Electric fencing & solar fence chargers

Electric fence is a psychological barrier: it works because animals learn to respect it, which means it only works while it is actually delivering a shock. Most failures are not broken wire — they are earthing, vegetation, or an energiser sized for a shorter run than the one it is powering.

What to get right

• Earthing
  The most common cause of a weak fence. The circuit completes through the ground, and a short earth in dry soil gives a fence that teaches nothing.
• Energiser sized on total wire
  Every strand and every spur, not the perimeter distance — then headroom for summer vegetation.
• Strand height by species
  Cattle need fewer strands higher up; sheep and goats need more strands lower down.
• Train the animals first
  Stock that has never met electric fence will walk through it. Introduce a group in a small secure area before relying on it.

Start with How Does an Electric Fence Work? and Electric Fence Wire: What to Check. Equipment: portable electric fencing.