All about Fox Fencing
Electric fencing for keeping foxes away from your prized animals is a well-established and proven protective measure used by commercial and domestic owners alike. One thing to remember, however, is that an electric fence is not designed to keep birds in, rather to keep foxes out.
The easiest electric fencing option, especially for those with only a small number of birds, is poultry netting. In general, electric netting is ideal, due to its ease of use, movability and low visual impact. Electrified netting is available in green or orange and consists of a 1.1m high mesh of polyurethane twine, interwoven with metal filaments through the horizontal strands (all but the bottom line). The electric netting is supplied in rolls of 25m or 50m with integrated posts.
Netting for foxes
The following items are recommended for a electric netting fox fence:
We also offer a complete fox netting kit, with 50 meter of netting, a gate, earth stakes and a solar energiser. Everything you need for a quick and complete setup.
For larger electric fencing installations, netting can be a very expensive option for keeping foxes away and it may be more cost-effective to use an existing post and rail fence line. In this case, the most effective way set up an electric fence against foxes is to use galvanised wire. You should use 7 - 9 strands of galvanised wire, mounted at different heights, closer together at the bottom and further apart at the top. We recommend wires at around 10 cm, 20 cm, 30 cm, 50 cm, 70 cm (either electric or earth), 100 cm, 120 cm (either electric or earth) and 140 cm.
Foxes have been known to jump onto a fence and climb over it, such is their tenacity. To prevent this, you could include two 'earth' lines into your electric fox fence. Should a fox decide to climb over your electric fence, when they touch a live and an earth line simultaneously, they will receive a shock.
Permanent fox fencing
The following items are recommended for a permanent fox fence:
- Galvanised metal wire
- Ring insulators for wooden posts
- Wooden posts with a length of around 180–190 cm
Mobile fencing for foxes
The following items are recommended for a mobile electric fox fence:
- Pulsara Mobile Fencing Post 5ft 1in / 1.55m - Green
- Gallagher Vidoflex 3 PowerLine Polywire 100m
- Gallagher Vidoflex Polywire Connectors
- Earth Stake / Energiser Stand
- Gallagher Electric Fence Keyring Beeper - Fence Tester
If you already have a mesh pen, you can also use electric fencing to reinforce the meshing, as well as introducing an electric shock into your fox defences. In this case, the wire mesh should be connected to the earth spike and two offset electrified wire lines fitted to the fence posts. The bottom line is designed to scare the fox away as it investigates the bottom of the fence and the top line is to scare away a climbing animal - in this instance, when the fox touches the electrified line and the wire mesh it will receive the shock.
Unfortunately, the increasing use of electric fences to deter foxes in domestic settings has highlighted possible dangers to some small animals. Hedgehogs and frogs have both been known to have dies from multiple shocks from electric fox fencing. Hedgehogs have a particular problem because they tend to roll into a ball when shocked, other than foxes and other animals, which tend to move away from fence line. To prevent this, you could consider putting a small physical barrier in front of your electric fence or, in extreme cases, disconnecting the bottom fence line.
Mesh pen fencing
The following items are recommended for a electric mesh pen fence: