Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Monday, February 6, 2012
Wishy Washy Weather & The Countdown
First off, the weather this winter has been, dare I say (?), delightful. As far as winters go, I am happy with the way this winter has gone so far...several cold days, but nothing absolutely terrible. There have been lots and lots of warm days and they really have just been so very nice! And, we've gotten rain!!!
Yesterday I put the boys out on their new pasture. There's nothin' in it to eat besides some cedar trees to nibble on and they were kind of apprehensive about what to do but they just had a grand old time running and jumping and being goats.
I walked the girls out to the far end of the property. This is one of my favorite places to be in the summer. The hills make it impossible in places to see our house or the neighbor's and it just feels like the end of the earth.
Our neighbor dropped off a HUGE log the other day we plan to use as a gun range back stop. I used it as a lounge chair yesterday while the girls nibbled on whatever they found tasty. It was only about 45 degrees out but there was little to no wind and the sun as shinning. It was so nice just to relax an nap.
The does who are due first, Apricot and Toddy, are starting to fill their udder. Dare I say I find it ever so cute? The time has come to begin getting everyone back into the routine and start thinking about setting up kidding pens. Every morning most of the girls get their chance in the milk stand. Miss Iris thinks she should have her own turn plus one for each of the other girls too and will stand there waiting impatiently while I shoo her out of the way. She goes first, mind you. Even the little girls get their turn in the stand and if I am in a hurry and do not have time to grain them, they balk at me! Silly things. No one gets much. The big girls get a 1/2 a cup at best which is "cut" with 1/2 a cup of alfalfa pellets. They are all a real good weight. I've taken them down to a 10% sweet feed and not a high protein grain because they don't need it. They get a real good alfalfa in the morning and now with these pellets, my belief is they're getting plenty. Too much can be hard on the organs.
Most detest the pellets but I'd really like to get them used to them. Reason being is that now that I am feeding more brome, with the possibility of going to all brome depending on how this summer shapes up, I'll need/want supplemental calcium. One of the easiest ways is pellets.
I spent about an hour cleaning up their mess in the barn this morning from this 1st cutting round of alfalfa I let them have free reign on. Much of it was just stem, learned my lesson there not to buy that cutting again. Pretty soon we'll have new babies bouncing around. Tomorrow a quick moving front is supposed to move through and drop some rain and snow. We'll take it!
That's all for now.
Yesterday I put the boys out on their new pasture. There's nothin' in it to eat besides some cedar trees to nibble on and they were kind of apprehensive about what to do but they just had a grand old time running and jumping and being goats.
I walked the girls out to the far end of the property. This is one of my favorite places to be in the summer. The hills make it impossible in places to see our house or the neighbor's and it just feels like the end of the earth.
Our neighbor dropped off a HUGE log the other day we plan to use as a gun range back stop. I used it as a lounge chair yesterday while the girls nibbled on whatever they found tasty. It was only about 45 degrees out but there was little to no wind and the sun as shinning. It was so nice just to relax an nap.
The does who are due first, Apricot and Toddy, are starting to fill their udder. Dare I say I find it ever so cute? The time has come to begin getting everyone back into the routine and start thinking about setting up kidding pens. Every morning most of the girls get their chance in the milk stand. Miss Iris thinks she should have her own turn plus one for each of the other girls too and will stand there waiting impatiently while I shoo her out of the way. She goes first, mind you. Even the little girls get their turn in the stand and if I am in a hurry and do not have time to grain them, they balk at me! Silly things. No one gets much. The big girls get a 1/2 a cup at best which is "cut" with 1/2 a cup of alfalfa pellets. They are all a real good weight. I've taken them down to a 10% sweet feed and not a high protein grain because they don't need it. They get a real good alfalfa in the morning and now with these pellets, my belief is they're getting plenty. Too much can be hard on the organs.
Most detest the pellets but I'd really like to get them used to them. Reason being is that now that I am feeding more brome, with the possibility of going to all brome depending on how this summer shapes up, I'll need/want supplemental calcium. One of the easiest ways is pellets.
I spent about an hour cleaning up their mess in the barn this morning from this 1st cutting round of alfalfa I let them have free reign on. Much of it was just stem, learned my lesson there not to buy that cutting again. Pretty soon we'll have new babies bouncing around. Tomorrow a quick moving front is supposed to move through and drop some rain and snow. We'll take it!
That's all for now.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Feeding dairy goats
**Edited** After re-reading for grammatical errors, I've decided that auto-spell correct really irritates the heck out of me! Makes me look like I don't know what I'm talking about at times.
I admire the writings of Sue Reith. I know some will not agree with her feeding technique(s) but I, for one, do.
I have known several people who feed incorrectly and have problems come kidding time with both kids (floppy kid syndrome) and does (ketosis & hypocalcemia, kidding problems such as retained placenta, poor labor, etc.), not to mention urinary calculi in bucks and wethers. Just last year a good friend of mine lost a good doe to hypocalcemia.
I urge you to read the following:
http://goats.wetpaint.com/page/Hypocalcemia+-+Feed+for+Prevention
Down toward the bottom there is a good analysis of protein and calcium. : http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/hay.htm
Page 1, bottom right will give you a better understanding of calcium and phosphorous ratio in some of the more common hays: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/pubs/id146.pdf
Now, these are general guidelines. When hay is cut, how and when it is baled and how it is stored, and location where it is grown along with any type of fertilizing will all affect the nutritional value of hay. But, as a general guidelines, these are good to use.
Remember, having too much calcium is also a problem. And for wethers, it's not about making sure they have little to no calcium, the balance has to be correct. Too much in either direction (i.e. too much calcium, to little, too much phosphorous or too little) also can cause major problems. Goats need a balanced diet, just like people.
I am sort of experimenting with a diet of alfalfa and brome. Last year, brome was only available free choice and they received alfalfa in the AM and PM. This year, with alfalfa prices being through he roof, we've gone to alfalfa in the morning (super good quality high protein alfalfa) and cut back on our protein in our grain (too much protein is hard on the organs and too much is really just unnecessary). Last year we did not get as nice a cut as we did this year. They also get (basically) free choice early (May) cut brome, which they love. Their feeders are filled with it in the morning, mid-day and then in the PM as well. I am watching them closely for signs of ketosis. So far, so good.
The early gestation does get NO grain. As soon as they are dry- which this year was before being bred or shortly there after, I did not milk to 2 months prior to kidding this year- I cut out the grain. About 6 weeks before they kid I have started giving them just about 1/4 cup of grain on the stand and slowly adding alfalfa pellets (they hated them at first), just to get them back in to the routine again and to get the first fresheners used to the routine. It also gives me a chance to feel fetal movement, checking udders that are starting to fill and going through (fake) milking motions which helps when it comes time to be milked. Waiting until kidding often makes for very jumpety first fresheners which is no fun. I take the time before hand so it's not a stress afterwards.
So, following good feeding techniques, along with plenty of proper minerals and possibly additives (Vit A & D, selenium an/or copper bolusing, etc. ) is a real good way to keep healthy producing goats!
I admire the writings of Sue Reith. I know some will not agree with her feeding technique(s) but I, for one, do.
I have known several people who feed incorrectly and have problems come kidding time with both kids (floppy kid syndrome) and does (ketosis & hypocalcemia, kidding problems such as retained placenta, poor labor, etc.), not to mention urinary calculi in bucks and wethers. Just last year a good friend of mine lost a good doe to hypocalcemia.
I urge you to read the following:
http://goats.wetpaint.com/page/Hypocalcemia+-+Feed+for+Prevention
Down toward the bottom there is a good analysis of protein and calcium. : http://www.barbibrownsbunnies.com/hay.htm
Page 1, bottom right will give you a better understanding of calcium and phosphorous ratio in some of the more common hays: http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/pubs/id146.pdf
Now, these are general guidelines. When hay is cut, how and when it is baled and how it is stored, and location where it is grown along with any type of fertilizing will all affect the nutritional value of hay. But, as a general guidelines, these are good to use.
Remember, having too much calcium is also a problem. And for wethers, it's not about making sure they have little to no calcium, the balance has to be correct. Too much in either direction (i.e. too much calcium, to little, too much phosphorous or too little) also can cause major problems. Goats need a balanced diet, just like people.
I am sort of experimenting with a diet of alfalfa and brome. Last year, brome was only available free choice and they received alfalfa in the AM and PM. This year, with alfalfa prices being through he roof, we've gone to alfalfa in the morning (super good quality high protein alfalfa) and cut back on our protein in our grain (too much protein is hard on the organs and too much is really just unnecessary). Last year we did not get as nice a cut as we did this year. They also get (basically) free choice early (May) cut brome, which they love. Their feeders are filled with it in the morning, mid-day and then in the PM as well. I am watching them closely for signs of ketosis. So far, so good.
The early gestation does get NO grain. As soon as they are dry- which this year was before being bred or shortly there after, I did not milk to 2 months prior to kidding this year- I cut out the grain. About 6 weeks before they kid I have started giving them just about 1/4 cup of grain on the stand and slowly adding alfalfa pellets (they hated them at first), just to get them back in to the routine again and to get the first fresheners used to the routine. It also gives me a chance to feel fetal movement, checking udders that are starting to fill and going through (fake) milking motions which helps when it comes time to be milked. Waiting until kidding often makes for very jumpety first fresheners which is no fun. I take the time before hand so it's not a stress afterwards.
So, following good feeding techniques, along with plenty of proper minerals and possibly additives (Vit A & D, selenium an/or copper bolusing, etc. ) is a real good way to keep healthy producing goats!
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
PJ and Metritis- An Update
It's been a fairly long time since I have updated information on PJ. This breeding season started out with the tell tale vaginal discharge again from this doe. After some more researching, I began to wonder if, in fact, she was (or used to) suffer from a Vitamin A deficiency. If you'll remember, the summer of 2010 when we first moved to Kansas, PJ had come down with a severe case of Cocciodisis. As an adult, it can happen even if treated for it as a kid. She lost a lot of weight, lost condition and of course would not eat for a period of time.
Vitamin A deficiency can happen if if the goat is eating good green forage. Many sites will tell you that Vit. A deficiency will not happen as long as they are eating good green grass/hay. Not true, in fact. While I cannot say without a doubt, I think the Vit. A deficiency caused by lack of eating due to coccidiosis caused her immune system to be compromised thus leaving her susceptible, especially, to a uterine infection. As far as any night blindness, I have not witnessed any but I did note the scruffy coat which, I thought, was due to copper deficiency. She did improve after copper supplementation last year along with a couple of good rounds of worming. While I do not recommend being willy nilly with any supplementation, I will say that I do supplement with the utmost caution. There is very little information on Vit. A deficiency and uterine infections specifically. Believe me, I've checked but there is info available if you just search!
Fast forward to present. I have since done a number of intra-uterine flushes on PJ. The first with a diluted LA-200 (3 rounds, 3 concurrent days) through her open cervix. Please read up on Sue Reith's articles on fertility issues in does. I did not breed her on that cycle in November. I also picked up some Nolvasan Uterine Suspension which I ordered from Allivet.com. This is for bacteria sensitive to chlorhexidine. Since her lab results came back last year for bacteria 'immune' to tetracycline, I was pretty sure the LA-200 would not do much, if anything. Now, flushing is not something that can be done unless you know a little about artificial insemination. First off, the cervix has to be open and it's not open unless they are in heat (or giving birth). I ordered my speculum through Hoegger. Well, to be truthful I ordered a metal one used on humans but ordered a small and it wasn't quite big enough to do the job easily. A large human speculum would have worked just as well as a goat specific speculum.
I have yet to receive my full A.I. kit with special light source so using a flashlight and doing all of this on my own was a bit tricky. But, necessity is indeed the mother of all invention and the mouth comes in real handy at times for holding certain things...like sheaths, flashlights, etc.
I was able to flush her 3 days in a row with half a tube of Nolvasan and bred her that same cycle...right now we're just waiting to see if she settles. As before, the discharge is off and on though since flushing her with the Nolvasan, I haven't really seen much, if any, discharge. It was especially copious on warm days though the amount varies and whether she's on her cycle or not makes no difference. It's hard to say whether or not it will do the trick. Oral antibiotics has not proven to help (last year). I did not do concurrent antibiotic injections with the Nolvasan flushing but did with the LA-200 flushing. It's late in the year and I have succumbed to the fact that I may not be able to fix her. This flushing is my absolute last ditch effort...and she may need several. I would imagine, after overe a year of having it, it's going to be a pretty stubborn case. At this point I wish I would have started earlier in the year but as I've mentioned, this has been an especially strange year of cycling so catching her in a good standing heat and knowing she still had an infection was a long drawn out process.
Anyway, so, I just thought you might like to know what was going on with Miss PJ.
Vitamin A deficiency can happen if if the goat is eating good green forage. Many sites will tell you that Vit. A deficiency will not happen as long as they are eating good green grass/hay. Not true, in fact. While I cannot say without a doubt, I think the Vit. A deficiency caused by lack of eating due to coccidiosis caused her immune system to be compromised thus leaving her susceptible, especially, to a uterine infection. As far as any night blindness, I have not witnessed any but I did note the scruffy coat which, I thought, was due to copper deficiency. She did improve after copper supplementation last year along with a couple of good rounds of worming. While I do not recommend being willy nilly with any supplementation, I will say that I do supplement with the utmost caution. There is very little information on Vit. A deficiency and uterine infections specifically. Believe me, I've checked but there is info available if you just search!
Fast forward to present. I have since done a number of intra-uterine flushes on PJ. The first with a diluted LA-200 (3 rounds, 3 concurrent days) through her open cervix. Please read up on Sue Reith's articles on fertility issues in does. I did not breed her on that cycle in November. I also picked up some Nolvasan Uterine Suspension which I ordered from Allivet.com. This is for bacteria sensitive to chlorhexidine. Since her lab results came back last year for bacteria 'immune' to tetracycline, I was pretty sure the LA-200 would not do much, if anything. Now, flushing is not something that can be done unless you know a little about artificial insemination. First off, the cervix has to be open and it's not open unless they are in heat (or giving birth). I ordered my speculum through Hoegger. Well, to be truthful I ordered a metal one used on humans but ordered a small and it wasn't quite big enough to do the job easily. A large human speculum would have worked just as well as a goat specific speculum.
I have yet to receive my full A.I. kit with special light source so using a flashlight and doing all of this on my own was a bit tricky. But, necessity is indeed the mother of all invention and the mouth comes in real handy at times for holding certain things...like sheaths, flashlights, etc.
I was able to flush her 3 days in a row with half a tube of Nolvasan and bred her that same cycle...right now we're just waiting to see if she settles. As before, the discharge is off and on though since flushing her with the Nolvasan, I haven't really seen much, if any, discharge. It was especially copious on warm days though the amount varies and whether she's on her cycle or not makes no difference. It's hard to say whether or not it will do the trick. Oral antibiotics has not proven to help (last year). I did not do concurrent antibiotic injections with the Nolvasan flushing but did with the LA-200 flushing. It's late in the year and I have succumbed to the fact that I may not be able to fix her. This flushing is my absolute last ditch effort...and she may need several. I would imagine, after overe a year of having it, it's going to be a pretty stubborn case. At this point I wish I would have started earlier in the year but as I've mentioned, this has been an especially strange year of cycling so catching her in a good standing heat and knowing she still had an infection was a long drawn out process.
Anyway, so, I just thought you might like to know what was going on with Miss PJ.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Wrapped up
I.think.we.may.FINALLY.be.done.breeding!
I was able to catch Mea- my spotted 2010 doe- in a good standing heat yesterday after a couple rounds of 'Lut.'. She spent the night with her on again/off again boyfriend, Storm, and with any luck, in 5 months we'll have babies!
I am telling you, it has been an awful breeding year. It started out quick and strong with does cycling all at once too soon for me to breed (Sept.). I swore up and down I would not start breeding until at least Oct. but it seems they came in with a bang in Sept. and petered out quickly from there!
I ended up 'Luting' both Granite and Mea. Granite finally came in to a good heat before we left for St. Louis and was covered, at least, by Moon.. As of January 1, being bred on Dec. 2, I am calling her settled. Mea, however, I could not catch in a good heat and I contemplated putting her in a separate pen with a buck for a month, and did try but literally she carried on for hours and I did not feel that was doing her any good being stressed out and upset. So, she got a round of Lut. before Christmas, one after when we arrived home from St. Louis and 4 days post injection #2, she was in a good standing heat. Thank heavens, I was getting very worried something was going on fertility-wise!
A person starts to wonder what is going on when 'things' keep happening (i.e. PJ with her infection and not settling, Iris not settling after the first breeding, aborting from the second, not catching a cycle in Granite or Mea but knowing full well of the few times the bucks did break out early in the season neither was in heat for the several hours they had access to them). So...it'll be yet another long kidding year, which has its pros and cons but I am just happy that it's over or pretty close to.
Check the right hand side for the breeding line up/schedule.
We bought a couple rounds of prairie hay round about Sept. I've been feeding it free choice on top of their AM alfalfa. I can honestly say I do not feel they are doing real well on it. It could be due to parasites though I doubt it as everyone's coat and membranes and overall condition does look very good. The fact that they do not devour it like the alfalfa or brome is an indicator that they don't like it, never-mind the fact that I do feel they are loosing some condition. So, for now I have busted open one of the round brome bales and I will feel off that and worm them real real good and see what happens. I bought the prairie because a friend of mine uses it exclusively. I had enough hay put up but thought I'd try it as she had a good source, of which I am always leery of buying hay in the round bales because I've been so burned with crappy hay several times before. The hay looks beautiful, I just don't think it's enough for bred dry does. I will worm the bucks well too and continue feeding it to them free choice and see how that goes. With winter upon us, I think it's an ideal time to test it. If I feel they are also loosing condition I'll switch them to brome free choice.
I was able to catch Mea- my spotted 2010 doe- in a good standing heat yesterday after a couple rounds of 'Lut.'. She spent the night with her on again/off again boyfriend, Storm, and with any luck, in 5 months we'll have babies!
I am telling you, it has been an awful breeding year. It started out quick and strong with does cycling all at once too soon for me to breed (Sept.). I swore up and down I would not start breeding until at least Oct. but it seems they came in with a bang in Sept. and petered out quickly from there!
I ended up 'Luting' both Granite and Mea. Granite finally came in to a good heat before we left for St. Louis and was covered, at least, by Moon.. As of January 1, being bred on Dec. 2, I am calling her settled. Mea, however, I could not catch in a good heat and I contemplated putting her in a separate pen with a buck for a month, and did try but literally she carried on for hours and I did not feel that was doing her any good being stressed out and upset. So, she got a round of Lut. before Christmas, one after when we arrived home from St. Louis and 4 days post injection #2, she was in a good standing heat. Thank heavens, I was getting very worried something was going on fertility-wise!
A person starts to wonder what is going on when 'things' keep happening (i.e. PJ with her infection and not settling, Iris not settling after the first breeding, aborting from the second, not catching a cycle in Granite or Mea but knowing full well of the few times the bucks did break out early in the season neither was in heat for the several hours they had access to them). So...it'll be yet another long kidding year, which has its pros and cons but I am just happy that it's over or pretty close to.
Check the right hand side for the breeding line up/schedule.
We bought a couple rounds of prairie hay round about Sept. I've been feeding it free choice on top of their AM alfalfa. I can honestly say I do not feel they are doing real well on it. It could be due to parasites though I doubt it as everyone's coat and membranes and overall condition does look very good. The fact that they do not devour it like the alfalfa or brome is an indicator that they don't like it, never-mind the fact that I do feel they are loosing some condition. So, for now I have busted open one of the round brome bales and I will feel off that and worm them real real good and see what happens. I bought the prairie because a friend of mine uses it exclusively. I had enough hay put up but thought I'd try it as she had a good source, of which I am always leery of buying hay in the round bales because I've been so burned with crappy hay several times before. The hay looks beautiful, I just don't think it's enough for bred dry does. I will worm the bucks well too and continue feeding it to them free choice and see how that goes. With winter upon us, I think it's an ideal time to test it. If I feel they are also loosing condition I'll switch them to brome free choice.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
High Tensile for Goats - Revisited
This time last year I was researching the best fencing options for goats. We've used several in the past to include welded wire and woven wire, but the cost and work (read: stretching and seaming*) involved to put woven wire (as we will never again use welded wire for goats) around 15 acres with hills and heavily wooded areas would be astronomical. Upkeep was a big concern too.
I had read that high tensile wire, even if electrified, will not keep a goat in. I read from others that it will... providing you have a minimum of 8 wires (not gonna happen!). After a whole lotta research, a whole lotta reviews, we decided we were going to put it anyway with 4-5 strands, despite naysayers.
High tensile should not be confused with other electric wire fencing. High tensile is a lot thicker than the average electric fence wire and needs to be installed with an in-line strainer within each line. The system also require special insulators (pin lock) and is a complete fencing system rather than a partial fencing/deterrent/back up system as most other electric wire fencing. Granted, we have seen some keep in herds of cattle with temporary single line electric wires, but these are usually only for rotational grazing on fields that aren't a herd's normal grazing parcel and often times the cattle are trailer-ed to these parcels.
I am here to say that after a 8 months of 'normal' (for us) use, given the right conditions (which I'll explain later), high tensile wire in 4-5 strands works fabulous, is easy on the pocket book (and actually SAVED/SAVES money), will last longer and keep the goats in to boot! In total, replacing several wooden corner posts, reusing many of the t-posts from the old fence and buying used ones, the Wedge-Loc components, wire and insulators, to fence the entire property was about $2000. Anything else would have been at least double that, without taking into consideration the work stretching it which is my LEAST favorite part. Stretching woven wire vs. high tensile, well, there is no comparison!
http://herdmarmalade.blogspot.com/2011/03/for-love-of-high-tensile.html
Now, we're set off a main road but on a main road nonetheless. The goats are quite a ways back off the main road and we have neighbors on both sides with nothing else out there besides property. If the goats had access close to the main road, I would consider something else (cattle panels perhaps?) along that stretch mainly because, while I would doubt they'd go through it under most circumstances, I'd be afraid that if conditions were right ( predator attack) they'd do whatever was necessary to get away, including going through the fence to the road. But as it is, they are quite a ways from the road. I know and have seen people run their goats along roads with just a few strands of wire, but for us, if it were a question of them being along the road, we'd use a different type.
The goats have the run on much of our acreage. We needed to be mindful of fencing that would work well with other animals too (namely horses). The prior fencing (non-electrified) twisted non-barbed 4 strand wire was falling down, posts were rotting etc. which is the main reason we wanted to replace it. We could have simply -probably- strung a few electric wires on our side with insulators and called it a day, but being as how the whole fence was 30+ year old, it was time to come out.
I would not use this type of fencing for pens or smaller (i.e. less than 1/2 an acre) enclosures where the 'pressure' would be high. I would go cattle panels all the way there. We've been extremely happy with the panes performance in high pressure enclosures.Expensive yes, but east of use and durability can't be beat!
Putting in woven wire would have required so many wooden posts that it would have blown the fence budget. Not to mention, if a goat got the urge, they will stand on that stuff and with the woods we have, and ice storms, if a tree were to fall on it, we'd be seaming and stretching* another piece back in. Not my idea of a good time. This high tensile is supposed to be very bouncy. It actually is very bouncy (read: limbs on line*).
Most said said that the part that takes the longest is the stringing of any type of fence. Not this fencing! The part that took the longest was the removal of the old fencing and posts! The stringing, once the end/corner posts are sunk, goes quick! It can be a one person job but Jeremiah and I got into a good rhythm and were both pretty much working all of the time in sync. Some jobs, you know, require help only some of the time so one person may be sitting there getting bored. After the first line goes up (which acts as your guide wire pretty much), between your two set posts, we'd just go along and sink t-posts in. After that he'd start stringing another line, I'd start in putting up insulators and it's history from there.
I do recommend tightening your first wire with your inline strainer before putting in any more wires (or your line posts) or running a guide wire as with any other type of fence but shy not save time and sip that step and just use the first wire? As for wooden posts, we only used theme every 30-60 feet or so (depended on the terrain, ours is hilly with some straight aways). Our t-posts required closer setting and we determined that spacing based on where the wire as coming too high off the ground (valleys) or hitting the ground (hills). If you have nothing but flat property, they say you can get away with farther spaced line posts, and it's actually recommended as this fence was designed for long stretches which helps with bounce back, though batten spacers are recommended to keep your lines evenly spaced . You try long spances between any posts with any other type of fencing, and the outcome will not be good.
I am happier with the wooden corner posts than I am with the t-post we used with the Wedge Loc system to create our "Z" braces at (1) start and (1) corner. In the future we may loosen up the fence at the in-line strainers and replace them with wooden but they are holding up just fine under the strain...they just bowed naturally in the middle. We didn't use two to create one 'post' like some recommended for strength, I seriously doubt it would have made much of a difference though may not have bowed with a second. It'd more for looks that we'd like to replace with wooden than anything.
The Wedge-Loc system made putting in braces go so quickly and we did use them for corners, places where we put in cross fencing and where the fences started both on the wooden posts and t posts! So far, they've held up fine. Time will tell how well they weather though they are made from alunimum so there's no reason they should corrode, etc. (As for stability, strength, and speed, they are fabulous and can't be beat.!)
 |
| We started out using a t-post for a corner post and while it has held up just as well as a wooden one in terms of the pull on it, it did bow a little in the center (which has not affected anything) but is not as aesthetically pleasing as a wooden post. You could weld 2 t posts together for the corners but it will not work with the Wedge-Loc system. You'll need to weld your braces on too, which isn't a big deal, if you weld, which hubby does, but this works just fine. |
 | |
| This is actually a cross fence section, not a corner but we prefer starting a fence with a wooden post as opposed to a t-post |
As for how it's holding the goats in? Just fine, BUT, as with any electric fence, YOU MUST TRAIN THEM TO IT! We started out in an acre section (mostly because that's what was up). As I explained in an earlier post, I stood on one side with grain and pretty much let them walk in to it. It only took the adults once to learn that they wanted nothing to do with the fence. For that 1 acre section, we did put in 5 strands with the first being a mere 6" off the ground. At the time we had small kids, and will have them again and we want them to know what the fence is and that it's not something you really want to mess with. Occasionally they'd get too close but unless the fence is off, they stick to the 'right' side of the fence.
In addition to training them to it, you need a fencer big enough to do the job you are wanting it to do. Too small a fencer will get you nothing but a weak to non-working fence somewhere in the line. Making sure that your lines aren't arcing and your system is property grounded is important too. Gallagher has some info we found useful.
For the majority of the property, we went with 4 strands set at 8", 10", 12" and 12". For the acre parcel they were set ay 6", 8", 8", 10" and 12" apart- 5 strands. For the bucks pasture (in which we only did 5 strand as a cross fence which will separate them from the does as the rest of it is property line), they are set at 8", 10" 10", 12" and 12" apart. We have yet to test the bucks in pasture in rut with cycling females as of yet because by the time the breeding season started, with so little rain, there wasn't enough forage to bother with putting them out to pasture on. So, time will tell if the electric fence will be any match for that. I am thinking, however, we'll go ahead and cross fence a few more sections so that the does cannot be right up against the fence to tested them and thus the fence will not need to be tested to the max nor will there be any chance for the situation to be inhumane if the bucks or does continually test the fence trying to get to one another.
To date we've had several large limbs* fall onto the fence and we've just lifted them off and the fence bounces right back. We do go around with the weed eater occasionally though we could solve this by taking the lowest line(s) off the 'juice" eliminating grounding. However, right now we have them on for predators or nuisances...but then that's where King, the LGD, comes in. He doesn't like intruders.
The fence keeps the dog in and even though he's not out there all the time (he spends his days near the house in the back yard and some nights as well). I am pretty sure deer are not coming onto the property at all any more either. I think this is partially to do with the electric, though they can easily clear the lines in a single bound. More than likely though, it's because of the dog. I don't mind deer except for the fact they can carry deadly (to goats) parasites. So, best if they just keep off.
Anyway, we're extremely satisfied with the high-tensile fencing to say the least!
I've included some sites that we found useful when researching and installing. Happy fencing!
http://pubs.ext.vt.edu/442/442-132/442-132.html
http://www.dareproducts.com/pdf_s/DARE_htfs.pdf
http://www.maxflex.com/HTsmooth_wire.htm
http://www.zarebasystems.com/store/electric-fence-high-tensile
http://www.premier1supplies.com/list.php?mode=list&cat_id=51
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