the 5th pole at whatever distance from the corner post you want your opening. You can make some type of wooden gate with a hot wire on the bottom for borrowing critters, or use a pre-fab chainlink gate.

Do it right the first time, and it will last for many years.

These work great for rounding wood posts with hot wires. Do not staple around this insulator, place 2 protruding staples, 1 above, 1 below, and wire tension will keep it in place.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/zarebareg;-wrap-around-insulator

All of our animals avoid the wires at all times, except the goats who test it daily. It's hard to not laugh at a pygmy goat going to play with the wire, getting zapped with a loud pop, followed by a yelp/scream and jumping up and back 2.5x their height. Goats are supposed to fairly smart animals, so I can only assume it must give one hell of a rush that they just happen to enjoy.

The AL,

Glad you asked this question. There are as many solutions to deer as there are squirrels and moles but only one that truly works.

After trying many of the other methods some I shall not mention, the ONLY one that worked is an 8 foot fence! 30 X 40 garden was raided often by deer until that fence. Occasionally, a deer will nibble at the grapes that get close to the fence but never enter that fence nor jump it.

The training method will take a lot of time. Yes, you can haze them out with several methods but in a large rural area, they will cycle through their natural birth and migrations to bring in new deer.

I have neighbors with 6 foot fences which are much smaller in area. 12 x 20 size...deer just hopped over it and ate every thing in sight at leisure.

Check out the internet on fencing for deer. Deep within the research you do, you will find that an 8 foot fence will do it. Plus in the long run, it will cost you less time and aggravation.

Good Luck,

Burt

 

[BotaDriver]

The AL,

Glad you asked this question. There are as many solutions to deer as there are squirrels and moles but only one that truly works.

After trying many of the other methods some I shall not mention, the ONLY one that worked is an 8 foot fence! 30 X 40 garden was raided often by deer until that fence. Occasionally, a deer will nibble at the grapes that get close to the fence but never enter that fence nor jump it.

The training method will take a lot of time. Yes, you can haze them out with several methods but in a large rural area, they will cycle through their natural birth and migrations to bring in new deer.

I have neighbors with 6 foot fences which are much smaller in area. 12 x 20 size...deer just hopped over it and ate every thing in sight at leisure.

Check out the internet on fencing for deer. Deep within the research you do, you will find that an 8 foot fence will do it. Plus in the long run, it will cost you less time and aggravation.

Good Luck,

Burt

Rather persistent deer you have! Ours will not cross a 5ft tall hot fence. How dense is your human population? Pre high-tensile energized fence the deer would squeeze between the barb wire, hang out in the pasture w/ the horses and drink from their water trough. Since the fence was swapped out, the deer do not enter any longer.

 

[Paulemar]

I've got deer running all over the place and without a fence, I'd have no gardens. The smaller garden close to the house (17 x 40) has 28" rabbit fence all around and aluminum single wire electric fencing at around 36 inches and 3-4 inches. No problems with deer, groundhogs, or rabbits and those animals travel all around the garden. The larger garden (100 x 50) has 4' welded wire fencing and battery powered electric fence again at 36" and 4" about 5" outside of the welded wire fence.

Initially I tried with just the welded wire fence, but the young rabbits squeezed through and had a field day. The addition of the electric at 3-4" stopped that. The electric fence is mounted on the fiberglass posts and plastic insulators from Tractor supply. I figured that the low electric would zap anything before it could either go through or dig under the welded wire fence. It seems to work just fine. By the way, the peanut butter training works.

 

[olthumpa]

Anyone have any problems with Yellow Finches? https://www.google.com/search?q=yel...6IMnOkQeTyYCABQ&ved=0CDYQsAQ&biw=1024&bih=636

Everyone I have talked to says that they do not eat plants, just bugs. The first year it was just the cabbage family so I netted that section but any little whole and they would find it and in they would all go. For for the last two years they have been a major problem eating anything in the cabbage family, the tops of beats, young cucumber and squash plants, and others. They have gotten use to the sound of the 22. I can go through a 10 round clip, one bird after another and there will still be more pecking away waiting for me to change clips.

If any one knows of something that will work, please let me know.

 

[Burt]

Rather persistent deer you have! Ours will not cross a 5ft tall hot fence. How dense is your human population? Pre high-tensile energized fence the deer would squeeze between the barb wire, hang out in the pasture w/ the horses and drink from their water trough. Since the fence was swapped out, the deer do not enter any longer.

BotaDriver,

Your deer are better behaved than our deer apparently. We are rural here and yes, there are occasions a deer will not cross or jump a 5 footer. When weather conditions set in and they get real hungry, they will eat ANYTHING and do anything to get at it. We have had them try to sleep next to our house a few times. They went away with sore butts. One more word of caution. Deer, at least here, will go for any flower. They love to eat flowers.

Burt

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

I agree with Burt,
Idaho Deer, white tail and mule skin will just look at an electric fence and laugh! Might stop them for a day or two but after that they are going to get in!

I won't even mention what the Moose, Elk, Coyotes, Wolves, Skunks, Squirrels, Chipmunks, Raccoons, Field mice, Pack rats, and Ravens can do.

Here is what we use.

 

[The_Al]

Thanks everyone for some great advice. I will follow-up with some pics when all is said and done.

 

[trouble11]

I have the same problems as everyone else, but My main problems are Turkeys. Here is a pick of some last early fall before they migrated to My Garden.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Yep forgot the turkeys too!
I prefer to drink my Wild Turkey, not have it raid the garden.

 

[Lil Foot]

I have the same problems as everyone else, but My main problems are Turkeys. Here is a pick of some last early fall before they migrated to My Garden.

Man, I cannot believe how different animal behavior is from different areas of the country…. I'm an outdoorsman & hunter and I've lived in Arizona since 1965, and I've only seen turkeys in the wild here twice. And never near buildings or humans….

 

[skeets]

Foot do you want some?
Maybe I can catch a couple doze and ship them out to you that way my garden might stand a chance,,, when they get done with the garden it looks like somebody went nuts with a rototiller. I asked the bunny cop if I could shoot them for crop damage,, he said ,, ahhhh no

 

[Lil Foot]

Foot do you want some?
Maybe I can catch a couple doze and ship them out to you that way my garden might stand a chance,,, when they get done with the garden it looks like somebody went nuts with a rototiller. I asked the bunny cop if I could shoot them for crop damage,, he said ,, ahhhh no

Hey, that would be great! Thanksgiving year round!
I think if it was that bad here, they would probably eventually wander in front of my .625 blowgun target. Just thinkin' out loud….

 

[skeets]

I hear ya wondering had you ever loaded .58 ball in that thing

 

[trouble11]

Wild Turkey, Mmmmm. !!!

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Hey, that would be great! Thanksgiving year round!
I think if it was that bad here, they would probably eventually wander in front of my .625 blowgun target. Just thinkin' out loud….

Come on up they are legal to hunt up here!