Paul, as I mentioned before in a previous video about your fence you need to tie wood stays to your fence. The stay keeps the cow from pushing through the fence between the wires. That is how they get the leverage to break the wire. The stay will be a 2" or so diameter stick about 6 or so inches taller than your highest wire. Tie the stays to each wire and space the stays about 3 foot apart. The more stays you put on the fence the stronger it is. This is how we keep our range cattle in and our fences up. Trust me this works.
We ran 8 strands of barbed wire with 1.5 meter post spacing around our place and have had no problems thus far. Maybe you might try beefing up your fence some more. We found it easier if they could not easily get their heads though the fence.
+neomew I was actually thinking along similar lines: use a chain-link fence with barbed wire on the outside. If the wires are connected to the mesh, the cows cannot get their heads through, but also they cannot break the barbed wire strand by strand as the forces are spread over a larger area. Mind you, I am not into cow herding or so, so my ideas are just theory from a desk jockey (or desk cowboy). Yours are based on experience.
Been there. Done that and have the tee shirt. We used a low powered pellet rifle and after being hit in the hind quarter once or twice the cows seemed to have learn not to get near the fence. All of the ideas listed here are good ones.
+viperbl69 Good plan, but in Australia you need the same licence to have a pellet gun as to have a shotgun. Too much paperwork, but I did think the same thing. Cheers Paul
We have livestock. This is what works for us: While we don't use barbed wire, we do electrify our fencing. We use Live or Hot wires alternating with grounded wires. This insures the electrical shock is firm and not weak by the poor conductive soil. For electric to work there must be solid ground like when you got shock by touching the hot wire, your arm and the grounded barb wire. The problem seems to be that the cows are not making ground contact to make the electric jump through them. Their feet are poorly grounded. When you add extra electric wire in the spaces between the barbed wire and then ground the barbed wire with the grounding rod, the circuit is complete and BABOOOM! In the USA it takes 5000 to 7000 volts to deter a cow. 2000 to 3000 volts for a horse. I hope this is helpful. It has been our experience that the "electrical tape" fails. It will not keep our horses in their pastures, much less for cows. Nevertheless, should you decide you had enough.... Let us know! We'll get our passports and tickets and join you and yours for some great steaks... We'll bring the wine! :-)
+Chelin Fusco That makes a lot of sense. I have a lot of tasks so I suspect it will take another break in to trigger the work your describing but I like the idea of the better circuits. Thanks for the tip on the tape. Cheers Paul
you are So Funny Paul, whenever I see there's a new video from you I always click on yours FIRST !! You and your wife are Awesome, I love your lives and I'm constantly learning new things from you guys !!
+amusik Hi Amusic, welcome to the channel. I am now armed with great suggestions from the subscribers to upgrade the fence. At present it seems like a lot of effort and I have other projects that are more worthy of time and effort. Fingers crossed the cows take a hint. Stay tuned for more adventures. Cheers Paul
Hi Paul your wire seems a bit lose and I would suggest placing wire fence droppers made from heavy plain wire every 3 M. or so.This will hold the strains in place and stop the cattle from spreading them apart.
+Paul Chambers I work in the residential and commercial electrical trade in the U.S. . But if I grad a cow wire that's live I don't dance ,you could even hit me with a cattle prod and nothing happens? LOL
Hi Paul sorry I just couldn't stop laughing, probably because it's happen to me many times in the past. Just my thoughts 1 you shouldn't of whipper snipped the grass back because NOW they'll be even more determined to get to the grass they can see further away! 2 You'll probably need to put up a stand off fence on the outside of the fence you have now, it's a fence you put about 2 feet away from the barbed wire fence. You use electric fence posts and "hot tape" not wire on the electric fence. Hot tape is what they use to keep horses in, the stand off fence is about hip height and 2 or 3 runs of hot tape so they get ZAPPED on the chin/neck, chest and knees. That should do the trick ! Hope this helps Seeya Rob
paul i know this might not work but i know alot of farmers who raise cows your problem might be a simple fix but alot of hard work im afraid to say but you might have to put up whats called a stockade fence ill explain it just in case you dont know what it is but its a fence made out of logs put in your posts out side your barbwire and run two or three logs across from post to post have it set up so when the cows stick there head through the rails of the fence the electric fence will touch there nose they wont like it much and will soon know better with some good luck its a idea any way i wish you luck my friend cheers
Sorry Paul but I was laughing so hard at your "electric man jig' all I could think of is you need to make up a continuous loop video of that 10 or 12 seconds. I'd watch that for hours! :)
Paul, first let me say I love your videos...have you considered your wire is just not tight enough? When the cows stick their heads through and are able to easily push the wire they will continue to push as they eat and the weight is just too much for the fence. Ensure you have sturdy, reinforced corners and get yourself a wire stretcher (we call them"come-alongs" in the States) and stretch the wire where it is tighter and does not give when they stick their heads through.
flash, bang wallop paul saw the light.......... of pain. so if your thinking mode of standby with machine gum, bbq & mustard. At this rate the cows will be in full combined ninja/Rambo mode lol
your strand between posts is to great you need to put in more star pickets every 4 paces apart (12 foot) the wire you are using is high tensile it brakes easy when under tension ..... the heavy barb wire is best however is more expensive it will bend easy but is a lot stronger and better.... the grass is all ways greener on the other side of the fence
never laughed so much. brilliant video. maybe more wires on the fence so they can't get their heads through it? just plain wire. another 4 or 5 runs? just a thought
Thanks. Or if you can get it stock fencing which is that sort of lamb proof square fencing... cows are just nosey buggers... hopefully this will work for you
How long an area is this constant break-thru area? Someone mentioned chain link fencing; that seems like a great idea. It is low cost and easily available in America. If so over there, I'd certainly look into a good length of that along the problem areas, along with some good metal posts.
+Tom Stedham Hi Tom, your idea is sound. The length is also quite short. My time may not be up to the demands Thankyou for the helpful suggestion. I will see if I am required to implement it. Cheers Paul
Hmmmm. Medium rare please. So are they actually ignoring the electric fence? If they are well...you've got a problem sir. Maybe a more powerful electric fence energiser might help.
I guess the electric fence hurts you more than it does the cows 😂😂😂 sorry that part is still funny. what if you got wolf or lion urine and set up little stations along the fence?
+Duane C Hi duane I am pretty certain it hurts me more. Lions wee? Hmmm, I know a great source of man wee. I wonder if that would do the trick. I suspect I risk doing a much more painful man jig.
+jeremiah tanner Hi Jeremiah, A put a long answer on the website (see description for address) blog, fourth blog down :our fears of sweating containers"
Try using chicken wire or square fencing wire five feet hight with a five rows hight of election fences or airhorn worst come to worst landmine or claymores top off with a BBQ ;-) hope this helps
are the cows yours when i was a kid, raised on a farm the cows were always getting out come to find out only one was the escape artist the rest just followed this one was a bull i would take my bb -gun and shoot his balls he stayed away from the fence also try a different configuration with the electrical fence they can smell the electrical wire and tell if it is working you may have a break during the day when it is not on low power at times
Cows 3, Containerman 0. l don't think l like those odds. Lived with cows around us at different times but did not have the problems your having. l think l see some roasts and hamburger in the future.
+Catherine Hatt Hi Catherine, another member of the BBQ jury, LOL. It does feel like they have the upper hand, or hoof. I left a gate open last week hoping they were elsewhere on the mountain. No, they mounted a raid and walked through the open gate and I had to get the feed tubs and drive around beeping the horn to get them to follow. It is just like the ice cream van ringing the bell and the kids follow.
Sitting in denmark with double digits - degrees out side i just warmed up just by laughing great vids keep them coming thks :) sorry to laugh at your problems :)
Oh my gosh , lol. I'd forgotten about your "Down Under" dance. ;-) Hopefully those hard headed cows will get the idea what a fence is for. Good luck on your future endeavors in the cow war. God bless.
Paul did you ever think about using sand bags as a wall (inexpensive, weatherproof and dirt is Free), by also using the barbed wire to stabilize 2 rows between each layer so if they were to hit it, they would think twice. if they are crazy enough to try it again can you say BBQ !
+Kevin Perry That is another very good idea. I suspect if I was earth bagging I would be building an office before a cow fence. I will put you down as a vote for the bbq. Cheers Paul
Growing up in Louisiana we had a cow problem with orange trees. cows love oranges my father would dice up habanero peppers boil them put the juice in a spray bottle and mix it with Dawn dishwashing liquid. my father used to big bug spray bottle it's too hot and they don't like the soapy taste might want to try it good luck
If they broke the that electrie fence it might mean there are not used to the fence put the fence out six feet and rap some grass around the wire and when there eat the grass there get the shock its what we do to get calfs use to a fence this might help you.
+Aaron Power There are a lot of you out there than know a lot about fences and cows. Way more complicated than it first looked and cows are not good with suggestion.
Rather than building a better mouse trap, maybe ask the cattle (or observe) what they do not eat and transplant that plant or grass to their side of your fence, and maybe transplant some native flowers to your side of the fence (I think they do not eat flowering plants, but maybe I do not know much about cattle)? They will knock down any (!) fence you build. In my youth, my family spent many days mending fence (electric and barbed) and tracking our heard through the countryside, by horse. Or, a moat.
+home away from home Queensland Australia Good evening and welcome. Congratulations on your land. I think you should probably relax. We came from UK (could you tell?) I read about all the horrible ways to die in Australia. Sarah was terrified to hang out the washing on the line as it involved walking on the grass. There could have been funnel webs, brown snakes or red backs. You even have dangerous grass. I had never heard of a “bindi” when I stood on one I certainly squeaked but the locals took it for granted. The first huntsman in the house felt like living in a horror movie. No one thought Sarah would survive in the bush. It felt like everything dangerous lived in the bush. Goannas that would run up you, red belly and brown snakes, even eagles that would swoop down and eat Henry the miniature dog. After 3 years we have come to realise that the likelihood of snake issues and all the other headlines that sell papers are quite unlikely. Here is a quote from the Red Cross first aid trainers: Hospitals are full of grown men who went to fix the snake issue with a spade or similar. The people who stood well back, walked in the other direction and did not search for a stick to move them on had no problems. We have learned to keep the grass short around the home and whilst Sarah has seen two snakes in the last four years she moved inside and kept out of their path. I returned home from work and we never saw them again. A local with more bush experience said if you see a red belly black they will head to water so give them room to go there. With a brown just move quickly in the opposite direction. We are still respectful of the potential, but being surrounded by people who live and play in nature, we have learned that real people don’t have horror stories. Common sense will keep you safe and don’t mess with things that don’t appreciate being messed with. I think you will be fine and you will get more comfortable as the time unfolds. Just like we did. Enjoy your land and have fun. Cheers Paul
thank you for reply we are going to buy snake charmers it looks like a solo light but it vibrates and scars of the snake out neighbor sore a baby death adder .that gave me a fright. I,m not to scared on the spiders just the snakes as i have had my cats killed by a carpet snake it come in the house.
+JoeyWaller FTW Hi joey, I did one at 2 years, But at year three was there was little visible progress. We are now approaching year four and I am currently putting together a video that will premiere on Kirsten Dirksen's channel, but there is a lot of editing to be done to complete it. I am waiting for a good day for some drone footage from a drone camera to make the video more interesting. Cheers Paul.
