Electric Fencing for Camelids - Alpacas and Llamas

Electric Fencing For Camelids

Electric fencing is often used to keep alpaca and llama safe.  Despite their thick fleece, with the right energiser they can be trained to respect and electric fence.  The fence won't hurt the animals, but it will give an unpleasant sensation which they will want to avoid.  After a couple of shocks, they will usually avoid the fence.

The most popular type of electric fence for llamas and alpacas is a 5 strand fence with heavy duty electric twine or steel wire.  This wire can be run through insulators placed on a wooden fence, or through plastic posts that push into the ground.  

The electric fence is powered by an energiser, which in turn is powered by the mains, from a battery or from solar power.  You need a reasonably powerful energiser in order to penetrate an alpacas' or llamas' fleece.  A HotShock A90 is an energiser that is run by a 12 volt leisure battery.  The A90 is ideal for animals with a thick fleece, with a high 8000 voltage.  It is made in Germany and comes with a 3 year warranty.  It costs £167.99.  This is the battery energiser I would select and more details can be seen here:  https://www.farmcareuk.com/hotshock-a90-energiser-for-fences-up-to-30km-great-for-sheep-insulated-animals-and-foxes.html .

If you would like a  solar powered energiser, the Hotline FireDrake 67 is the best option (you don't want to go for anything with any less power).  This energiser is an 'all-in-one' unit that has an internal rechargeable battery, that is charged up by the solar panel on top of the energiser.  It is really easy to use and sits neatly on an earth stake that doubles as a stand.   It has 3,900 volts.  It is made here in the UK and comes with a 5 year warranty.  It costs £275.99 and more details can be seen here:  https://www.farmcareuk.com/drake-67-solar-energiser.html

If you have access to the mains, then the Farmer N200 is a great choice, based on it's high voltage and price point.  It is designed for animals with a thick fleece.  It is made in Germany and comes with a 3 year warranty.  It costs £164.99 and more details can be seen here:  https://www.farmcareuk.com/farmer-n200-energiser-for-fences-up-to-25km-great-for-predators.html

Fence requirements:

- A fence posts between every 5 and 10 metres.  The closer the posts, the stronger your fence!  Add more posts around corners and undulating ground, and less posts on long flat stretches.  You can select 3ft or 4 ft posts - depending on the size of your animals.  If in doubt, go with the taller posts!  They comes in bundles of 10.  A pack of 3ft posts is £13.00.  https://www.farmcareuk.com/fence-posts.html

- Heavy duty electric twine.  5 lines.  For a 100m fence, you would need 500m of heavy duty twine.   A 500m roll costs £24.99 https://www.farmcareuk.com/heavy-duty-twine.html

- 4 x Heart-to-Heart connectors - these make each line of your fence live.  They cost $7.50 each.  You could also run twine between each line of fencing, but it won't give you such a good connection and will risks making your fence less effective.  https://www.farmcareuk.com/hart-to-hart-connector.html

- A fence tester.  There is a huge range of these - but the £12 starter one is fine for most people!  https://www.farmcareuk.com/multi-level-fence-tester.html

- If you are using wooden posts, you need 5 insulators per post.  Ring insulators are easy to screw into the post and are very cost effective.  A bag of 150 is £20.99  https://www.farmcareuk.com/ring-insulators.html

- If you are using a mains energiser, you will need high voltage lead out wire - enough to get from where your energiser is plugged into the mains to the start of your fence.  You also need enough to get from your energiser to your earth stake, which should be positioned close to the start of your fence.  If the high voltage lead out wire is running along the ground, be sure to put it through some water piping or a hose for protection.  https://www.farmcareuk.com/high-voltage-lead-out-wire.html

- You will need an earth stake for your energiser.  https://www.farmcareuk.com/earth-stake.html

- If you are using a 12 volt energiser, be sure to select a suitably powered 12 volt leisure battery (not a car battery, which could damage your energiser).  You can often pick these up in places like Halfords, or here is one that we have selected especially for electric fences:  https://www.farmcareuk.com/12v-leisure-battery.html

- If you are using a 12 volt battery, you can also pop a solar panel on top, to charge your battery.  During the darkest winter months you made need to give it a couple of boosts from the mains, but having a solar panel will massively reduce the amount you have to charge your battery!  Without a solar panel, you will be charging your battery every couple of weeks, depending on your energiser and size of fence. This is our best selling solar panel and costs £36.99.  It is definitely worth getting a solar panel!  https://www.farmcareuk.com/12v-solar-panel-10w.html

- You may also wish to add 5 gate handles, to allow easy access to your fence.  These can either clip on to your plastic posts, or if they are going into wooden posts, you will need to add 5 gate anchors too.  Here's a link to the standard gate handles, that cost £1.99 per handle:  https://www.farmcareuk.com/standard-gate-handle.html  Here's a link to the gate anchors, if you are using wooden posts:  https://www.farmcareuk.com/gate-handle-insulators.html

- Finally, some twine connectors are a very good idea.  They allow you to connect two pieces of twine, and also helps you secure your gate handles.  Getting 10 or so is a really good idea.  Please don't tie knots in your fence as this will reduce the flow on your fence.  https://www.farmcareuk.com/twine-connectors.html

If you have any questions about your electric fence for your llamas or alpacas, please don't hesitate to email sales@farmcareuk.com.  We are a family run business and we are happy to help!

FarmCare UK

Electric Fencing Specialists

www.FarmCareUK.com