How to Install and Operate an Electric Fence
Electric fences usually can be built and maintained for less than the cost of permanent barbed or woven wire fences. They can also provide cost effective animal control for strip grazing of forage, creep grazing calves, and excluding animals from sensitive stream banks and ponds. Advances in electric fences, with low resistance energizers and solar or battery options allow greater lengths of fencing to be placed almost anywhere, but if not installed properly, problems can occur. To minimize electric fence problems, a self-help guide entitled, "Installation and Operation of Electric Fences, Cow Trainers and Crowd Gates," provides installation tips and drawings.
The most common failure of electric fences, cow trainers, or crowd gates comes from an improper earth return system. If the earth return should happen to find a connective path through an adjacent metal building or water pipe, the fences, trainers and gates could become another energized return path for electric pulses. When this happens, any person or animal touching the building or water lines would receive a shock, which may make animals reluctant to drink from waterers or enter buildings. The booklet explains how earth return systems should be properly installed and adjusted for safety. Proper installation insures the desired cow response without causing undue stress on the animal.
For more details on selecting, installing or troubleshooting electric fences and related devices, see "Installation and Operation of Electric Fences, Cow Trainers and Crowd Gates," authored by the Midwest Rural Energy Council. The booklet explains wiring requirements, lightning protection, proper installation methods, and provides several illustrations. The booklet costs $7.50, including postage, and can be obtained by contacting the National Food and Energy Council, 601 Business Loop 70 West, Suite 216D, Columbia, MO 65203. Call (573) 875-7155 or visit www.nfec.org for details on this and other farm-related energy wiring information.