The shocking facts of electric fences

Think of an electric fence as more of a psychological barrier than a physical one designed to keep your animals confined and keep wild animals and predators outside of the barrier. They work by having an energizer source shooting a pulse of electric current along the fence’s wire, usually a pulse a second. If an animal touches the fence, it completes the electric circuit between fence and ground and gets a safe but very effective and memorable shock. One shock is enough that the animal never forgets, and avoids the fence from then on.

Since it’s a psychological barrier, it wouldn’t take much force to break through so the fence must be well-built so it can absorb some pressure from animals, and the elements. And the energizer must be powerful enough to run the charge the full length of the fence so animals are shocked anywhere along it.

Advantages of electric fence

• Affordable: Electric fencing can be 1/2 the cost to construct and maintain than a barbed wire fence,
• Easily constructed
• Low maintenance
• Lightweight and portable
• Durable – due to low physical contact
• Easily modified or expanded
• Keeps animals in and predators out

To choose the right Gallagher products for your project determine: What animals do you want to keep in or keep out? See Gallagher Energizer Chart How many miles or acres of fence will you build? See Gallagher Energizer Chart Use the Fence Calculator to determine the components you’ll need What power source will you use? Gallagher has 110 Volt, battery or solar powered energizers