More Goat Business

The day was spent pounding in T-posts for the goats and hauling goat panels.  I had taken down all the goat panels from when I had goats before and put them in the back yard where the dogs are as an extra area for them.   The doelings are small enough not to challenge the hog panels yet but I thought I might as well get the fencing back in now before they need it.

While I was pounding in the T-Posts Malia was making a hay rake in the goat hut. She had remembered how I had made one from cattle panels last time and made another one just like it.   She also got a few cinder blocks, a big piece of thick plywood  and some hay and made them a raised bed.  It's so nice having her be old enough to be a real help this time.  She even pounded T-Posts for a while.  

When we picked the goats up one of them, Belle, was pretty skittish about being handled so we put up the hog panel area just out front of our house knowing we would give them more attention that way.  We put a picnic umbrella up in their pen that covered the dog crates we put in there and then put plywood on top of them with hay on it and a ramp up to the top and they've been pretty happy there.  With the umbrella covering it they have stayed dry even when it rained.  I don't think they've gone inside the dog crates since getting here.  The breeder had kept them in a dog crate at night so she could milk their mother in the mornings so they were used to them but they like being on top better.  

Yesterday putting collars on them was very traumatic for poor Belle.   She got herself squished between the railing and the nest boxes on the front porch trying to get away from.  Normally she does come up to us, she just doesn't like to be held.  And of course we had to hold her to put the collar on her.  Once she realized what we were trying to do she went into panic mode and got herself jammed in that corner.   I was afraid we had undone all the good we had accomplished in the time she has been here by cornering her to get the collar on but she seemed to be fine again 30 minutes later. 

Malia has been wanting to take them to the creek and I wanted to make sure they would follow us first and have collars on them too.   Maybe next week.   It was always fun to take our other goats on a hike through the woods to the creek.  We would pack a lunch and bring some books and spend a few hours there.   It's a short hike through the woods behind our house but it feels so remote and far away when we go.  And of course the goats have their own lunch along the way too which our older does always seemed to appreciate.   Something new to eat.

Hopefully I'll get the fence finished tomorrow and they can start sleeping in the goat hut tomorrow night.

Elizabeth

Electric Fencing

  This was from day one of electric fence shopping.  I had started at Southern States as I needed hay and theirs is the best for small quantities.  The sales man, after listening to me tell him what I was trying to accomplish thought a solar unit would fit the bill with 3 8' ground rods and lots of various insulators.  He thought the poly twine rather than wire would be a good choice.  I bought it all.

Next I went to Tractor Supply because I needed to get sweet feed for the goats and pig food and I usually get it there. A sales guy came over as I was looking over their electric fence supplies and as we talked he suggested I get the thin poly tape because it would be more visible.  I, being totally befuddled by all of it at that point, agreed and bought 2 rolls of tape.   I then bought 20 black poly step in posts to use as line posts between t posts.  And I bought a tester,  more insulators, splicing and coupling pieces, parts to make a gate and a spool of wire.

I read the literature that came with th fence charger that night and then got online and talked to more knowledgeable pig people than myself about the charger I had chosen.  I was concerned there would be too much juice for the pigs and not enough for the goats and since I wanted to be able to use the same charger for both I wanted to make sure I had made a good choice.  Mostly the consensus was that solar wasn't reliable enough for what I wanted.  I would lose a lot of charge with tape and poly twine and it may not be strong enough. Evidently solar loses juice fast and would really be better for a simple short fence

The next day I had to go to Richmond so I stopped at Tractor Supply again bought a plug in 6 joule 100 mile model.... for my little 3 acres...Yikes!  

It really sounds like a lot and maybe it is but the more I learn about electric fences the more I think I will like this charger and that it's the right model for what I want.  I learned you can make many small area's of fencing plus do an entire perimeter and also run just one wire or two low wires like at nose level for the pigs or high like at nose level for a goat in hard fenced pens and do it all with one charger if you get the right one and plan it out.   And it's pretty portable compared to woven wire with it's many deeply driven wooden posts. 

I also stopped at Southern States again while in Richmond to get some white step in posts.  I had  looked through the Premier 1 fencing catalog and decided to get some for area's close to the house because I liked the aesthetics's of the white posts with the white tape and white poly twine.   Premier catalog is great with all the pictures in it for helping with design and to see how all the various parts should come together.

This is the charger I'm keeping.  I am going to build it a little box to hang it in made from exterior grade plywood.  I'll then hang the box in the greenhouse which will be right in the area where the fence will start. 

So, since I wanted the charger in the greenhouse I decided I needed  to get the bracing up and the ends on it first.  It was dusk by this time so the pictures aren't great but I got 2  - 2 x 4's screwed together and placed above the door in the front and the back running the whole length of it to brace the top to handle a good snow load in the winter.  It made it very tight and solid.   There is very little shake in it. 

Tomorrow I'll get the rest of the framing on it and then I can cover the ends, make doors and hang my charger.

Elizabeth