[Jacob-list] re: fencing

[Susan L. Nielsen]

On Mon, 25 Sep 2000 SharHill at aol.com wrote:

> Thanks to all who responded to my post about the portable electric fencing.  
> The consensus seems to be it is not for Jacobs, so I'll try something else.  
> I appreciate your input as it saved me from spending money on something that 
> could have injured my sheep.

We have some portable fencing units we use to get the sheep into
places where we can't have them running loose. The pens are put together
from 16' livestock panels: 3 panels will make a unit 8' x 16'.

The ones I'm using now are the deluxe version: they have bicycle wheels
and welded frames to make them rigid, and I can move a pen with a couple
of sheep inside, by myself. The sheep very quickly learn the protocol,
and travel along with the pen. But the first one was wired together at
the corners, and 2 of us could lift it and then stagger forward to the
new grass. Such a pen could be put together on a Saturday afternoon,
once you had the materials.

The great thing about these pens is, at 8' width, I can roll them
between our young fir and cedar trees which are spaced at 10'. The
sheep can mow, and cannot reach the trees. A water bucket is mounted
next to the wheel on one side, and a couple of little feed bins on the
other side. The graduated wire of the panels (they call them combo
panels around here) is pretty much critter proof (for the larger,
more dangerous critters). We've added corrugated metal roofs to the
center portion of the pens, for sun and rain shelter.

I use 3 of them. They are not, altogether, cheap. The welded versions,
using 1" galvanized conduit for the frame, and with both ends hinged
as gates, with bicycle wheels salvaged from Goodwill bicycles (you
get the forks when you buy the whole bike, and they can be welded to
the pen to hold the wheels), costs around $350 in materials. Your 
time is, naturally, valued at far more than you can pay yourself!

The pens are far cheaper than intricate cross-fencing, however, and
permit us to run some intensive rotations on the pasture. If you
have a small acreage, it is by far a more efficient use of the
grass than general grazing. I'm pretty confident that the sheep are
safe in them (as much as possible on a farm!), and I probably pay
more attention to the individuals inside (since I'm moving them
every day) than if they were running in a large pasture.

Besides, it gives visitors something to ask questions about. As if
our farm were not odd enough to start with...

Susan
--
Susan Nielsen, Shambles Workshops      |"...Gently down the  
Beavercreek, OR, USA                   |stream..."
snielsen at orednet.org                   |           -- Anon.