Thinking of putting up an electric fence to keep rabbits out of the garden. Anyone tried that before with any success? Wondering how high to run the wire or if I need to run a couple strands. Any info helpful. Never installed one before. Done plenty of house wiring, so the electrical part isn’t an issue. Going to use solar if I do it.

my grandpa had a successful rabbit fence around his garden , my aunt made him put it on a switch when he got his pace maker

he was a stone mason before he retired so he had a lot of re-bar he used for stakes and a lot of old insulators he saved over the years of farming the fence had a post of rebar about every 6-8 feet , he had the first wire about 2 inches off the ground then about 4 and then about 7 and they got spaced a little more as he went higher

other tactics could be used like making a V out of the posts so that you give it depth run staggered wires inside ground , outside hot , then you don't need to get them as close together

unless you lay some chicken wire or something on the ground you need them very low t prevent digging


also in my personal experience , solar chargers tickle real powered chargers , get your attention.

keep the hots from touching the ground or ground wires , run at least one ground wire and it can be wired directly to the stakes/posts insulators or fiberglass posts for all hot wires

make it so they can't dig under it and keep all vegetation out from under it ,strips of card board can be helpfull to keep weeds and grass from growing under it , unless you are meticulous like grandpa about weeding under it

you may also want to look up slant wire fencing it lets you space the wires farther apart but helps with jumping , a rabbit can jump 3 feet strait up but not as good at 3 feet up with 3 feet of distance to clear

I have, needed two strands. I think one was about 3-4" off the ground and the next was maybe 3" above that. Little &*^%$*&s still got in. An actual fence works much better.

I buy hundreds of old chickens from a guy who sells eggs from pastured chickens. He uses 40 inch high, woven electrical fence to keep the chickens in and to protect them from predators. He keeps 5 pens of about 100 chickens each and moves them to new grass every few days. He has zero losses to mink, raccoons, opossums, skunks, fox and coyote, that are thick on his farm. He uses solar fence chargers to power the fence. Rats won't even go through the electrical mesh. I would look into getting woven electrical fence to protect your garden.

Keith

Thanks for the replies. Will check out the slant wire fencing.

Fencing the whole garden in is was a thought, but at 25’x125’ I thought electric might be simpler.

I do work on several ranches, and they have solar powered hot wires. Seem to zap ya pretty good. Not as good as AC power, but enough to get your attention. The little popping sound seems enough for most cattle. Lots of single strand stuff around here for cattle and nothing else. That’s all near the house stuff. The rest of the cattle has heavier fencing, single strand of barbed on top, elect at the top, just inside the fencing, on the same post. Others skip the barbed and just run a hot wire above the fencing.

I’m just worried about rabbits. They’ve destroyed my beans several times in the past.

I used 3 foot wide chicken wire with 4 foot rebar stokes wove through it about every ten feet for my garden. Seems to keep the rabbits out pretty good.

When my cur saw a rabbit on the other side of the garden, he tried to go through it though. That didn't work out well.

Chicken wire on fiberglass post works well.

^^^What he said^^^

If you use fiberglass posts, and keep the fence from touching the ground, you could electrify chicken wire around the perimeter. That would certainly work, just have to be diligent to check it every morning to make sure some critter didn't ground it over night.

Edit: I just realized that's exactly what Trapper5123 is saying.

if you can get rolls of the 4 foot chicken wire and bend the bottom 6 inches out then hang it .
having the bottom bent out and covered in mulch or dirt keeps the rabbits from digging because they get down an inch and hit wire

putting a single hot wire about 4 inches high and 6 inches out from an fence also discourages digging using the fence as ground and the hot wire were they are likely to touch it , when you make the connection to a hot wire while touching the grounded fence , it is much more shocking of an experience

my 4 foot chain link has a hot wire to discourage dogs climbing out , WOW! when you get the gate with your hand and the hot wire with your arm , that makes touching the hot wire barefoot on dry grass seem mild and hot wire while wearing dry shoes a tickle

15 mile charger on a 400 foot fence there is plenty of voltage

You guys are more creative than I thought. Thanks!

You mean you don't just stock the garden with rattle snakes? mine is

I live in an area that has virtually no poisonous snakes. Kind-of rare for MO. I live in a dry prairie region. Have to go a few miles to find a rattler, copperhead, or water moccasin. I like it that way.

My electric fence is a 22. Started the war last night. Got one of three. Haven't even planted anything yet. Shot 11 last year. I think they hang out close to the house by my hounds so they don't get nailed by the coyotes.