End of Summer fence health check
Well your fields have been in full use now for a few months and I am sure the animals have tested the fencing a few times, tried to munch it and also there has been vegetation growth.
Here are some things to check and look out for.
1. Check your power source? If mains - are all the connections still nice and tight no fraying? If battery - battery still charging? Are the energiser battery connections in place? If you are using a solar panel with a battery - is the solar panel in the correct position for the sun? Make sure there is no build up on the panel itself.
2. Fast growth of grass and hedges has taken place all over the UK for the last few weeks/months. So the light winds of summer soon get the hedge growth and grass touching the live wires on your systems. Check you fence and see that the grass or hedge growth are not touching the electrified wire. If they are touching you will definitely be loosing the efficiency of your fencing system and possibly the animals will have tried or succeeded in their escape plans..!
3. The weakest link could also be your earth rod or earth stake and the connection of the wire to the rod. Many many people neglect this area on permanent and temporary fencing systems. The earth stake is pushed into the ground and the earth wire is connected. Please do not just walk away and leave it. Check and double check it! The wire could have got rusty after the winter and so will not be allowing true and positive connection. Also at this time of year (since it has been so dry recently) the ground may need some watering around the earth stake so as to help with conductivity.
4. Short term paddock fencing for summer grazing can create problems. When using tape there are in many instances when the system suffers from taking a short cut in assembly. And so the tape may flap around in the wind and fray. So it would be advisable to use more posts than you need and place them closer together. Take an extra set of screw in insulators so that good tension can be made with the tape. There is nothing more sole destroying when horses or other stock get out because of slack tape flapping in the wind. The posts could soon be blown over and the stock are then out and free.
5. Animals using the wooden posts as scratching posts at this time of year, are they getting to the posts due to the 3 above mentioned factors effecting the fences ability to keep the animals off? The use of a fence tester is highly recommended the KV10 LED tester is a great piece of kit as not only does it let you know the fence is working but also at what Voltage it is running, anything below 3,000 v you should do a quick fence walk around checking for vegetation, fraying, breakage and the earth stake.
Happy grazing
Quick teaser no prizes but a pat on the back, spot the good from the questionable and the bad...
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