If anyone has any reason to touch a fence on my farm property, it is liable to knock you on your ass.
Non-animal people do not realize how swell this is, and probably think I am asking for a lawsuit. Not so much,
Electric fence works great when it works at all. It is cost effective, safe and easy to use. But when you have 50 acres of fencing, on t-posts- there is a constant problem. How many t-posts does that add up to? Hundreds for sure. It just takes one wire knocked out of one bracket to short the whole damn thing out.
And the weeds. They are even worse. They trick you by not interfering forever, then bam, they do. We have spent all weekend--and the mini-Amish boy spent half of last week- clearing brush and weeds from fence lines. We had it shocking yesterday around the front square, but after many many hours of clearing the back 30 acres today--it dumbed down to nada.
Until you have lived this hell, you cannot imagine the frustration. I actually cried when Barry told me it had gone from shocking a 3 up front to a 0. I got up and took a Xanax, I swear to God.
So we worked some more. Did I mention it was 55 degrees and raining? It was 97 on Monday, and 95 on Thursday, but 55 and raining today.
I finally took to the bed this evening. Barry came back because he got stung by a wasp and blew up, and I am so hateful, I sent him back to fix it some more. He leaves tomorrow, and I cannot continue to go through this emotional roller coaster of finding horses in the wrong pasture. I realize this sounds insane--but farmers get me. Especially farmers with full time jobs, because that leaves very little time in the day to fix things while there is daylight.
So be warned--it SHOCKS now. REALLY SHOCKS.
No, the babies did not get weaned, Squeaklet did not get ridden, the garage did not get cleaned out, and we did not go to a movie. But it SHOCKS! I am making him lasagna for working so hard, he is at Dairy Queen, has eaten Benadryl and Aleve and cracked open a beer, claiming he needs it for his swollen wasp sting....
but it SHOCKS!
Praise Jesus.
Maybe tomorrow will be weaning day, and the wean-by-the-sign Gods will let me slide a few hours
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7 comments:
I get it totally. And I totally understand the frustration of animals where they are not supposed to be.
Good boy Barry...you deserve that beer. I hope the swelling at the sting site goes away quick!
OMG, I have joined the farmer club. I get it, I really do. Trying to get 500 FEET of wire hot drove me to tears several times. But now it makes goats run and dogs squeal and grown women cuss a lot! It's sadistic, but I do love seeing critters get shocked by a fence they used to ignore.
Last weekend we had our annual family gathering here - my innocent 7 year old great-nephew got too close and shocked his elbow. Scared the hell out of him. Heh heh heh You can bet I won't have to tell THAT boy twice!
Paige, your experimental pictures are really awesome, really beautiful. You could totally charge money. Or make a calendar for 2011 - The Malfunction Junction calendar, only $8.99. I can see it now.
You'd RAKE in the cash!
And, unlike Barry, my consult fee is miniscule.
whatever it takes-at least it's working now!
just like christmas bulbs. one bad bulb and the entire string goes out.
I love watching when they get zapped. I get a sadistic thrill out of it. We went a week here with no shock. About drove me nuts. I had to have someone else find the short. Back to business of shocking the crap out of the fence busters
Ahhhh, nothing better than watching a hors that leans on a fence find out that you finally got it shocking again. LOL
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