Electric Fence

[sewall]

Could I keep a group of calves in a two wire electric fence in about a 100 acre pasture? I have never done any fencing with electric fence only barbed wire. Just wanting to know what you guys/gals think. Suggestions?

 

[dun]

If the fence is properly installed and grounded and the calves are conditioned to it, there is no reason it won;t keep them in. We keep them in a 5-35 acre pasture with a single strand. That's from birth till they leave either as a weanling or an aged cow.

 

[SRBeef]

From my own experience a 2-wire will hold them IF everything is working properly. Get too many weeds on the bottom wire or the power go out for an hour or two or a close lightning strike and some calves especially will smell the fence is not hot and go right through it if the grass looks a bit greener on the other side or they miss momma. May depend on how old they are too. Maybe Dun's calves are better trained to electric than a couple bwf of mine were last fall.

IF you use 2 wire electric as your ONLY fence on 100 acres you better be out there with a weed whipper running around checking it every day at least. jmho. Barb wire is working even when the power goes off.

 

[dun]

Get too many weeds on the bottom wire or the power go out for an hour or two or a close lightning strike and some calves especially will smell the fence is not hot and go right through it if the grass looks a bit greener on the other side or they miss momma.IF you use 2 wire electric as your ONLY fence on 100 acres you better be out there with a weed whipper running around checking it every day at least.

Sounds like you need a better charger and maybe ground system. Even with the fence pretty well covered with grass and it being wet grass to boot because of the rain we've not had a problem. If it's hot enough to really zap the snot out of them when they're young they won;t get all that close to it even when the power is off. To run them from one pasture to another I'll frequently just pull a pice of white string along one side, they see the string and stear clear of it.

 

[SRBeef]

Dun, My problem when I was trying to use electric as a perimeter fence on a couple fields was first lightning knocked out my energizer (before I put the chokes in you suggested). It is a big one but seems to draw lightning like a magnet here on the ridge top. And then a snow storm drifted over the lower wire. I was using the 2 wire to try to graze some cornstalks after they were harvested. These 2 bwf just looked for any opportunity to dart through the 2 wire. That's why I am putting in more barb this summer as a perimeter with electric dividers inside. At least if the charger or power go out they are not out on the road. Texas might be a whole different situation though. But 100 acres with calves and electric as the ONLY fence sounds like trouble to me. But I'm new and much to learn.

 

[dun]

Dun, My problem when I was trying to use electric as a perimeter fence on a couple fields was first lightning knocked out my energizer (before I put the chokes in you suggested). It is a big one but seems to draw lightning like a magnet here on the ridge top. And then a snow storm drifted over the lower wire. I was using the 2 wire to try to graze some cornstalks after they were harvested. These 2 bwf just looked for any opportunity to dart through the 2 wire. That's why I am putting in more barb this summer as a perimeter with electric dividers inside. At least if the charger or power go out they are not out on the road. Texas might be a whole different situation though. But 100 acres with calves and electric as the ONLY fence sounds like trouble to me. But I'm new and much to learn.

We had, the operative owrk was "had" one calf that I think enjoyed getting zapped. We use a single strand of hot and he would walk under it slowly with the attendant snapping and cracking of the elctricty zapping him. He never turned a hair, just walked under it. I'm sure texas is a ewhole different situation, but texans seem to think that everything about texas is different.

 

[novatech]

We had a bull that enjoyed scratching his back on the electric fence. I found out when I thought it must not be working and tested it by hand. :dunce:
As far as Texas being different, I dont't think so. There are many areas that have very expansive soils. When they dry out the soil will shrink back from the ground rod thus loosing the ground. The solution is to either keep the ground moist or drive the rod deeper. With the drought we are having now some of the cracks in the ground are more than 20 ft. deep. Kind of hard to get a rod that deep. Using several ground rods helps along with a 5 gallon bucket of water once a week.

 

[dun]

Using several ground rods helps along with a 5 gallon bucket of water once a week.

Unless you dump those 5 gallon buckets of water continuously from the ground rod to the cows feet it isn;t going to do a whole lot. The soil between the ground and the shockee has to conduct.

 

[novatech]

Using several ground rods helps along with a 5 gallon bucket of water once a week.

Unless you dump those 5 gallon buckets of water continuously from the ground rod to the cows feet it isn;t going to do a whole lot. The soil between the ground and the shockee has to conduct.

Run another wire next to hot wire as ground. Connect that wire to ground rod? Of course that only works if they touch both at the same time.

 

[grannysoo]

Yes it will work if you do it right. Keep plenty of roundup on hand to spray those fence lines with. Ride the fence lines every couple of days to make sure that everything is ok.

I run 2 wires, spaced about 12 inches apart. A few years ago when we were in the drought, I had the problem with the girls not grounding, so I came back between those 2 wires with a third, isolated wire that was hooked to the ground. Problem solved and it would knock the **** out of you.... :lol:

 

[grannysoo]

Yes it will work if you do it right. Keep plenty of roundup on hand to spray those fence lines with. Ride the fence lines every couple of days to make sure that everything is ok.

I run 2 wires, spaced about 12 inches apart. A few years ago when we were in the drought, I had the problem with the girls not grounding, so I came back between those 2 wires with a third, isolated wire that was hooked to the ground. Problem solved and it would knock the **** out of you.... :lol:

 

[dyates]

The key is to get them used to electric first. Put them in a well fenced corral with a strand of electric inside. Once they get used to the electric, you can turn them into the bigger pasture. And make the fence visible. Tie flagging on it if you have to. I've left the charger unplugged for as much as a week (oops!) and had nothing get out through a single strand of polywire. On the other hand, one of the neighbors' calves came over to pay a visit through a non-electrified line fence. He tore down every electric fence he came to with the heat turned on.

 

[msscamp]

From my own experience a 2-wire will hold them IF everything is working properly. Get too many weeds on the bottom wire or the power go out for an hour or two or a close lightning strike and some calves especially will smell the fence is not hot and go right through it if the grass looks a bit greener on the other side or they miss momma. May depend on how old they are too. Maybe Dun's calves are better trained to electric than a couple bwf of mine were last fall.

IF you use 2 wire electric as your ONLY fence on 100 acres you better be out there with a weed whipper running around checking it every day at least. jmho. Barb wire is working even when the power goes off.

We routinely used 2 strands of electric fencing for interior fencing on much smaller acreages, and had no problems with weeds/grass/tumbleweeds growing up into the bottom wire/hanging off the fence. Perhaps the problem lies in your fencer, rather than the weeds?