The most important tool for a homestead? A good friend.
Tommy Alderman from Alderman Farms ( http://www.aldermanfarms.net & http://www.youtube.com/user/AldermanFarms ) paid us a visit recently. It was an extremely timely and helpful visit.
One benefit of community is to support each other. To be able to provide something for a person when they cannot provide it themselves.
In our case, we do not own a pickup truck. Or any vehicle with a hitch. As such, we do not own a trailer. All of that is a big problem should you wish to move 16 foot long sections of livestock fencing!
Tommy brought over his truck and trailer – giving us the means to bring home the large livestock panel fencing that we had wanted to get home for a little while now. Why? Well, to build a temporary pen for our baby goats of course.
The process is extremely simple.
We used Hog Rings to attach the ends of the panels to each other. We had five panels, but one of the “corners” we are going to use as a door. We used carbiner style clips to attach the corner that would be opened up as a door.
Yes, you could use other connectors, such as zip ties. The hog rings just felt right to me.
This picture shows the wrong way. Done right, the hog ring should be tight enough to pinch the “corners” together so that if you lift one fence piece, both will lift. – Photo by J&J
One thing we learned, thanks to Tommy’s suggestion, was to attach the hog rings in a diagonal fashion – meaning that on one panel the ring was above a horizontal bar, while on the other it was below it.
This helped with any up and down “slippage”. The image actually shows the wrong way to do this. If it were correct, the hog ring would be diagonal, not horizontal. Said another way, it should connect the “corners” of these squares, not the edges.
If the area you put this in is near tall trees, use them to your advantage. Place the fence against them so that if the animal pushes against the fence the end up pushing the fence against the trees as well.
We used this system for about a month, until we installed our solar powered electric fence. It worked perfectly without any problems. Nobody got out, knocked it over, or anything like that.
Despite the size, it was fairly easy to move. I was able to drag it myself, but it was much easier to move with Jennifer helping as well. We would just open the “door” corner and fold the walls up on themselves.
Use the carabiner clips to hold the ends together. Let the clip worry about holding the fence together. That way you only have to worry about lifting.
So – Thanks again Tommy for visiting – You and yours are welcome at J&J Acres any time 🙂
Here’s the video, for your viewing pleasures (Or click this link) :
Jared,
I came here via the YouTube video. It’s very informative. I hope you don’t mind a question. We live on five acres, which I wouldn’t call a homestead…yet. We want a few goats to clear some brushy areas. I’ve considered electric mesh fencing, but the brush is so thick that it’d be a chore and a half to clear a good enough path to lay down that fragile fencing and not have the briars short it out. Using panels seems like a good alternative, but I’m concerned about the whole “goats are escape artists” thing. What are your thoughts about using this with adult goats? Thanks much.
Mind you, panels are very expensive. Cost aside, I would do panels. Our goats never got out of the panels, but they did get out of everything else, including electric fencing (though it wasn’t netting). I believe the panels or well supported small holed welded field fencing is the way to go.
And I never mind a question 🙂
As for the cost of the panels, consider doing it in stages. I am unsure how large or think of an area you are needing to deal with, but if it is possible, perhaps you can move the panels around every few days. A small number of panels should be able to support themselves.
Hey, thanks for the response. Actually, that’s exactly what I’m thinking of. Think, “rotational browsing” instead of “rotational grazing.” Or maybe “focused” more than rotational. At any rate, you’re reading my mind.
I like that you talked about how having a truck and trailer made it possible for you to transport the livestock panels. My husband wants us to get goats and have our children take care of them to teach them accountability, but we don’t have a truck. Maybe we should rent one so we can get the livestock panels for the goats.
It is a big expense to buy one, for sure. If you only expect to use it every once in a while then renting is certainly an option. Delivery may also be available and potentially less expensive than renting a truck. You could also consider bartering with another person – using their truck for now for the promise of goat milk, soap, or some other product.