Bruce
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Right, one for each jowl! Might be able to get an ear as well 
Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.
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AClark
Loving the herd life
Egyptian cotton? Next thing ya know you'll be using a blow dryer to make Mel fabulous!
Devonviolet
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Devonviolet
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DH & I were discussing this a while ago. He knows a lot more than I do about electricity & lightening. We had some thoughts on your comments GB.
* wouldn't the metal "hoop" from cattle panels act like a Faraday Cage?
* @Latestarter, didn't you build a 2×4 box, to attach the cattle panels to, similar to our hoop hut? If so, the wood would act as insulation - for the most part, depending on how wet it is.
* DH agreed about the massive amounts of electricity that would spread into the air, to a certain extent.
* His suggestion would be to pound a t-post into the ground, at one of the corners and attach some heavy wire from the cattle panel to the t-post. That way the t-post would act like a lightening rod/grounding rod.
* since you sit on the ground, to milk, and the ground is likely wet, all of the above do not apply. You are doomed to be electrocuted after all.
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greybeard
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Depends. A Farady Cage has to be a complete enclosure, 360º of surround. The ends can't be open. Like when a car becomes a Faraday Cage, the doors or windows can't be open.
I've seen articles, where cattle were killed inside a roofed, 3 sided loafing shed. One side was open--no Faraday effect.
Better than standing in the open or under a tree, but I'm not going to bet my life on it.
Devonviolet
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Good point, GB. DH says when he's out, in the barnyard, and a thunderstorm hits, he runs into the feed shed, which is a metal storage building. I'll tell him to close the door next time.
Another thought on the Faraday Effect . . . our hoop hut has wire on the back side, but a 2×4 door (with wire) on the other end.
Does the door negate the Faraday Effect?
Bruce
Herd Master
Only need to place that bet one time.
greybeard
Herd Master
I'm going to answer that, but first an explanation of why I am hesitant to and afterwards, why I will answer it regardless of that hesitancy.
We have to be careful in these type discussions. What we type, will likely be read by others, and they may or may not have the background to understand that a lot of this type stuff isn't even fully understood by the brightest of the scientific community. If a young person reads all this, and the consensus here appears to that reader that the Farady effect offers protection from lightening, then they may assume they are safe in a chicken coop, a covered dog pen, or any other roofed structure surrounded by a grid work. By promulgating that theory here in the public domain, we just took a significant step toward putting that young person's life at risk.
There is no 100% safe place in a lightning laced thunderstorm!
People have been killed by lightning inside their rain soaked houses, including houses with steel beams going down to concreted foundations instead of wooden stick built homes.
http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/03/how-a-man-was-struck-by-lightning-in-his-own-house.html
Modern homes are designed as a type Fraday Cage, with the home's electric wiring and plumbing as well as the exterior making up the Faraday grid, but.........
People have been struck while lying in their own beds, inside their homes.
https://www.aol.com/article/2014/06/19/woman-in-bed-gets-struck-by-lightning/20916102/
So, would chicken or rabbit wire on a structure including the door wire act as a Faraday Cage?
To some extent, certainly on a theoretic level, but, the grid has to be conductive enough to be able to dissipate the voltage and current present. Most of the electrons pass on the exterior of the conductor. The larger the diameter grid's wire or rods, the larger the circumference as well, giving the electrons more external area to travel on. Still, no matter what, I would not assume a livestock or poultry shed, closed in with any wire would offer much protection from a direct lightning strike.
Would a door negate the Faraday Effect? Somewhat--depending what wavelength and energy involved.
Why did I answer even tho I felt hesitant to?
I am one of those people, that feels an obligation to answer a direct question in kind, and I have always felt it is beyond rude to ignore or refuse to answer a direct question asked of me. If someone goes to the trouble of asking me something, I assume it's because they really want an answer, or at least my opinion on the subject and as a matter of courtesy, I will try to answer it to the best of my ability. My answer may turn out to be wrong, but I will make a stab at it nonetheless.
And I've already won that bet once in my life. Haven't forgotten how much it hurt.
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Bruce
Herd Master
Thank you for your well considered reply @greybeard.
As noted before there is a MASSIVELY HUGE MONSTROUSLY LARGE current in a lightning bolt. Anyone ever accidentally touch a screwdriver to a live 110V wire? Big pit out of the relatively large piece of metal. I suspect that the 1/2" hardware cloth on the openings of a coop would just melt in a direct lightning strike.
As noted before there is a MASSIVELY HUGE MONSTROUSLY LARGE current in a lightning bolt. Anyone ever accidentally touch a screwdriver to a live 110V wire? Big pit out of the relatively large piece of metal. I suspect that the 1/2" hardware cloth on the openings of a coop would just melt in a direct lightning strike.
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