coyotes & electronet Options

[PennyT]

I've owned sheep for almost 20 years now and for the first time I have a serious coyote problem.

I've started putting sheep in smaller areas at night and that has stopped predation. I'm curious about electronet from Premier. The blurb implies that the newer kind will keep out predators. I noticed the net does seem to reach the ground and is quite tall. Does it work? Anyone tried it?

The last electric fence netting I had was not intended to keep out anything hungry. The mesh started above ground level. The whole thing was a huge nuisance anyway and ended up in the dump. The only times the mesh wasn't grounded out seemed to be when I touched it, then the gigantic charger box thing was always working fine and stray grass did not interfere.

Penny

[kajarrel]

Hi Penny,
I've used electronet for almost 15 years now and have never had coyote problems, although we're surrounded by coyote and other farmers in my immediate area have had problems.

We're pretty wet & green here in CNY and I cannot use electronet when it snows. As you mention, the fence needs to be pretty clear of weeds, tight, and set up with the post tips clear of the woven wires (I know this sounds crazy but every time I have someone help me set up fence they invariably ground out my fence by wrapping the woven wire around the end of a post). I either run down long grass/weeds with a 4-wheeler or (preferably) weed eat the perimeter. I know this is extra work, but it seems worth the effort (especially since I've never lost a lamb/sheep). The other thing is that I don't use Premier's electronet exclusively - I intersperse electronet with self-grounding fence I get from Wellscroft (or use the self-grounding fence exclusively). I find using the Wellscroft fence a heck of a lot easier than trying to set (and pull out) a sufficiently long ground rod and it seems to pack a pretty nice charge.

As I've mentioned before, I discourage/don't allow hunting because "my" coyote have not been problematic. Perhaps they keep away others that could/would be a probem and it's not the fence . . .

Kim

[Tea]

I am using the netting as well. The trick seems to be get a really good charger, and superior netting

And as kajarrel said
not touching weeds
and also put the netting inside after you are done using it for the season.

My old netting everything got through it including my own goats and LGD

He just put his paw on it said ouch and pulled it down
then brought the whole flock home through the woods.

Not so with the new netting that goes up to 10,000

At 4000 animals seem to really leave it alone.

And you are cool kajarrel!

[Lana]

We use net for all of our cross fencing, and i don't think you can beat the Premier. We use the 9/35/12 netting which is the 35 in 9 twine. We just switched over to Stayfix chargers after using Gallagher.

We have coyotes all over and have never had a kill in the net. It is most important to keep it hot, for sheep staying in and predators out. I would highly recommend a hand held fence tester.

The new style of net is very easy to put up and tear down, and can greatly expand, and improve pasture management.

We pasture lamb the older ewes in net, and have never had any problems.

Nothing is full proof but a hot E net and LGD can give a great peace of mind. We have our ewes 3.5 miles away from home right now and we would not do that without the net.


Lana

[Bill Fosher]

Electronet is great stuff. I do not like the taller versions -- 35 inches is plenty. The taller stuff tends to sag and get pulled out of the ground by its own weight. You also need to realize that there is a difference between the many versions of electrified netting. Many people use "e-net" as an on-line shorthand for Electronet. Premier sells (or used to sell) a product called E-net. The E was for "economy" and it is, in my opinion, a false economy.

Electronet has semi-rigid vertical stays, unlike most of the competing products that have string verticals which are useless as tits on a bull. Electronet is also made of high quality conductors.

You need to learn how to handle it, and it takes some getting used to. I have about 18 years of experience with it, only recently salvaged the last posts out of the first roll I ever bought. I have a lot of it that is seven years old and older. I have never had a predator loss on sheep or lambs that were inside Electronet.

[Jeanne Joy]

Penny, just be cautious with your lambs. They can get hung up and electrocuted in the netting.

[jenfitzh20]

Penny,

I just wanted to chime in, I know this is a bit late.

I too am having coyote issues right now. Class is in session for the pups apparently as a neighbor saw 2 coyotes attacking my sheep at 8am one day on her way to work, one adult, one pup. Seems my LGD was dozing near the barn and the sheep were at the other end. Neighbor laid on the horn, scared the coyotes and alerted the LGD, no one got hurt.

The yipping is going on dang near all night right now, all 3 LGDs are barking their heads off most of the night and I haven't had a problem (knock on wood) at night. Seems they might be wising up to the fact that the LGDs like to nap during the day.

As for the electronet, its been a true lifesaver for my sheep. I put my lambs in it between my 2 breeding groups on either side and the lambs are snug as a bug behind it with my youngest LGD in with them. I don't worry about them at all. Its also very VERY helpful for creating seperation in a hurry if you need a small pen for new sheep or need to seperate for whatever reason as well as rotational grazing. I don't think any shepherd should be w/o a few rolls of electronet.

Jen