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  • From: Barking Cat Farm <barkingcatfarm AT mindspring.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] deer repellent?
  • Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2011 16:14:33 -0500

On Sep 15, 2011, at 8:44 AMSep/15/11, John Pike wrote
> Can you describe the fencing and particularly how you keep weeds from
> shorting the fence.

Sure. Here is a picture on our website that shows our configuration
<http://barkingcatfarm.com/farm_photos/of-drought--armadillos/weve-also-roughed-up-the.html>
. In the spring we first put down 5' wide heavy duty landscape fabric, then
the fence went in. It is 2 layers, 3 feet between layers, using 3/8"
fiberglass posts every 20' and t-posts at the gates (as shown in photo) and
at the corners. Four strands of polywire, the lowest being 1' off the
ground, then 3 more strands each a foot apart above that. Top strand is at
4' off ground. Electrified with a solar 12V charger. And very importantly,
we keep the fence baited all the time.

Whether due to the extreme drought or to the landscape fabric doing what it's
supposed to, we do not have much weed pressure around the fence right now.
We did on a section we erected before this one without the landscape fabric.
For that one, we just used a weedeater on an as-needed basis. We are afraid
to run a weedeater or any other power tool until we get moisture, so for now
any weeding around the fence is done by hand or with a pair of scissors. In
the past I've tried vinegar and other organic weed killers, but all the ones
I've seen or tried are more expensive for the efficacy reaped than mechanical
cutting.

We use the Parmak Solar Pak 12 charger shown on this page
<http://electric-horse-fence.com/electric_fence_chargers/solar/solar_powered_1.htm>.
Here is the polywire we use
<http://electric-horse-fence.com/electric_fence_conductors/polywire.htm> .

We started with a single layer fence with angled fiberglass posts and
t-posts, 2 strand configuration as recommended by another farmer with heavy
deer pressure. That worked for 6 months, at which time a huge doe figured
out how to get past it and showed the others. We added two strands and it
took her one day to figure out how to get past that. Then we went to the 2
layer approach and it has worked going on a year now. We've learned with
deer to always qualify a working barrier with "it's working so far".
Apparently because of their poor eyesight, they don't like the 3D effect. 3
feet apart between layers is supposedly far enough apart that they can't leap
it in one bound, but close enough so they can't make it in two hops.

Three months ago, we started having problems with smaller animals coming in
under the lowest strand and damaging crops. We ended up adding 3 more
strands, at 4", 8", and 16" off the ground. We were powering those 3 strands
with another 6V Parmak solar charger we happened to have for another purpose.
The reason we were doing it that way was because we were concerned with the
lower strands possibly shorting out and taking the whole fence down. We can
live with a little raccoon damage, but not with a herd of hungry deer running
loose in the crops even for one night. We were a bit concerned with the two
fences shorting, which would likely have damaged the 6V charger, so we ended
up using power drain limiters, as shown here
<http://electric-horse-fence.com/electric_fence_components/electrical_components/power_drain_limiter.htm>.
Basically, it's a 2 kilo-ohm resistor that you put between your bottom
strands and your top strands. The electric pulse gets delayed going across
the resistor, effectively isolating the two parts of the fence. The only
thing to be careful of is to check the charge on the lower part of the fence
from time to time. With these power drain limiters, the part opposite the
limiter from the charger (in our case the lower strands) can potentially
short out and it not show up on the charger's front display.

The lower strands have worked to keep out raccoons, rabbits, etc. The only
thing it is NOT working on is armadillos, which continue to be a thorn in our
sides. And I'm sure a field mouse can get in, but not too worried about them
just yet.

I'll be happy to answer any other questions. We've tried lots of different
things and many of them have failed, but this has been working for us for a
year or so now. The fence is designed to be somewhat portable, i.e., easy up
and easy down. For us it is more of a permanent installation, and we are
expanding it as soon as weather allows. Right now the ground is rock hard,
but when we put the fence up in late winter, both the fiberglass and t-posts
went in pretty easily (with the help of a tractor loader).

Lastly, we bought all of our fencing supplies from McGregor Fence Company out
of Sandwich, MA. Jonathan and the staff there have been very helpful. I'm
sure there are other great electric fence companies out there, and I get
nothing for plugging McGregor. We're just happy customers, and have found
their prices to be very reasonable.

Hope that helps,
Laurie
Barking Cat Farm



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