[benkt]

I'm having some trouble keeping my boy and girl weaners separate. Stock fence+mains electric fence lasts a couple of hours before they trash it and its getting tedious repairing it five times a day. Any suggestions as to how I should escalate the arms race between me and the piggies?

[OhLaLa]

Sturdy fence posts, pref concreted in, and lengths of corrugated iron to form a solid fence. Bury the iron at least 6" into the ground. If they can't see each other it should ease the problem.

  

[Fowgill Farm]

They shouldn't be able to trash stock fencing if you made a good job of putting it in!
We run barbed wire along the bottom to stop them digging or rolling under and also fasten old scaffold boards/planks along edges. They're obviously not getting a big enough belt from the electric fence to deter them so can you up its zap? You can also reinforce your fencing with pallets, we run a length of wood thro the pallet and fasten it to the posts top and bottom.
Its amazing how strong even young weaners are and once they get a taste of freedom, oh boy do they go for it. Keep them away from the fence with some feed scattered whilst you fix it so they don't see what you're up to coz they're clever little so & so's! and will take great delight in re testing your repairs!
 HTH best Mandy

[HappyHippy]

Yes, blocking their view will help a bit. But if it's uncastrated boars and gilts that are starting to come into season, you're fighting mother nature - they're only doing (or trying to do  ) what nature intended. If you can put a bit of space between their paddocks that will help too - good luck  
Karen  

[OhLaLa]

Hmm, could be there isn't enough 'zap', I find battery zappers only put out enough of a whack from a car battery, and mains zappers are the best.

We had a wild boar 'walk' into our field stock fencing the day after it was put up, made a right mess of it. Thing is, the way it is made it's easy for a determined piggy to push and pull the holes so they get bigger and totally trash the shape.

In my experience the corrugated iron works a treat, like everything to do with piggies though, needs to be well attached to good strong posts. I don't use barbed wire for anything, nasty stuff.



  

[Fowgill Farm]

Agree barbed wire is nasty stuff but a necessary evil as its the only thing that stops them, both small pigs going under fencing and large pigs trying to go over.
I've lost count of the number of ripped coats, trousers and arms that i've endured since keeping pigs, vet wound powder works as well on humans skin as it does on pigs
Mandy 

[robert waddell]

just looked your profile     if the ground is dry you wont get a good earth for the fence    soak the earth rod and check there are no breaks  in the cables the only proper way to check a good earth is touch the rod and cable and it will give you the idea of the current going through it

[SallyintNorth]

Just in case anyone didn't know already - you can check the zap using a blade of grass.  Grass conducts electricity but not particularly well, so if you hold a 6" blade of grass at one end and rest it on the electric wire, gradually move the bit you are holding nearer the wire until you feel a tingle.  If you get your fingers to within 1" and still haven't felt anything then you can touch the wire directly without fear - there's not a lot of current there and you won't get much of a belt (or any.)

And because grass conducts electricity, it will allow the current to flow into the ground if growing blades are reaching the wire.  So if the zap isn't as much as expected, check all along for anything touching the wire and earthing it.

Sorry to everyone who knew all this already - but I was so pleased when years ago someone told me about testing the fence with grass, I just had to pass it on.

[waterboy]

Hi,

 Are you using the white/orange style tape connected to the fence zapper if so you could try the galvenised wire rope although its a bit harder for the pigs to see it gives a fearsome belt Ive seen red burn marks where the pigs found out what the fence was about and after that gave it a very wide birth.
I would also go along the fence line and check the isulators and for the fence being shorted out, the piggies are very adapt at finding ways of burying the wire or pushing branches, water tubs or even arks into the wire.

Rob

[benkt]

Thanks for the tips everyone! I've been round and re-cleared the fence line of anything that could short it out, stuck in a whole heap of extra plastic poles and poured a couple of buckets of water into the ground around my earthing pole. And the little darlings are all on the right sides of the fence - and have been all day! phew! <touches wood>

Will still look for some corrogated iron to put round in by the corners of the fence where they seem to congregate and plot their attackes.

[Eve]

Using grass to test the strength of the current... that's a good tip, we didn't know that either, thanks.

[princesspiggy]

Using grass to test the strength of the current... that's a good tip, we didn't know that either, thanks.

we do that too, failing that, a child works just as well ...lo...

[SallyintNorth]

Using grass to test the strength of the current... that's a good tip, we didn't know that either, thanks.

we do that too, failing that, a child works just as well ...lo...

Love it.  I know just the annoying 10-year old...   

[Hilarysmum]

Using grass to test the strength of the current... that's a good tip, we didn't know that either, thanks.

we do that too, failing that, a child works just as well ...lo...

Love it.  I know just the annoying 10-year old...   

Buy a fence tester it doesn't scream when applied to fence