[Jacob-list] Fence

[stonecroft235 at juno.com]

We recently had some fencing installed - yes, it did cost a lot but the
up side is that it is very solid and will last for years, much longer
than we will.  Our first meadow we did ourselves - using locust posts,
and a PTO-driven post hole digger and woven wire we stretched into place
using the tractor and the ratchet tightening system..........and
typically that sort of effort works well.  However, our property is on a
hill composed almost entirely of shale - the post hole digger auger
literally got stuck in the holes, jammed in the rocks,  and it was a real
bugger to free.....and a few of the posts after in place had just a teeny
bit of wiggle room or "give" due to the stoney soil -- just enough to
present a ram with hours of head-butting fun -- and in the process the
aforementioned post developed even more "give".    For us our sheep are a
hobby - we make no real  money from these guys (we don't have many)  and
hopefully some day somebody will want to buy our 10 acres for
sheep/horses/llamas/you name it == so we decided to spend the $ and have
fencing installed.  Our last meadow was fenced yesterday - in half a day
a small meadow, probably 1.5 to 2 acres) was completed - board fence
along our front yard, with woven, high-tensile wire (smaller openings at
the bottom)  around the rest of the perimeter - and all posts were driven
into the ground with a pounder mounted on the front end of a  skid loader
- which literally only takes a few seconds to pound the posts into the
ground  and the posts are as solid as the Rock of Gibralter  -- the old
boys won't have much fun with these.  In addition, my husband likes
fences to look nice - bent and dinged up wire is not for him - so he runs
a strand of electric around on the inside at Jacob sheep nose height -
and this has discouraged through-the-fence head butting, etc.  We also
have 2 strands of electric on the board fence area between boards - and
all electric is solar-powered....which works like a charm.   We now have
six separate meadows  (this includes the little one for the pygmy goats)
with gates between.   I know many of you would not opt to go this route,
but for us "middle agers", it was the easiest, most pain-free way to go. 
(The most pain we'll experience will be paying the bill!!!)   And here in
this part of the world, this type of fencing is pretty popular in the
mainstream agricultural world - dairy & cattle.  

Sue Martin
Stonecroft

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