We got it! And it's the best investment we've EVER made. Our talk has been full of ideas about where to let the animals mow the grass next and what other livestock we could potentially raise now that we have such an easy and effective containment solution. (Meat bird CSA anyone?)
Right before we set it up, I got an email from "Scrapple" (I'll maintain his anonymity) at Little Seed Farm that said,
"We use the netting in combination with the polywire. The netting is great and makes moving the animals very easy. The main risk is that the animals get stuck in the netting. Not sure if you read his blog, but Bruce King wrote about how he has lost sheep after they've strangled themselves in the nets. We've had goats get their heads stuck, but they always managed to untangle themselves. The best way to start with the netting is to get them to test it themselves. You can hang a strip of foil with some peanut butter or other favorite food on there and let them get zapped a couple times. With sheep it's particularly tough since they have such a thick coat. they have to touch with their nose to really get shocked. It's not fun seeing them get shocked, but it's best to have them learn early."
Thankfully, the wire we chose is a different brand than Bruce King's, and the holes are consistently small, too small for any sheep heads to fit through. But just to be safe, we let our animals shock themselves by putting the grain trough just on the other side. I swear, anything that deters them from pigging out on their beloved grain is a miracle, if you ask me! They each got shocked once and that was enough. This fence packs a punch!
ps. That picture of Mini shows how we made her coat smaller by wrapping two small stones inside and tying around them with rubber bands. Good idea, sheep coat company!
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Very cool, I love the use of electric fencing. I've been chatting with a farmer about putting some sheep on "lawn" and in the areas where we don't/can't graze the goats. What brand of netting did you choose?
ReplyDeleteThe main problem we've had is with the kids. They sometimes want to follow the milkers in for milking and they might jump or poke their head through the fence. It's a rare event, but I suppose the main risk for you would be with lambs. After they've been shocked the adults are smart enough to know not to mess with the fence. Kids on the other hand...
yay! i love my netting. makes life easier and also a little more tangled :)
ReplyDeletehaha yes, I guess a little more tangled... But only since I'm a newbie. Already we're getting the hang of it. Scrapple, we chose this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.kencove.com/fence/Electric+Net+Fencing_detail_NPCG.php
in combination with this:
http://www.kencove.com/fence/Solar+Energizers_detail_EXS.5.php
and used a rebar rod for grounding and a t-post for holding the charger
I've never had goats, but lambs seem to be less adventurous than kids. I feel like if mom was trained, they'd follow her lead.