Ok. Thanks for all the info. First things first. Neighbor checked the farthest point from the energizer with his “fancy tester”. Putting out 10,300 volts. It showed 2.1 joules at the end of the fence as well. It has been raining daily for the past 4 days. Since the rain, the calves have stopped getting out. I’m wondering if it’s from the wet hair carrying a shock. I don’t remember if I said it, but I added another ground rod, 10’ galvanized steel pipe. Has 28” still above the ground. That didn’t make a bit of a difference. I’ve also checked around at the 3 different farm stores I have access to. Nobody carries anything larger than a 3 joule charger, so I’d have to order that. If the calves begin getting out again after the rain stops, my next step will be adding another wire. My current wire averages 37” above ground, so I’m probably going to slide it down to 25” and put a new top wire back at 37”. To be honest, I’ve given serious thought to catching the trouble makers and giving them a nice little haircut starting right behind the head and running all the way to the tail, just about 3” wide, right on the backbone. Also, instead of tying ribbons to the fence, I used to tie empty soda cans to electric fence when I had different hog pastures. They definitely get their attention and the aluminum cans carry electricity just fine. Biggest thing is to remember to cut the bottom of the cans so they don’t fill up with rainwater and pull the fence down. Thanks everybody. Y’all are a great group of folks.
