# ways to keep a sheep in the pasture



## Richardin52 (Aug 14, 2011)

I have one ewe lamb that I picked up with several others that won't stay in the pasture. No problem with the rest yet but I know this one will teach the rest if I don't stop her.

She is only getting out in one place right now but I have no doubt she will try another because my fence is all the same.

Any body ever tried a collar similar to a dog shock collar or maybe a strip on that underground fence and collar that they use in cities?


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

I normally have the same problem in the spring with new lambs. What seems to happen more often than not is that they will not leave the safety and security of the flock,and just run the fence line, so it is not a big panic situation, but you will have to improve your fencing. As far as the underground fence goes, although I am currious wether or not that will work, i beleive it to be a waste of money if it doesn't work. Sheep are a fairly skitish animal, if something comes along and scares it over the line, it will get a shock at first and then no more. The same will be true when it tries to go back in the feild, just like it were an electric fence. The main difference with an electric fence is the high voltage, and the physical barrier (the wire), they seem to figure the fence out fast.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Biggest thing is to make sure your fence is working well, invest in a digital meter, it will pay for itself. I have this problem at times with our beef calves, eventually it will be a wet morning or just drizzling so they and the ground is wet then ZAPPPP, that usually ends it.

Don't buy a cheap charger either, invest in a good low impedance model that's more than adequate for the amount of wire you're charging. If in doubt go a size bigger rather than smaller.

I think the shock collar route would be a waste of money, the neighbor had a dog that even though it would get shocked (you could see it happen) if it wanted across it would just get a running start and blast right across the buried wire.


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

Bad ewe lambs are very tasty! Seriously your dead on about one teaching the others bad habits. I have found that putting a good electric fence up is the only way to go. Dad used to shoot the fence crawlers as they crawled through, then left them there to plug the hole. Not sure it taught the others anything but he never had the same problem twice!


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## Richardin52 (Aug 14, 2011)

I have a digital meter. I'm getting just under 4 KV. She is putting her nose under the lowest wire and then bolting under the fence. It is 12 ga. high tinsel fence. I use springs to keep everything tight. My posts are 30 feet apart so there is enough flex that she can go under.

Is 4 KV enough?


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## carcajou (Jan 28, 2011)

4 kv is fine but she has that fence figured out. You might try hobbeling her feet to slow her down and possibly shearing a strip down her back to give her a jolt when she goes through. Good luck


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## Toyes Hill Angus (Dec 21, 2010)

As far as the 4kv goes, my fence runs 7.2KV @10 joules= big snap. And at this time of year there is not much to stop them because of the wool. I would strongly caution you about shearing the top line of the animal due to the extreme loss of body heat that will be a result, you don't want to see them go backwards in the winter. Sell her ship her or fix up the fence. The fence issue will come about again - it is not one special lamb, but the beging of a whole flock of escape artists.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Same here, my fence runs about 7.0-7.2K, if it gets around 6.5K it's time to walk it. Is it all new fence? Doesn't take very many rusty sections to just kill a fence no matter how much you spent on the charger.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

As some mentioned 4 kv sure ain't enough for sheep. Remember that they are not grounded good with their little hooves and thick wool. I think most sheep producers also have a neutral wire spaced with a hot wire to insure good shock. If I get below 7 kv I start getting concerned. I have a 120 farm that is still running over 10 kv and in real dry weather up to 12 kv.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

I'm a big believer in "hot" fences. I use 4 strands of electrobrade and mine puts out a little over 9KV. After a few jolts to a curious nose, they really learn to respect the fences. Two items that haven't been mentioned yet: Make sure you have lightning protection on your charger if you have many electrical storms. My neighbor has replaced 3 cheap ones while my Gallagher keeps on ticking. I've seen my fence hit twice. The other thing is grounding. I've got three 8' ground rods, 10' apart and there is very little voltage difference anywhere on the fence, wet or dry. I started with 4' post holes so I didn't have to hammer them all the way and everything is underground. Good luck!


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Mike120 said:


> I've got three 8' ground rods, 10' apart and there is very little voltage difference anywhere on the fence, wet or dry. I started with 4' post holes so I didn't have to hammer them all the way and everything is underground. Good luck!


Mike:

Do I understand that you drill a post hole to start your grounding rods? If so, I'll bet I can sink three 8' grounding rods in less time than you can do one and do it with my bare hands!

Ralph


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## Dolphin (May 21, 2010)

rjmoses said:


> Mike:
> 
> Do I understand that you drill a post hole to start your grounding rods? If so, I'll bet I can sink three 8' grounding rods in less time than you can do one and do it with my bare hands!
> 
> Ralph


Depends on your soil, some clay can really grip that rod depending on moisture.


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Dolphin said:


> Depends on your soil, some clay can really grip that rod depending on moisture.


Yepp, I have clay here, pretty thick hardpan in some areas,, but I'm sure I could do it in most places, except where there is BIG rocks in the soil!.

Ralph


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Dolphin's right....it depends on the soil. When we're real dry, a PHD will sit there and spin, even with new teeth. You have to put water in the hole to make any progress. Using a FEL usually ends up with a bent rod. When I put them in, the ground was like concrete. The other reason I started with a hole was that compared to the 8' rod, I'm pretty short. Standing on a ladder, beating the rod with a small sledge and not penetrating the ground much, got real old - real quick. I put that Gallagher charger and grounds in a little over 5 yrs ago, and it's doing fine....I had used a Zareba before in a different location with a single ground rod and lighting burned up two of them. I've seen the utility guys put them in with a hammer drill since then, but I've never tried it. What's your trick Ralph?


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Mike120 said:


> Standing on a ladder, beating the rod with a small sledge and not penetrating the ground much, got real old - real quick........
> 
> I've seen the utility guys put them in with a hammer drill since then, but I've never tried it. What's your trick Ralph?


Here's a trick I use, I have two smaller drivers just like a t-post driver. A piece of small pipe to slip over the rod in two different lengths. A short one with two foot of pipe on it and a longer one with 4 foot of pipe. The shorter one also works to drive in small steel round posts in the winter if the ground is froze. I also use em for driving rebar into drilled holes in existing concrete.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

I like that idea for your driver. I'm planning on a charger & some "moveable" fence in the future, I'll keep it in mind!


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Mike120 said:


> When we're real dry, a PHD will sit there and spin, even with new teeth..........What's your trick Ralph?


I think I have an extra rod in the garage. I will try to make a video Friday and put it on youtube! $1.00 per view donation to my favorite bar?









Ralph


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## Dolphin (May 21, 2010)

Good tips here, thanks. Work smarter, not harder


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Mike120 said:


> Dolphin's right....it depends on the soil. When we're real dry, a PHD will sit there and spin, even with new teeth. You have to put water in the hole to make any progress.


Been there, done that. I used to use the water trick, not any more. I even stood on the end of the post hole auger one time, no help at all. Now I take the loader tractor, place the bucket on the end of the PHD, and stick the loader in float so the entire weight of the loader is on the auger. A lot of the home farm has blue clay under the topsoil. Like concrete practically, am totally screwed in a wet year but in a dry year we have _never_ had a crop failure. Takes 1" of water one_ year _to move one _foot_ thru blue clay. Have had several company's want to buy the blue clay for landfill liners and what not, they were all gung ho about it until we pointed out if they mined out 3 foot of the blue clay, our topsoil once they replace it would be lower then the ditch bottom and they would be responsible for installing and maintaining the drainage pumps.

In some of our lower ground the tiles are barely 18" deep, any deeper and they would be down in that blue clay and you might as well have poured cement around your tile before covering it.

Dad felt horrible when we had our lagoon dug. A friend of dads bid the job, got it, and spent most of his profit on new cables for his dragline. Normally he said he gets at least a couple of years out of a new set of cables, he went thru two sets before getting the lagoon dug.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

A lot of the knifes for the augers don't work very well. I figured a few years back that there is no reason a good knife for the auger tip can't be made to cut into clay. I now make my own out of old hoof rasp and put a good edge on them and they cut through about anything. In really hard ground it may take 10 minutes to cut but they work alot better.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

rjmoses said:


> I think I have an extra rod in the garage. I will try to make a video Friday and put it on youtube! $1.00 per view donation to my favorite bar?


Ralph, you make the video and I'll certainly watch it! I'm looking forward to it. $1 seems cheap! Just to show you what a nice guy I am, I'll buy a good bottle of red wine and drink it in your honor.



mlappin said:


> Here's a trick I use, I have two smaller drivers just like a t-post driver. A piece of small pipe to slip over the rod in two different lengths. A short one with two foot of pipe on it and a longer one with 4 foot of pipe. The shorter one also works to drive in small steel round posts in the winter if the ground is froze. I also use em for driving rebar into drilled holes in existing concrete.


Good idea, Marty! I keep threating to buy or make a t-post driver....I just haven't had enough need to justify it.



mlappin said:


> Now I take the loader tractor, place the bucket on the end of the PHD, and stick the loader in float so the entire weight of the loader is on the auger.


I've tried that with mixed results. It usually takes a little added weight from the tractor as well and I've always been worried I'd screw up the PHD in the process.



hayray said:


> I figured a few years back that there is no reason a good knife for the auger tip can't be made to cut into clay. I now make my own out of old hoof rasp and put a good edge on them and they cut through about anything. In really hard ground it may take 10 minutes to cut but they work alot better.


That's interesting....I have a number of old rasps laying around. Are you using it in the center like a fish-tail tip or wide auger point tip or teeth on the end of the flights? Got a picture?

I'm putting in some new arena lights this winter and need to ground the steel light poles. I was going to just drive the grounds in the foundation holes, but I'm happy to have some new ways to do it. Happy Thanksgiving Guys!


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## rjmoses (Apr 4, 2010)

Here's the link to youtube to show how to drive a grounding rod using just your bare hands and a little water.

The boys have never done this before.

I apologize--it was very windy today and there is a lot of background noise.






Ralph


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Mike120 said:


> Good idea, Marty! I keep threating to buy or make a t-post driver....I just haven't had enough need to justify it.


Yah, I have hundreds of ideals like that around the farm, unfortunately I haven't come up with the 10 billion dollar Steve Jobs ideal yet.


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## hayray (Feb 23, 2009)

Here is the picture of the knives from the hoof rasp. This is two sections welded together so that I get the depth of knife that I need. A short knife at a shallow angle does not seem to cut at all and this seems to be how most of the purchased knives are. These I set them at a pretty steep angle to the ground and I also keep a cordless angle grinder with me to sharpen them.


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Thanks Hayray!

That's a great idea and a good use for old rasps. The longer blade should really make a difference.

Mike


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