Training Sheep on Electric Fence
As I learn more and more about rotational grazing, I want to start implementing some of the practices. In order for rotational grazing to be practical, I need to be able to quickly create paddocks with electric fencing that the sheep respect. Creating an effective electric fence can be a little tricky. First, I will address common fence problems.
Sheep can be particularly tricky because they are well insulated with their wool or thick hair. This makes it harder to get a good shock on sheep. Remember that an electric fence is a psychological barrier, not a physical one. The fence only works if they fear it. A sheep will quickly learn to run through or jump a fence that is too weak or a fence that the sheep hasn’t learned to fear. One sheep that gets through the fence will teach other sheep how to get through the fence and now you have a BIG problem.
So what is a farmer to do? First, get a fence tester and make sure your fence is “hot” enough. For sheep, that means 7-10 kV (I would not recommend testing this by hand). If your fence is not hot enough, here are a few troubleshooting options:
Make sure your fence is not grounding out on brush. Grass and brush touching the wire will take some of the heat off an electric fence. If your fence is touching something like a metal t-post, you have lost most of your heat. Through experience, I have also learned that in cheap polywire the conductive wires are prone to break and arc. This can be easy to spot at night when you can see the spark. Cut the polywire and tie it back. Take before/after voltage measurements. Don’t get cheap polywire; get good, mixed metal polybraid.
Maybe your energizer is insufficiently grounded. Consider putting in another grounding rod and daisy chain them. Take a before and after measurement with your fence checker to confirm the improvement. Stop adding ground rods when you don’t notice a measurable difference.
Maybe your energizer is not strong enough. Most energizers have a mileage rating. This metric is typically under optimal conditions with a single wire. So a 4-mile energizer running a fence with 4 wires, will only work for 1 mile. Now if that fence is also going through heavy brush, it may only be good for a few hundred feet. My advice is to start with a much bigger energizer than you think you need. Especially if you’re planning on using solar. Then if you have problems, you know it’s one of the other previously mentioned issues.
Now, you have your electric fence nice and hot. Congrats! But your sheep keep getting out! Now what? Well sheep need to be trained to respect the fence before you can hope to contain them. Sheep that are not accustomed to electric fencing will run or jump through an electric fence. If they jump, they are not grounded and will not get shocked, thus not penalizing them for their transgression. As stated before, other sheep will learn from this behavior as they watch their flockmate enjoying fresh grass on the other side of your fence.
To train them, put the flock in a small paddock with permanent fencing. Then put a line of electric fencing in the paddock in a high traffic area where the sheep are likely to encounter it. Before powering up your energizer, put a heavy dolup of molasses on each line the poly. The sheep will likely inspect the treat with their nice, wet nose or tongue. This WILL get the point across that they want nothing to do with that poly. Just as jumping through the fence, the other sheep take notice of their unfortunate friend. For added effect, do this when the ground is wet and the sheep are well-grounded. I have also heard of farmers having similar success by hanging an aluminum can with wire from their poly.
Now the sheep are ready for electric fencing. Start with 3+ lines of poly at first then over time you may be able to contain them with a single line making moving temporary paddocks a breeze. If a sheep continues getting out, deal with it quickly. That sheep either needs to be retrained, leave the farm, or go in the freezer before it encourages the rest of the flock.
You can do it.
