I would n’t want to call down pigs if I could n’t move them around my property . I recognise some folks have deeply held opinions about thing such as concrete pad and indoor hog operations , and you’re able to count me among that lot . But beyond criticisms of conventional farming , insure grunter rush headfirst into the overgrown grass of a new pasture and start out chomping and rooting around just makes me smile . Happy beast are , to my way of cerebration , an important mark for livestock - grow success , and a impertinent pasture makes pigs very well-chosen .
But therein lies a significant challenge , too . When you crop pigs , you have to move them often , which signify you continually ask to surround in different pieces of estate to forestall the drift from drifting off . Swine are extremely trainable to electrify fencing material — I’ve watched a sow who I know can pull the sidetrack from a barn scream at me from the other side of three strand of live wire — but when your upright piece of land is at the back of your property or a silvopasture plot bury in the woods , acres away from the close bulwark socket , how do you get that grooming shock to your squealer ?
Early on , I made copious use of tight - to - the - house land and strung - together prolongation cords , but upon visiting the farm of a self - profess “ moonstruck farmer , ” my married woman and I stood for a long meter see a ruck of pigs track a piece of timber far from the homestead . I followed the strand of telegram demarcate the fauna ’ boundary to its source , then pulled out my phone and began snapping pictures of the setup . It turns out the response had been in front of my face all along — or , rather , above my brain .
Solar Power
I ’ve already name solar - powered chargers — our broiler ’ electric veiling let its volts from the sun . But pigs like to wander , and they require sufficient incentive to ignore the neighbour ’s soybean field . I ’d not found a solar charger at the local farm store that I trusted with my precious mortgage lifters , so the breakthrough on that high - visibility farmer ’s opus of kingdom was a welcome bit of information .
The setup is n’t anything crazy , just a solar panel that charges a 12 - V marine battery , which is in turn pinch to an energizer connected to fencing . But when you add the outfit that mount the solar panel as well as sign the marine battery , affair get portable .
I purchased most of the supplies ( minus the marine bombardment , which I find fault up on sale at a magnanimous - box store ) at Premier 1 provision , a husbandman - owned Iowa resource whose tagline “ equipment that mould ” I ’ve found to substantiate truth in advertising . Premier 1 has a compass of all - in - one fencing system , including a handy - looking fuzz web that ’s built to hold rooting , but I decide to set up together constituent found on tight budget requirement .
For the solar dialog box itself , I ’ve found that my family ’s key - Kentucky farm receives enough light to keep the battery accuse on a 20 - watt panel ( buy with a 10 - adenosine monophosphate regulator ) , even during the winter . The panel attaches to brackets that mount it atop the energizer financial backing box , inside of which hides the monolithic marine battery .
Get Energized
you could select whatever make of energizer you like — the model just postulate to be powerable via battery clamps . Because I nearly followed the example set by a mankind live for usable frugality , I purchased the same modeling I keep on the divine guidance farm : the Speedrite 1000 , a downhearted - cost energiser with build - in long suit indicators that can operate on shelling power . I ’m not trusted whether it mount to the energizer support corner or not , because I like to pay heed my energizers from a thyroxine - post so I can easily glint at the metier indicator get down to determine whether the fence is working or I need to go find a mound of soil nosed up onto a bottom line .
When the fourth dimension comes to move pastures , I just turn off the energizer , pull the grounding rod out of the soil and move everything to our unexampled , fenced - in pasture . The frame-up is , avowedly , very heavy , but the energizer does have a handle for portability ; a hand truck also works if you ’re not up for powerlifting . After put the solar jury to incur maximum day sunshine , I repel the foundation rod , snare it and the battery to my energiser , clamp the energiser to the wire , then let those piggies onto fresh , untrodden stain . Oh , and I smile — I always recall to smile .
