First … ditch the help! I had Blue and his Mouth who thought it was a great lark to play with the wires.
“You should have waited for the men” says The Big Dog.
“Sod that” says Author, back on form, minus a uterus and following me everywhere.
Hmm, say Miss C, it seems we have a wee bit of a tangle.
Oh dear” says Sheila, (I think! It is hard to tell who that is with all the mud) “A snarl is what that is.”
After some gentle untangling and frequent repostitioning of the puppy I did get the first roll unraveled and laid out. I checked the instructions again and it said “Do NOT get the fence tangled.” and later,” It is a fence best put up by two people.” Well there is only one people and a pig I thought, so I unwrapped the second roll with much more care, profiting from my experience and it came apart beautifully and went up without an problems. Not exactly quickly but practice makes perfect.
Once it was all stood up and attached to the solar charger then out came the somewhat bemused group of large animals. Now they have a proper, cattle fence to enable me to graze them a little more intensively down the fields.
When shifting the fence, the idea is to walk down the fence line and gather up each of the poles into one hand, letting the fence drape like a concertina to that side, I then walk to the new line and reposition them in the reverse order. This is where the ‘quick’ of the quick fence comes in. I am going to have to grow some muscles if I am to do that every day. I also need the grass to grow, it is very slow. We need a few showers.
Rather delightfully it said in the instruction booklet that the Quick Fence is easy to set up for people who read the instructions. It is only hard for the people who think they don’t need to read instructions, it reads. My Dad always said, when all else fails – read the directions. That always made me laugh. My Dad would have read the instructions thoroughly before beginning.
Kupa is out now. It looks like the girls are too young to lay eggs so he is allowed out to play. The peahens can stay in the penthouse a little longer. But I did miss Kupa.
Good morning. I hope all is well with you. My fence is still standing and Daisy is waiting at the gate for the milking. So I had better get busy. The weather is still just right to work in. The growers are driving their tractors at speed up and down the country roads, tilling and planting their corn and beans. Dust mixed with sprays is in the air. They are late this year. I can hear them out there already, a steady drone of large engines. Our fields have been sprayed with round-up already (sigh) and I am sure that the corn will go in soon.
You all have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
73 responses to “how not to put up an electric fence”
I need instructions on how to read instructions. Oh, never mind, that obviously wouldn’t work.
Funny!! What I hate the most are instructions that are all diagrams, like the ikea ones, they just defeat me! .. c
That reminds me of an amazing documentary I saw recently about a man (dubbed Kangaroo Dundee) who created his own Kangaroo sanctuary near Alice Springs. “He dug a 2.5-mile long trench and fixed 4,000m of fencing over 90 acres.” It took 2 years!
http://www.agbfilms.co.uk/Previous/kangaroo-dundee.html
Oh my, those aussies! Stubborn. morning Mad.. c
Had to laugh at your dad’s recommendations….I think most women can do any job that says 2 men if they consider the process carefully and make some adaptations with the method. (Watch people unload a car…women always end up stacking and looping and carrying more items…)
That Blue is a helper…must inspect new objects carefully…(solar? Now that’s cool)
We had an electric fence once to make sure the Bouviers stayed home and didn’t bother the cows in the pasture on the other side of the easily jumped wooden fence…They never challenged the (mild) fence wire – but one barked at it constantly – heard the current of something…or he hit it once and thought it was a wasp and wanted to warn others?
We really didn’t need it and turned it off shortly – both rescues knew they ended up in a good safe spot and life on the road was too hard to be attractive.
Have a nice day!
Well barking at it all day did the trick then! Ton has a deep respect for the electric fences, he can clear them without even a hair touching as he jumps or will run right around the exterior to come back in on the other side. He got a shock once as a pup and that sorted him out very quickly. Blue goes at everything at full tumbling speed, then collapses in a heap and is asleep within seconds.. morning mouse! c
Round up? Who’s using Round up? Are broad spectrum herbicides a routine thing to spray? Oh I’m such a city girl…and so anti-herbicides/pesticides. Hope no one’s breathing it in. 🙂 Hope I’m not ruining you day…
The round up is the bane of my life, they spray it on the fields, thousands of gallons of it at this time of year. and again after the corn comes up. Round Up does not kill the corn or beans as they have been genetically modified to resist round up, and worse some drifted onto johns hay field so he has lost an entire row of alfalfa, so he will be having words with the farmer.. Sadly i never get warning that they are coming so i do not have time to lock up the bees.. They are most definitely a routine thing. Eat nothing that has field corn in it. This is why i can say that i grow using organic methods but as long as the wind blows i can never BE organic. But we all do what we can.. c
That was an ominous title! I am glad things turned out in the end. I love that last shot — it looks heavenly, herbicide be damned.
I like that shot too, those clouds coming in.. very dramatic.. c
I didn’t know they pre-sprayed with round-up! Learn something knew everyday. It must be because they don’t plow and work the ground like we do…they just spray and plant. Hummmmmmm
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Oh no, they will spray, then they will till then they will plant and then spray again, in fact I have never seen them spray the bare ground before, so i am at a bit of a loss as to what they achieved. There are a number of weeds now that have developed a resistance to the sprays, do you think they are spraying them with a strong version or something, that would kill the corn as well if used later on? so they are spraying it first? the war on weeds is an expensive one in more ways than one.. c,
I don’t know. We don’t spray like that. Our neighbor has a really nice living of spraying for farmers that use lots of spray, but I really don’t know.
Could it be a liquid fertilizer…some of the farmers around here use a liquid foam type fertilizer. Sure has me puzzled.
I thought it was a fertilizer, but everything green that it hit is now wizened up and dead, within a day actually, i suppose I shall have to call and ask them..
Your father sounds just like my father!!!
Fathers!! c
Glad to see little Author back. And I wanted to share with you how much I enjoy your blog – on days when I’m too busy to read many of my regular blogs, I always make sure to check in with you – your posts are so gentle and honest, and I feel like I know all the creatures that populate them. Thank you for sharing your world!
Oh boy it really makes me want to get on my soap box regards ‘spraying’ ! You ask my clients who I garden for – they dare mention spraying anything and I am down their throats. The only thing I will allow them to use is white vinegar on their paths. But when it comes to big farms our only recourse is to not eat the food they produce, which is bloody hard as it (corn and corn by-products especially ) are in everything or fed to the animals we eat.
Commenting on why woman can carry more/do more is because we use other parts of our bodies, like hips and elbows (who has turned a light switch on with their elbow when hands are full?) and we can even bring our feet into play on occasion LOL
Without exception..I never read instructions for anything..then when I can’t do it pass it over to the hub….women’s work is never done!
Life sounds good down on the farmy..and .hope you have a good day and get lots done!
Well done Author..you can now go out on the tiles, have lots of fun and no problems…hey-ho freedom!
I thought it was only men who didn’t read instructions!
Jock and I fell out over spraying. But as he’s the one who deals with the weeds nowadays, I had to give in, but not gracefully.. If the farmers spray your fields, can you claim compensation? Do you really need to more the fence every day? Round here it’s done about once a week.
Fabulous sky picture – it looks like you’ll get your wish of a shower or two.
Have a great day,
love,
ViV
Glad little Author decided it was okay for her to be too little and isn’t in mourning. What is planted nearby? I’m very worried for your bees. If I didn’t have a tiny postage-stamp sized garden I would have bees – I have a ‘weed tree’ (grey willow) and at this late time of year that is all they have to feed upon. My blueberries are blooming, but so slow and so late 😦
I snuffled and emitted a low laugh which reverberated in my very being at seeing Blue and then the photo of the snarled fences – priceless
I wonder how many times Blue Mouth will have to hit that fence before he discovers it is magic.
Celi, too funny! I wonder if Blue Heelers ever grow out of their excited hyperactivity? I guess that’s what makes them such good working dogs though.. 🙂