From prairiedf@globaldialog.com Thu Jun 17 22:36:25 1999 Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 10:33:10 -0500 (CDT) From: Greg David To: sanet-mg@shasta.ces.ncsu.edu Subject: electric fencing Hi Roberto, We have used electric fencing to contain our pigs for about 6 years now. It works really well most of the time. The times it doesnn't work so well is with young pigs(4 to 12 weeks old), and pigs unfamiliar with electric fencing. We use two types of fencing. One is a poly strand(UV resistant polyethelene strands with stainless steel or alluminum strands woven in with the poly strands) or regular galvanized steel fencing wire. Of these two type either work well, but the poly wire is colorfull and easier for the animal and farmer to see. This visibility factor could easily be corrected with colorful rags or such tied to the steel wire. We use fiberglass fence posts 11/16" diameter for the corners, and 3/8" for the straght runs. Little plastic gizmo clips hold the wire to the posts and are easily slid up or down, even when hot. The corners are another matter...we tie knots there. The other type of fencing we use is called 'electro net'. It has hot strands of polywire spaced horizontally ever 2, 4 or 5 inches, depending on what you order. The strands are held in space by vertical plastic aligners spaced every foot. The effect is a net of hot electric horizontal wires that will contain most any animal, even poultry. The rrouble with the electro net is the pigs will root dirt onto and eventuallly over the netting. Where we use the netting(which keeps chickens, geese and young pigs out of the garden ), a single strand of poly wire is set up about a foot inside the electronet. This keeps the pigs away from the netting and avoids shorting the fence out because of rooting. There are built in fence posts every three meters orso. It is manufactured in England. Our charger produces 6200 volts, 4.60 joules, for a 5000th of a second. This results in a high pain potential and yet is safe because of the time duration. Also if the time duration is a lot longer ir will tend to melt out the poly in our wires. Generally the shorter the pulse the safer the system for melting, fire and injury potential. I'm no phyicist, but I know about pain and our fence hurts like hell if you bump into it(especially with wet feet). Another note on charging, you'll need to completely ground the system, so when the animal touches the fence the earth acts as to complete the curcuit. Any new pig introduced into the drove is put in a wooden pen about 6 meters square, with a strand of hot wire a foot inside the wood frame. The pig will quickly learn to respect the electric wire and once that is learned it will respect a hot fence without the wood pen. If your just containing pigs, one wire could be enough if the pigs are conditioned to it, the fence is kept hot, and they are not stressed form lack of food, water, or shade. If the pigs become naughty and start escaping into the garden, two or three wires may be neccessary. Two wires spaced horizontally are more effectve with pigs than two wire spaced vertically, but it takes twice as many posts. We generally use two wires, spaced vertically as Tamworths jump fairly well, and it is best not to tempt them. Below are a couple of earlier articles I wrote about using our pigs to denude soils. I can attest to the fact that pigs will eliminate poison ivy, or just about anything else you pen them in with. At Prairie Dock Farm we have been using Tamworth hogs in a pastoral grazing/cultivating system for a couple of years now. Sheep and chickens are grazed through a paddock, followed by pigs and chickens. When the pigs have finished rooting, we seed with an appropriate cover crop, let the pigs stompple it in, move them off and irrigate. It produces wonderful stands of covercrop/pasture, and the tractor never even came out of the shed. This system also works with most any nasty weed patch you may have. It is limited only by your creativity with electric fencing. Pigs once taught, develop a healthy respect for an electric fence. A single strand is usually enough as long as they have enough food and water....(boars can be another matter). Once securely fenced the pigs can be induced into the worst of places with a scoop of corn. One need only pour corn on any particular 'nasty' and it disappears. We also use the pigs in our composting program. Our farm is DNR certified to compost 40,000 cubic yards of yard waste per year. When pasture is unavailable we pen the Tams in the leaf windrow area. Again with corn as an incentive, hogs can be used to replace expensive compost turning machinery, and turn a tasty profit. We choose Tamworth howgs for a few reasons. First they are a heritage animal. This is the animal version of a heirloom vegetable, that being they are rare and we are in danger of losing their genetic heritage. Second, Tams are noted for their rooting ability, pasturing capability, variety of diet, hardiness, mothering instincts, and with a great personality. This is the type of hog your great, great grandparents probably raised. Third, they have as good a feed conversion rate as most pigs. An added benefit is they are a very lean pig. This coupled with being raised organically, on pasture hits a nice niche market. The pigs have become a big attraction at the farm with the membership and local schools(our farm is a CSA, Comunity Supported Agriculture). I think it really makes an impression on a young person to see and touch a farm animal. This is the type of experience children need to be exposed to at a young age to develop a respect for nature and life. We do rent these critters if you live in our area and meet a few safety criteria. A one day internship is necessary to avoid the occurrence of unpleasant situations. Sales are available too. Write for details. Greg, from the Farm...Goodnight. To Unsubscribe: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg". If you receive the digest format, use the command "unsubscribe sanet-mg-digest". To Subscribe to Digest: Email majordomo@ces.ncsu.edu with the command "subscribe sanet-mg-digest". All messages to sanet-mg are archived at: http://www.sare.org/san/htdocs/hypermail