Electric fencing for sheep

[Prairie Shepherd]

Hey, anyone have experience confining wool sheep with a single strand of polywire electric fence? I heard an inspiring talk by Greg Judy on the topic, and have also heard rumors of mere mortals holding flocks with one wire at 10" above the ground.

When I need sheep to stay put, electronet is my go-to solution. I've also been able to keep them where I want with a three strand setup as shown below, but when I go to one strand, it's always a fun day for my border collie rounding up the rascals. Even when the fence is pretty hot -- running 8-9kv -- and the grass is plenty green on their side of the fence, I can't count on the sheep staying put with one strand. It would be a very fine thing to figure out how to hold ewes and lambs with something more affordable than electronet and easier to move than 3 strand polywire. Maybe a different height? Maybe a different wire? Maybe a more "memorable" training program right after shearing the ewes? I've been using 1/16" Gallagher polywire. I welcome your advice!

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[JustinM]

I believe I remember hearing Greg Judy talking something about this at least six or seven years ago. I think his solution which was suggested to him by Ian Mitchell-Innes from South Africa was to cull animals that won't stay where they're supposed to be.

Perhaps an alternative to electronet could be the Gallagher SmartFence. This is a four-wire set up, is lightweight and goes 328 ft. I've never used one, but I've seen it in farm stores and is something that I'd think be whole lot easier to use than electronet.

And, maybe another option is to use a special type of livestock training that really bonds the flock/herd together so they stay bunched in the absence of electric fence. Bob Kinford from Texas has been doing this for a number of years with cattle in the southwest which he calls migratory grazing. I've never seen this in person, only on video, but it definitely has me thinking that this may be a way to get animals where we need them to be without trying to contain them with electronet or other types of fencing.

 

[Prairie Shepherd]

Thanks for your reply, JustinM. I appreciate all ideas -- you never know when someone will have exactly the answer needed. I'll need to keep looking though because:

• I've used Gallagher SmartFence and at least in my application, my three strand fence is more effective and less expensive.
• My sheep are finewools with mostly merino-based heritage. They could write the book on flocking, no training necessary!
• I have culled all the adventurous sheep in the flock, in other words, all the blackface sheep, the Shetlands, the Icelandics and the over-coddled bum lambs who think they should live in the house with me.

It takes very little to keep them where I want so long as I'm not using them in tightly managed, targeted grazing. The issue with electric fence arises when I want to get surgical in placing and holding the sheep to knock back weeds or utilize cured feed when they can see there is lovely green feed in a nearby meadow. Grazing in concert with the animal's inborn tendencies is easy, but using livestock instead of herbicide or mowing or replanting is a much bigger challenge.

I think the solution will lie in training the sheep just after shearing (as a wooly sheep is coated in relatively non-conductive material except on the tips of nose and ears ), in using a more conductive wire (maybe Baygard Platinum or AgroTronix NitroWire?), or both. There's expense involved in either of those strategies, so I was hoping to hear that I just needed to try a different wire height. Wouldn't it be nice if there was an easy fix to conundrums like this?

 

[JustinM]

Linda,

Did you happen to see this video from Greg Judy? There's also an article on onpasture.com that's authored by Greg titled: 1-Strand Sheep Fencing - How We Made It Work For Our Operation that addresses this. From the video he recommends essentially a five-month training process where the number of polywires starts at three, then goes to two and finally to just a single wire.

 

[John Steitz]

Hey, anyone have experience confining wool sheep with a single strand of polywire electric fence? I heard an inspiring talk by Greg Judy on the topic, and have also heard rumors of mere mortals holding flocks with one wire at 10" above the ground.

When I need sheep to stay put, electronet is my go-to solution. I've also been able to keep them where I want with a three strand setup as shown below, but when I go to one strand, it's always a fun day for my border collie rounding up the rascals. Even when the fence is pretty hot -- running 8-9kv -- and the grass is plenty green on their side of the fence, I can't count on the sheep staying put with one strand. It would be a very fine thing to figure out how to hold ewes and lambs with something more affordable than electronet and easier to move than 3 strand polywire. Maybe a different height? Maybe a different wire? Maybe a more "memorable" training program right after shearing the ewes? I've been using 1/16" Gallagher polywire. I welcome your advice!

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I have not tried that although I would bet there is a very good chance that would be fine. I have done 2 strand successfully w top at knee bottom. The sheep are easy its lambs low and my LGD that I add strands for.

 

[John Steitz]

As I plan to move to some off property grazing next year I need to invest in some fencing. I use 1/2" fiberglass posts and poly wire. What I need to add are wind up reals as I move fence from location to location. What is working? What is not working? Can you use multiple spools for one reel?

 

[JustinM]

Hello John,

Those are some great questions. I've had some direct experience with a variety of fencing products that may prove helpful in your situation. To get at some potential answers to your questions, my first question is, have you considered using plastic step-in posts like the you see below rather than using fiberglass posts?

When it come to fencing that needs to be moved often, I prefer using something I can use with my bare hands and don't have to wear gloves. I've had enough glass slivers in my hands to never recommend fiberglass posts unless it's something that's going to stay in the ground for at least a year.

 

[John Steitz]

Hello John,

Those are some great questions. I've had some direct experience with a variety of fencing products that may prove helpful in your situation. To get at some potential answers to your questions, my first question is, have you considered using plastic step-in posts like the you see below rather than using fiberglass posts?

When it come to fencing that needs to be moved often, I prefer using something I can use with my bare hands and don't have to wear gloves. I've had enough glass slivers in my hands to never recommend fiberglass posts unless it's something that's going to stay in the ground for at least a year.

Thank you. I have used those and prefer the fiberglass for semi permanent dividers , although I have not had that bad experience yet. I think I may be glad I didn't trust the 3/8 " though hearing that. I do have a fair number of the step ins. Good point though as these are non winter use and temp so that is a somewhat different tool.

 

[JustinM]

One thing I've observed with fiberglass posts, they're smooth when you first get them, but once they stay outside for a winter or two, the smooth coating deteriorates and they get splintery. I didn't realize this until I had left some fiberglass posts in the ground all year round and then quickly discovered you have to wear gloves when handling them. When it comes to using step-in posts in frozen or hard ground, there are at least two workarounds that I gathered from folks over the years. The first is to have enough step-in posts to place them in the ground before the ground freezes (that requires potentially a lot of posts and wouldn't work so well for net wire fencing). Secondly, is to use a cordless drill and pre-drill the hole that the step-in post goes into. While the second idea is a bit cumbersome because you're carrying a cordless drill and step-in posts or net wire at the same time, I love the flexibility in having the flexibility to place posts exactly where you want them as conditions change on the ground.

For those raising cattle who are interested in bale grazing, step-in posts or fiberglass posts go easily into the sides of round bales no matter how frozen the ground is and you don't have to pre-drill holes in frozen or hard ground.

 

[Doug]

I have used single strand polywire to hold my Katahdin sheep and LGD for several years now without any problems. I started the first small flock by using netting, that is all the training that I done. I occasionally will have very small lambs cross the wire when I'm moving them to a new paddock. It helps to make sure the whole flock is bunched together before I open the gate to move them. I've culled one young ewe in the past that wouldn't stay behind the wire. Most of my sheep were born on the farm, but when I purchase new ones they seem to always stay in with the rest of the flock. I normally use a good polybraid or Gallagher turbo wire and try to place it approximately a foot above the grass. I usually have to mow a path with a rotary mower sometime during the summer months when the grass gets really tall. I really don't know of any special management techniques that keeps them in. I thought at first it worked well because the sheep were getting fresh grass every few days, but the last two winters they have stayed behind the wire with nothing but hay in a small area.

 

[Prairie Shepherd]

Thanks, Doug! Always good to hear the nitty gritty on this. I especially liked hearing about your success in keeping the sheep contained even on hay in a small area. What type of posts do you use?

 

[Doug]

I like to use the Tractor Supply step-in post. They are usually fairly cheap compared to other brands, and they are a little more rigid than some others. I also like the fact that they have a heavier metal spike. I use a deadblow hammer to drive them into the ground during dry weather. I have a very rocky soil type where I'm located here in the Ozarks. These can usually be hammered into the ground, if you use a little care not to strike them off center. These post seem to last about as well as some of the more expensive ones I've tried. I have heard some people complain about taking the wire loose, but I just loop the wire over the connector to quickly remove it.

 

[Tracy Mumma]

We have contemplated using single-wire for our sheep, but have always ended up sticking with the electronet--primarily because the wire is our first defense against predators, and has proven itself effective time and again. I guess it would be different if we had LGDs, but we're not able to keep them with every flock at every time of year, and the fence is always there for us.