Before I forgot - the energizer I got back in September was S17 Solar (G344404) Gallagher. It's 6 volt/0.17 joules and according to the manufacturer should be good for up to 10 acres/1 mile of multi wire permanent fence. So far I had no problems with it - everything works as expected, it's simple, robust and sits nicely on the top of a T-post.
However, if I was doing it again, I'd get a model with more power. I'm using it to power up 328 feet of all-hot ElectroNet and I do get about 3kV most of the time but our soil (well, the sand that we call "soil" around here) is often very dry, so I'm not sure this energizer would be enough on a longer net. (Yes, I plan to experiment with pos/neg, too.) Also, there is no such thing as too strong a zip, right? Especially with coyotes and raccoons and such - you want it to be strong enough to stop any exploration attemps on its tracks. For grounding I use 2 cooper covered steel rods 4 feet each; I'm usually able to hammer all but 1 foot in the ground.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Saturday, December 27, 2008
More hay and other statistics
1. Two more truckloads of hay from the Dead Horse Pasture - wow, I didn't even know grass was so long there. My back will hurt tomorrow. Added 1.25 truckload to the bedding.
2. D-day - Dec 25. And next day I saw this: http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/parasitesheep.html . Makes a lot of sense - I guess we'll wait and see if we really need de-worming before doing it next time instead of following the schedule. With our pasture rotation and abundance of grass we should be OK ... I hope.
3. The sheep have been at the DHP since about Dec 12. They've been complaining about it for about a week now but I think they're just bloody ungrateful animals, they are. Why? Well, for one thing they all are 3+, 4 and B. Sr. and Fatima are actually 5s. Malnourishment is clearly not an issue here; obesity, on the other hand, starts to look like a problem. And they say Bahia is a poor feed!
P.S. They also like acorns and acorns make them fat and me nervous (oak is supposed to be poisonous for the sheep and that's pretty much the only tree we have around here so the acorns are everywhere).
4. I ordered 2 more rolls of net from Premier and as soon as they're here we should be able to actually do a proper pasture rotation /intensive grazing. Soooo looking forward to it.
5. Our young ram still doesn't know how to do it. Two possible solutions - invite someone to show him how (all our friends suggest a certain Irish friend for some reason) or get one that know how and eat this one, which solution will also provide the added benefit of mixing the blood even more. Well, our freezer will have enough space in a month or so ... Paul, you really should figure it out quick, dude.
2. D-day - Dec 25. And next day I saw this: http://www.attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/parasitesheep.html . Makes a lot of sense - I guess we'll wait and see if we really need de-worming before doing it next time instead of following the schedule. With our pasture rotation and abundance of grass we should be OK ... I hope.
3. The sheep have been at the DHP since about Dec 12. They've been complaining about it for about a week now but I think they're just bloody ungrateful animals, they are. Why? Well, for one thing they all are 3+, 4 and B. Sr. and Fatima are actually 5s. Malnourishment is clearly not an issue here; obesity, on the other hand, starts to look like a problem. And they say Bahia is a poor feed!
P.S. They also like acorns and acorns make them fat and me nervous (oak is supposed to be poisonous for the sheep and that's pretty much the only tree we have around here so the acorns are everywhere).
4. I ordered 2 more rolls of net from Premier and as soon as they're here we should be able to actually do a proper pasture rotation /intensive grazing. Soooo looking forward to it.
5. Our young ram still doesn't know how to do it. Two possible solutions - invite someone to show him how (all our friends suggest a certain Irish friend for some reason) or get one that know how and eat this one, which solution will also provide the added benefit of mixing the blood even more. Well, our freezer will have enough space in a month or so ... Paul, you really should figure it out quick, dude.
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