Fencing

Yesterday, I posted that I needed to put up some temporary fencing to block lambs from falling into the creek. This photo shows better what I'm talking about. This netting is electrified with over 10,000 volts. It will help train the lambs to electric fencing at a young age.

Some of our neighbors who raise sheep are surprised that our perimeter fence contains them. It is a 5-strand electric fence with 14 gauge aluminum wire under hand tension. Every wire is energized. The total perimeter is approximately 1/2 mile so the total for 5 wires is 2.5 miles (4 km?). The spacing from the ground up in inches is: 7, 14, 21, 31, 42. I've written before that the bottom wire is energized through an energy-limiter, also called a flood-gate controller. The fence crosses the creek twice and there is a flood-gate made from galvanized jack chain at both crossings.

Internal pasture subdivisions are made with 2 hot polywires at approximately 14 and 22 inches. I tried to get away with only one wire but it didn't work out. The ewes jumped over or ducked under at every height I tried.

I think the key to containing sheep with electric fencing is having a powerful charger and good training. The netting works great for training. It teaches the animals to repsect whatever fence they come across. The charger we use is a digital charger from Kencove. It is a 4 joule and puts out over 11,000 volts when there are no shorts. In the summer, the charge may get down to 6,000 volts when grass grows up and touches the bottom two wires.