Did you know there was a right and wrong way to staple wires and insulators? Are your animals ready to step into a newly electrified fence? In this final installment of our blog series we cover both of these questions to make sure your fence is ready to go and animals are acquainted with their new boundaries.
#9 Stapling: Safety first! Always wear safety glasses when driving staples. Staples are an important part of a high-tensile electric fence. You will want to purchase 8-gauge galvanized-barbed staples, that will not rust or bend. Be cautious stapling when using plastic tube insulators. Do not staple too tightly or you could damage the insulator, resulting in a hidden short. On line posts you should staple diagonally over the tube. Wraparound insulators are used at corner and ends; they have a larger diameter and require a different stapling technique. Place one staple horizontally above and below the wraparound. Then slightly bend the staples toward each other encompassing the wraparound. This will prevent damaging the insulator. Non-electric wires should never be stapled tightly either. Smooth wires and horizontal woven wires should float between the posts so that all tension is directed to well-built brace units, and not applied to line posts. There are right and left hand staples. If you rotate the staple 30°-40° away from the flat surface you will prevent the post from splitting. The staple legs will spread outward for greater holding strength. Drive staples at an upward angle into the posts in dips and at a downward angle on rises. Stapling can be made easier with a Kencove staple starter.
#10 Livestock training: Inadequate animal training can be detrimental to an electric fence. Horses can be haltered and walk around the fence boundaries, but most animals will need to be started in small paddocks. Make sure the fence is visible; this may require the use of fence flags. Domestic animals are not the only animals that need trained. If your electric fence is built to exclude deer, you may want to bait the fence so that the deer learn that the fence shocks. Folks often bait a fence by attaching peanut butter coated aluminum foil. Training livestock to the fence and their surrounding is important to their safety and the construction of your fence.
