Sheep and electric fencing

[liammogs]

Thinking this year of grazing ewes and lambs behind electric fence, similar to how you would cattle, labour intensive I know, but biggest problem I get is grass gets away from ewes here pretty quick....hoping to reduce scald in lambs and worm burden, but also keeping ewes and lambs fresh as they will always have a fresh bite every 2 days or so?

Opinions? Anyone do it? Pros? Cons?

 

[unlacedgecko]

Thinking this year of grazing ewes and lambs behind electric fence, similar to how you would cattle, labour intensive I know, but biggest problem I get is grass gets away from ewes here pretty quick....hoping to reduce scald in lambs and worm burden, but also keeping ewes and lambs fresh as they will always have a fresh bite every 2 days or so?

Opinions? Anyone do it? Pros? Cons?

feed budget to forecast demand. Measure grass to get an idea of feed available. Use mowing and conservation to manage surplus.

 

[neilo]

Thinking this year of grazing ewes and lambs behind electric fence, similar to how you would cattle, labour intensive I know, but biggest problem I get is grass gets away from ewes here pretty quick....hoping to reduce scald in lambs and worm burden, but also keeping ewes and lambs fresh as they will always have a fresh bite every 2 days or so?

Opinions? Anyone do it? Pros? Cons?

Apart from the extra work fencing, it’s all pros. More grass, better grass, less scald, and more surplus to take as bales (assuming you have a use for it and don’t increase stock numbers instead). Ime lambs’ individual performance is poorer, but output per acre is increased, as well as the sward composition being improved (dramatically).

It can be a bugger training young lambs to respect electric fences though, which is why we originally ditched RAPPA fencing 30 years ago. Once they’re trained though, job’s a good ‘un.

 

[liammogs]

Apart from the extra work fencing, it’s all pros. More grass, better grass, less scald, and more surplus to take as bales (assuming you have a use for it and don’t increase stock numbers instead). Ime lambs’ individual performance is poorer, but output per acre is increased, as well as the sward composition being improved (dramatically).

It can be a bugger training young lambs to respect electric fences though, which is why we originally ditched RAPPA fencing 30 years ago. Once they’re trained though, job’s a good ‘un.

3 strands be enough? Or net?

 

[unlacedgecko]

3 strands be enough? Or net?

netting is a pain in the ass.

if you’ve got Rappa use 2 systems and make a 6 strand fence.

 

[liammogs]

No rappa, just a trial year this year!! 6 strands? Bit excessive?

 

[unlacedgecko]

No rappa, just a trial year this year!! 6 strands? Bit excessive?

standard Rappa system is 3 strands. I’m funny with electric fencing. All my systems are standard 3 strand 600m (1x metal 2x polywire). I won’t cut or modify them.

so if I was using more than 3 strand it would be 6 strand.

 

[neilo]

3 strands be enough? Or net?

We dropped strands and went to netting instead (livestok netting with rigid uprights, NOT the Flexinet type stuff that is perfect for tangling & strangling), but rarely used that for young lambs if we could help it.

Initial training, and making sure they keep respect for it, is the key, whatever system you go with.

 

[NZDan]

I use 3 strands from day one, they never have any problem with them getting out, mind all permanent fences are 4 wire leccie.

 

[DanM]

Ours are behind 3 strand from birth. Battery energisers. They soon learn. Quite often goes to two strand after tailing.

 

[Frantic Farmer]

standard Rappa system is 3 strands. I’m funny with electric fencing. All my systems are standard 3 strand 600m (1x metal 2x polywire). I won’t cut or modify them.

so if I was using more than 3 strand it would be 6 strand.

Just started doing the same set up . Do you put steel at bottom or middle . Last year ust couldnt stop sheep going through 3 poly .

 

[unlacedgecko]

Just started doing the same set up . Do you put steel at bottom or middle . Last year ust couldnt stop sheep going through 3 poly .

Steel on the bottom. Only bottom and middle strand powered.

Keep the battery charged and food in front of them. Check fence power daily.

If they keep getting out add an earth wire next to the steel wire.

Anything that gets out after that gets culled.

 

[neilo]

Steel on the bottom. Only bottom and middle strand powered.

Keep the battery charged and food in front of them. Check fence power daily.

If they keep getting out add an earth wire next to the steel wire.

Anything that gets out after that gets culled.

And a decent sized fencer!

 

[Mc115reed]

Steel on the bottom. Only bottom and middle strand powered.

Keep the battery charged and food in front of them. Check fence power daily.

If they keep getting out add an earth wire next to the steel wire.

Anything that gets out after that gets culled.

What do you mean add an earth wire next too the steel wire?

Go my ewes and lambs behind eleccy atm they’d been great for about 3 weeks but once the fodder has got a bit lower they started escaping so moved them into the field they were escaping into but just wondering if anything else I can do too liven the fence up... fence is giving out max on my reader could be more??‍ (8kw) 3 strands on 2nd notch off bottom, 4th then 6th, only tied together by the reels with another piece of poly... change the battery every Saturday morning ...

I often see people with ewes and lambs grazing bare soil behind electric 3 strands and wonder how the bloody hell they do it !

 

[neilo]

What do you mean add an earth wire next too the steel wire?

Go my ewes and lambs behind eleccy atm they’d been great for about 3 weeks but once the fodder has got a bit lower they started escaping so moved them into the field they were escaping into but just wondering if anything else I can do too liven the fence up... fence is giving out max on my reader could be more??‍ (8kw) 3 strands on 2nd notch off bottom, 4th then 6th, only tied together by the reels with another piece of poly... change the battery every Saturday morning ...

I often see people with ewes and lambs grazing bare soil behind electric 3 strands and wonder how the bloody hell they do it !

Voltage reading doesn’t tell you a lot, other than whether you have shorts I think. What’s the output of your fencer, in Joules?
I always go for 2J units, with battery changed/charged regularly, very rarely ever use a third strand, haven’t owned any steel wire since I threw the last tangled mess away 25 years ago, and reckon to keep all sheep in to bare earth (if I want to).

I see bunches of sheep behind electric with a couple of dozen creeping forward, and always want to go and sort it out.

 

[Mc115reed]

Voltage reading doesn’t tell you a lot, other than whether you have shorts I think. What’s the output of your fencer, in Joules?
I always go for 2J units, with battery changed/charged regularly, very rarely ever use a third strand, haven’t owned any steel wire since I threw the last tangled mess away 25 years ago, and reckon to keep all sheep in to bare earth (if I want to).

I see bunches of sheep behind electric with a couple of dozen creeping forward, and always want to go and sort it out.

Max output is 2 joules on energizer ... I just use poly iv also had big tangled messes out of steel so wouldn’t buy steel again ...

 

[Guleesh]

Started lambs on 6 strands then after couple moves back to 3 with only occasionally lamb escapes. - they tend to go back in by themselves. Ewes totally broken to it in no time. setting up fences can be time consuming at first but you soon get into a routine and system that'll speed it up. just keep the bottom line as low as possible to catch their heads, any escapes seem to things just wandering under whilst grazing-forgetting fence is there, then they may jump forward and through.

 

[NZDan]

Started lambs on 6 strands then after couple moves back to 3 with only occasionally lamb escapes. - they tend to go back in by themselves. Ewes totally broken to it in no time. setting up fences can be time consuming at first but you soon get into a routine and system that'll speed it up. just keep the bottom line as low as possible to catch their heads, any escapes seem to things just wandering under whilst grazing-forgetting fence is there, then they may jump forward and through.

We've just lifted all out poly wires, bloody lambs have started jumping over the fences. Had to much shorting with the low bottom wire on the brassica crop.

 

[neilo]

I always train my lambs with 2 strands of poly wire down the inside of a good hedge/netting fence, about a metre out. I also have a 5J fencer just for that training period to teach them that it bites. Usually only takes a couple of days and they don’t test it again.

The only time I have lambs out now is when the w*nkers from the shoot tamper with the fencer, or tread the wire down and leave it shorting on a metal stake.? I’ve taken to going round checking at night, after the p*ssheads have packed up. All to often there’s a gate left open into one of the fields with stock in too.

 

[Guleesh]

We've just lifted all out poly wires, bloody lambs have started jumping over the fences. Had to much shorting with the low bottom wire on the brassica crop.

My experience is that jumpers just get better at jumping, just as a sheep learns respect for electric wires, jumpers learn that there's reward for jumping. I think i'd be nipping it in the bud asap. Any way to retrain them for the fence?
A few times here we tried moving ewes by just dropping the lines on the ground and trying to force them over with a dog, ewes were having none of it - like a brick wall was there for some of them - easier to give up and just take them round the end. Dunno what it is but they've got serious respect for the fence.