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:

1. A powerful solar energiser is the most suitable choice. For example, the S60Li can power up to 50 m of electric netting. for all energiser option have a look at Energisers suitable for netting
2. Install the required number of earth stakes according to the specifications of your chosen energiser (keep earth stakes at least 3 m apart). You can find this information on the energiser’s product page. Earth stake connects to the green connection cable with crocodile clip with the energiser
3. Earth stake + mounting adapter or energiser stand
4. Red connection cable with crocodile clip connects the energiser with the net
5. The core of this set up, a fox net, also known as poultry netting, as both are designed for the same purpose

Complete bundle offer 

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. 

Permanent fox fencing 

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.

The following items are recommended for a permanent fox fence:

1. A mains-powered energiser is well suited to electrifying a fox fence with eight wire lines
2. Install the required number of earth stakes according to the specifications of your chosen energiser (keep earth stakes at least 3 m apart). You can find this information on the energiser’s product page
3. Connect a lead-out cable from the energiser to the earth stake, and another lead-out cable from the energiser to the fence
4. Use strain insulators on the first and last wooden fence posts to tension the wires and keep the fence tight.
5. To spread the electrical pulse across all the wires, use wire clips with a short piece of galvanised wire between them.
6. Use sturdy wooden posts to create a long lasting fence (for instance insultimber posts). Posts around 180–190 cm long are suitable for fox fencing. 
7. Screw ring insulators into the wooden posts and run the metal wire through them
8. Use galvanised metal wire, as it is durable, highly conductive and well suited to fox fencing

Mobile fencing for foxes 

The following items are recommended for a mobile electric fox fence:

1. A powerful solar energiser is recommended to provide reliable power wherever it’s needed.
2. Install the required number of earth stakes according to the specifications of your chosen energiser (keep earth stakes at least 3 m apart). You can find this information on the energiser’s product page. Earth stake connects to the green connection cable with crocodile clip with the energiser
3. Earth stake + mounting adapter or energiser stand
4. Red connection cable with crocodile clip connects the energiser with the wire
5. Polywire connectors can be used to create a small loop of the wire through the first eyelet
6. Use plastic electric fence posts as they are lightweight and easy to handle. We recommend posts over 5 ft tall for this type of fence
7. Use a strong polywire and thread it in a zigzag pattern through the posts from start to finish

Mesh pen fencing

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.

The following items are recommended for a electric mesh pen fence:

1. A mains-powered energiser is well suited to electrifying a fox fence with eight wire lines
2. The green connection cable with crocodile clip connects the Earth stake to the engergiser
3. Install the required number of earth stakes according to the specifications of your chosen energiser (keep earth stakes at least 3 m apart). You can find this information on the energiser’s product page. 
4. Red connection cable with crocodile clip connects the energiser with the wire
5. Polywire connectors can be used to create a small loop of the wire through the offset ring insulators as a starting and an end point
6. Use a strong polywire and thread through the offset ring insulators from start to finish
7. To keep some distance between the mesh pen and potential foxes, we recommend using offset insulators, such as Gallagher XDI Offset Screw-in Insulators

What energisers are suitable against foxes 

We're here to help

We hope we’ve given you plenty of useful tips to get you started. If you’ve got any questions, feedback or just want to chat through the best fencing setup against foxes, we’re always happy to help. Drop us a line at [email protected], we’d love to hear from you!