Hi-Tensile and MIG question

[bverellen]

I am getting ready to subdivide one of my pastures for mob grazing.

The plan is to divide the pasture into 3 or 4 long strips or lanes using the Hi-Tensile, then form smaller padocks with polywire for daily moves.

Lets assume I will be receiving fresh sale-barn calves, stockers and such on a regular basis, and lets assume that I break them to to the polywire in a small holding pasture while they get straigtened out and worked.

How many strands of electrified wire do you think the interior fences need to be?

bart. †

 

[Texan]

This probably isn't what you want to hear, but the only thing that I've found that will reliably hold fresh sale calves is guardrail. If you have enough of them, at some point they are going to spook and go through whatever you put up. Keep some old cows with them or keep about 10% yearlings in them and you'll save yourself a lot of sleepless nights.

 

[RSL]

Our experience would say, two hots, 1 ground, two more hots.
The most important thing would be to make sure you have lots of ground rods, and a big enough fencer.

 

[Northern Rancher]

This is taboo but I go barb,hot smooth,barb,hot smooth, nonhot smooth.The first wire at 12 inches and rest are spaced at 8 inch spacings. I put the posts a bit closer than reccommended too-I just got sick of dicking around with all electric fence in -40-it's a bit overdone but the fencer can quit and I don't have cows out in neighbors crop-haven't got all perimeters done like that but getting close. I use a old lead steer with my yearlings.

 

[Ben H]

What you are looking at doing is pretty much what I do, I haven't bought in animals in two years though. However I have gone through the training in the past.

I run 5 wire on the exterior where I have road frontage, wire 2 and 4 is a ground, 12-18-28-38-48.

Other areas I run 3 wires, 2 wire is a ground. 22-32-42.

Areas with low pressure for trained animals I have a single wire at about 36".

The key is to have a training area they can't get out of. Start with a offset wire so they can get used to a shock and not go through it. Then after a couple days put a strand of polywire into the the pen perpendicular to the exterior fence.

I think 3 wires will be fine for your subdivision, as long as you train them as mentioned. If you have any that still don't want to show respect, get rid of them. Once you get good bracing done, extra wires are cheap.

Configurations
http://www.gallagherusa.com/electric-fencing/types/cattle_3WC.aspx

Pay attention to the grounding instructions. I have installed two Gallagher MBX 2500 chargers and used 11 ground rods on one of them. That things a beast though, 25 joules.

Watch your voltage, 3.5 Kv is a bare minimum, better to have over 5 Kv.

I highly reccomend the PasturePro posts as a line post. I've decided to go with these (they're the old PowerFlex post) and not switch to PowerFlex's new one.

http://www.fencebypasturepro.com/?gclid=CI_G9bO3naQCFZhL5QodiSzlFA