We (or Paul will say "I") bought land with no pasture. Then we (OK, it was all me) bought animals that require pasture. Hacking, lopping, chopping, pushing, dozing, burning and leveling our way to an actual fence line has been a behemoth of a project. Paul does a little bit here and a little bit there, in between the umpteen other things that need to be done around the homestead.
Have you ever heard anyone say, "Build your fences before you get your animals"? Well, if you're wanting to get livestock, and don't have any fence up yet.......LISTEN TO THEM!!! Because I wish I would have. It's not like we have the mule and goats just running around everywhere - we do have fence up, but it's nowhere near ideal. The goats are contained in a smaller-than-ideal paddock made from cattle panels (secure, but Cha-Ching $$!!!) and the mule and mini-horse are in a different area with cheap, old field fencing which constantly required repairing. If we had spent just a little more time making a good, strong fence in the first place, we would have saved countless hours messing around with the hodge-podge fences we have now.
Two years ago we plunked down what seemed like an inordinate amount of money for a mile's worth of Red Brand goat & sheep fence. If we were going to finally make the "real" fence, we wanted it to be the good stuff. It's not a welded wire (like the cheap field fence up by the mule) and the squares are only 4" throughout the entire 48" height. Not only is this a good "predator" fence, but it will keep the baby goats in (saving my gardens), the horned goats from getting their heads stuck (even though I want to rid myself of the horned goats) and will even keep the chickens in if we decide to pasture them with the 4-legged critters.
Paul started setting the 4" corner, line & gate posts last fall and earlier in the week we finally started pounding t-posts into the ground for the first of the paddocks:
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| It's hard to see, but there's a line of t-posts set. |
At least that's what I'm hoping.
Bale spike on the three point hitch. You should read my blog more I been putting up that exact same fence all Spring. I lower the bale spike down and slide the roll on it, lift it up as high as it will go, then just unroll it like a big sheet of wrapping paper. I think I may have even taken pictures.
ReplyDeleteWe did the same think - smaller contained area, while we built the fencing. It felt like it took forever.
ReplyDeleteYeah, proper fencing and proper housing BEFORE the animals appear on the homestead scene sure would be the right way to go. Those "temporary" (ha!) fencing jobs and shelters tend to hang around for years. They look bad, don't do a proper job and cause all kinds of hassles and unneeded inconvenience. Ask me how I know. Good luck with your current big project. Once it's done, it will be soooo worth it.
ReplyDeleteNext place? Completely fenced before the size 7s are across the threshold!
ReplyDeleteI would hope to win the lottery before ever considering fencing again. I will sit back and watch someone ELSE do the work!!! Good luck.
ReplyDeleteHi Carolyn, I've been a reader (lurker) but I finally decided to jump in. I have laughed till I cried at your goat posts so what did I do.....bought goats with my DIL. We have LaManchas, the earless ailiens, but I can't believe how attached I've got to them. We're starting on this (mis)adventure so we'll see how it goes. She has the farm, I'm backup herder/roper/milker.
ReplyDeletePP, I'll have to go back at your posts and take a look. Unless you'd like to personally come down here and show us how it's done!
ReplyDeleteKristina, I'll be thrilled if the fence is finished before I'm dead.
MamaPea, and just think, once THIS fence project is finished, there's the perimeter fence project to look forward to! Yay! (not)
Susan, I agree. If we ever move to a "ready" home, if there's no fencing, there's no animals. (so she says)
Sue, now THAT is a great "If I win the lottery, the first thing I'd buy is....."
SaltyCat, WELCOME! And thanks for popping in. Oh, have I got the goat stories to tell. And I've got one in the works right now! Hope you're enjoying your little buggers, I mean, goats :)
Understand the whole fence thing. We are in the process of redoing fencing on a 55 acre farm. It hasn't been touched since the 60's. Ya, fun. lol
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