Author	[Modern View]
old 07-17-2012 13:23:37 209.86.226.58 Report to Moderator	So I went out and checked for eggs. Figured while there I should check the electric fence and see if it is working. Found it to be shorted so did a walk around to find where. I found 3 dead birds on the fnece so is that enough to short the system out?? [Reply]   [No Email]
aFORDable 07-19-2012 12:59:49 208.78.252.246 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   Anything that will conduct electricity will short the flow of electricity if grounded. So, yep the birds are at least some of the problem and may be all the problem. Simple answer, remove the birds and check the fence. If it still isn't working then something else is shorting it our or you have ground problems or box problems or electrical problems. [Reply]  [No Email]
GeneMO 07-18-2012 13:50:13 71.1.115.9 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   Pretty dry around here. May not be getting a ground. I think you should pee on it. Gene [Reply]  [No Email]
old 07-18-2012 14:59:41 209.86.226.19 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to GeneMO, 07-18-2012 13:50:13   Dry yes but the ground is good. I have it working again just odd to find 3 dead birds on the fence [Reply]  [No Email]
randallinMo 07-18-2012 10:40:23 216.74.205.155 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   I think your birds probably did short out the fence. Pretty unusual for that to happen though. Do you suppose they were trying to get to a water source in the chicken pen? Now, grasshoppers short out fences all the time. They will hang on to a metal post and climb around to the shaded side and sit on the insulator. Next thing your know zap! You can usually hear the fence popping a long ways away. [Reply]  [No Email]
old 07-18-2012 10:46:41 209.86.226.57 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to randallinMo, 07-18-2012 10:40:23   I think what is happening is they land on one of the 2 fences be it the hot one or the other one and they are just heavy enough to move the wires so they ground them self's out and then die from the shock. This electric fencer is a cheap constant power one that will make a 1/4 inch spark and that is how I test it for shorts. I have the ground rod set up so I can move it close to the wire and make a spark. No spark I know I have to look for a short some place [Reply]  [No Email]
rustyfarmall 07-18-2012 12:08:16 67.55.162.174 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-18-2012 10:46:41   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see Strange as it may seem, a bird dropping on a plastic insulator will sometimes cause a short, and a rust stain from old wire on a porcelain insulator will also sometimes cause a direct short to ground. Also, if you are as dry down there as we are here, you may need to drive that ground rod a few feet deeper into the ground, OR pour a lot of water around it. [Reply]  [No Email]
old 07-18-2012 12:54:47 209.86.226.34 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to rustyfarmall, 07-18-2012 12:08:16   Yep very dry here in Missouri as in 10 plus inches behind as for rain this year. The ground rod is a copper home type that I drove in the ground about 4 or 5 foot and it is close to the pond I have in the chicken pen so should be just fine and when the fence is working as it should give me a nice spark when I test it. The birds I found where touching both the electric fence and either the other fence or one if the fence post [Reply]  [No Email]
jackinok 07-18-2012 10:27:38 162.58.82.135 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   answer;yes ,no ,maybe... LOL not to change the subject ,but be careful with your electric fences guys. two or three grass fires started this last week here by them arcing to dry grass. i get scared of them in this dry weather and shut mine off if possible. [Reply]  [No Email]
eldo case 07-18-2012 07:36:24 70.195.3.20 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   Was it still shorted after you removed them? That would be the answer! [Reply]  [No Email]
dave2 07-18-2012 04:00:30 79.240.158.67 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   Mom's advice is best in this case.... look where ya figger it ain't....... Without asking/knowing the type of fence you have, just don't overlook anything. I'd say the dead birds were caused by the short rather than causing the short. For some reason, snails (slugs) love to get up on the connectors of the charger here... nastiest mess you ever saw and you can hear it a hundred yards away............ [Reply]  [No Email]
rustyfarmall 07-18-2012 06:46:35 67.55.162.174 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to dave2, 07-18-2012 04:00:30   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see IF the bird is ON the ground, and touches the electric fence wire, that bird DID cause the short, and that bird WILL be dead. Anyone who questions that fact has had very little experience with an electric fence. [Reply]  [No Email]
dave2 07-18-2012 07:14:48 79.240.158.67 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to rustyfarmall, 07-18-2012 06:46:35   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see Don't get on the defense... Noone is doubting your answer or tryin to croud you off the park bench. Rich asked a ??? and myself and others gave answers. It's a big world and not everyone has to agree.... Test is, are you big enough to disagree without name calling or trying to degrade someone so you can still be right. Better take another look afore you fail the big test. [Reply]  [No Email]
Dell (WA) 07-17-2012 19:29:47 71.217.31.188 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   old..........NO, birds do NOT short out electric fences. You see them setting on 4400VAC overhead power wires all the time. You need to keep looking fer yer short. Sometimes a cheap transistor radio will allow you to klicker in on yer shorts. .......Dell [Reply]  [No Email]
old 07-18-2012 09:08:33 209.86.226.40 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to Dell (WA), 07-17-2012 19:29:47   Well I found 3 of them dead and they where sitting in a way that they where both on the electric fence wire and on a post or the non electric fence so as to make a short if they could do so that is. [Reply]  [No Email]
gregger 07-17-2012 18:47:09 74.206.61.188 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   i had a grasshopper short out a fence cpl. yrs. ago -- was on steel post and the wire [Reply]  [No Email]
John T 07-17-2012 15:12:38 216.249.82.117 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   If just hanging on NOT touching an iron post NOT SHORTED but if the opposite is true YES John T [Reply]  [No Email]
old 07-18-2012 09:10:03 209.86.226.40 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to John T, 07-17-2012 15:12:38   All 3 birds where dead and yep touching some other part to make it so they where grounded [Reply]  [No Email]
Jon Hagen 07-18-2012 20:06:05 69.26.17.61 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to old, 07-18-2012 09:10:03   We had a "weed burner" fence charger on our yard fence, the kind with enough on time and power to burn off a good size plant stem. One day the fence was not working, I went looking for the problem. I found the wire knocked out of a couple insulators and hanging within a couple inches of the ground. At the low point a blackbird had tried to climb from the ground to this low wire. He had one foot clamped on the wire and the other on the ground. He was grave yard dead, and when I touched him, the leg on the wire came apart at the knee joint. From the old weed burner power, his drumstick was well done. :-) [Reply]  [No Email]
JMOR 07-17-2012 13:33:27 99.104.16.60 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to woodbutcher, 07-17-2012 13:23:37   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to seesure, wet meat conducts. [Reply]  [No Email]
Ted in NE -OH 07-17-2012 14:20:16 72.16.17.52 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to JMOR, 07-17-2012 13:33:27   If the bird is hanging from the wire and touching nothing else it would not short out fence. I think you need to keep looking for the short. [Reply]  [No Email]
old 07-18-2012 09:10:59 209.86.226.40 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to Ted in NE -OH, 07-17-2012 14:20:16   All 3 birds where in fact dead and touching the other fence so as to be grounded [Reply]  [No Email]
rustyfarmall 07-17-2012 14:30:07 67.55.162.174 Report to Moderator	Re: Shorted out fence question in reply to Ted in NE -OH, 07-17-2012 14:20:16   Quoting Removed, click Modern View to see But if those birds are ON the wire, and touching either the ground OR the steel fence post, that will definitely short circuit the fence. Grasshoppers will do the same thing. [Reply]  [No Email]