Spring Fence Maintenance

[goatboy1973]

Spring is the time of the year that we at Calfee Farms do Spring cleaning and maintenance. We look at our gates to start off with. We clean and paint each gate, clean/oil each hinge, and fix/replace latches. We next turn to the fence (electric and field fence) itself and walk and inspect every foot of it and fix it as we come to it. Then we have an old 5 hp push mower that we use around the inside perimeter up against the fence to mow on the lowest setting it will mow on. Once we get 1X around the inside of the perimeter (about 22 in. wide path), we come back and use a weed and brush killer readily available at the local TSC or CO-OP in our 50 gal UTV mounted sprayer mixed with very hot water at the recommended concentration along with a quart of regular bleach added to increase the effectiveness of the weed killer (the bleach when added to the weed killer produces a huge fluffy cloud of white smoke-type vapor that's probably not safe to breathe) but seems to turbocharge the weed killer. We spray the perimeter where we used the push mower. After 2 applications and the heat of the summer, we have a 22 in. dirt path around the inside perimeter of the fence. This method has worked for 13 yrs being in the goat biz, and helps insure weeds and grass don't short out our electric fence strands and either neutralize them or create a fire hazard. This is also the time we get the goat herders (border collies and bulldog) vaccinated. We also perform any maintenance on our tractor, UTV, and ATV. We also clean out all goat/ llama manure that has accumulated over the winter from loafing sheds, barns and birthing lots. We use our tractor and front end loader bucket to scoop out all the manure. The manure is then spread over the garden and pumpkin patches already gone over with the turning plow in the winter. The manure is then worked into the soil with a tractor mounted tiller. We don't waste anything and have the most beautiful pumpkins, and veggies.

 

[Bossroo]

GOOD JOB Goatboy ! Most of the wanna be farmers and homesteaders have NO clue of what a true working farm is all about or go about it with way too much hand / physical labor thereby increasing their cost of production.

 

[Southern by choice]

Great post Goatboy!

Bossroo you are right that the small homestead ends up having more labor and increased cost of production but each farm needs to have it's individual management style.

We have to check fences every week as NC gets crazy storms all the time... we pull large limbs and branches off fencing way more than we'd like to but sure aren't going to take out trees when that is what our goats eat 8-9 months of the year. The dogs have broken T-posts from predators trying to get in.... and through acres and acres of woods we have to machete paths to keep the wire clear. No way we could do that once a year.
Our dairy goats are managed very differently from our meat goats and our dairy goats are year round breeders, they are staggered throughout the year which again is more labor. We can't just do CDT's 1x year, hooves are done more often on dairy goats, their sheds are cleaned out more often, and the list goes on.

Goat boy gives great reminders especially the part about making sure you don't have a fire hazard!

 

[goatboy1973]

GOOD JOB Goatboy ! Most of the wanna be farmers and homesteaders have NO clue of what a true working farm is all about or go about it with way too much hand / physical labor thereby increasing their cost of production.

Thanks Bossroo for the compliments. We too have some bad storms and I do check the fences after storms to make sure none of the brittle pine trees bordering part of our fence haven't shed some branches at the expense of my fences. Yearly, though we do routine maint. to the entire fence and really inspect it good. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure".

 

[goatboy1973]

Great post Goatboy!

Bossroo you are right that the small homestead ends up having more labor and increased cost of production but each farm needs to have it's individual management style.

We have to check fences every week as NC gets crazy storms all the time... we pull large limbs and branches off fencing way more than we'd like to but sure aren't going to take out trees when that is what our goats eat 8-9 months of the year. The dogs have broken T-posts from predators trying to get in.... and through acres and acres of woods we have to machete paths to keep the wire clear. No way we could do that once a year.
Our dairy goats are managed very differently from our meat goats and our dairy goats are year round breeders, they are staggered throughout the year which again is more labor. We can't just do CDT's 1x year, hooves are done more often on dairy goats, their sheds are cleaned out more often, and the list goes on.

Goat boy gives great reminders especially the part about making sure you don't have a fire hazard!

SBC,
Your operation takes some serious planning having the meat and dairy herds. I have 2 types of goat herds myself so I can sympathize with you a bit. I have a pure herd of Spanish and I also have a herd of commercial crossbred meat goats. They all run together and I only have the pure Koy Spanish buck as a herdsire for both commercial and pure goats. What helps me out a little bit is the fact that my Koy Ranch pure Spanish are completely solid black from their hooves to their coat color to their horns. Any goat that's any other color is a commercial crossbred meat goat. I also use color coded ear tags to distinguish between pure Spanish goats, Spanish cross meat goats and anything that doesn't have Spanish in it at all (Nubian, Kiko, and Genemaster replacement does). I use blue for my pure Spaniards, green for my Spanish cross, and orange for those does that have no Spanish at all. Each goat has a Scrapie tag and since there is no registration for Spanish goats at this time, I use the scrapie tag # and color ear tag number as their ID numbers and use Microsoft excel as a means to keep very detailed records of each goat such as DOB, breed composition, vaccination record, hoof trim dates, deworming dates, pregnancy/ EDD's, major illnesses, purchase date if applicable, birth ranking, and starting this kidding season, birth/ weaning/ yearling weights to aid in culling nonproductive animals and making breeding decisions that will maximize my herds potential and increase efficiency of my herd. All this I do and still work a regular 9-5 job off the farm.

 

[OneFineAcre]

i'm a big fan of spraying herbicides on fence
lines
going to try the bleach.

 

[goatboy1973]

i'm a big fan of spraying herbicides on fence
lines
going to try the bleach.

I don't particularly like to use herbicides, but find it a necessary evil in order to maintain my fences. I have on occasion used a very strong solution of bleach, hot water, and salt to spot spray with decent results, but nothing works like my herbicides though.

 

[greybeard]

Which type herbicide are you using?
If you don't want to mention the trade name, just post the primary active ingredient(s). Glycophosate, Triclopyr, 2,4d etc.

I understand there is a LOT of pushback regarding use of herbicides and pesticides in some segments of farming, but for those who are interested or have a need for them, the following is a list of all approved herbicides and insecticides approved in the US--this is not just a list of Dowagro products.
http://www.cdms.net/manuf/mprod.asp?mp=11&lc=0&ms=3691&manuf=11

Note:
(some are not available for use in every state, and some are a "restricted" product that requires the buyer to have an applicator's license.)

Just scroll down, find the trade name, then move over to the right and choose either labels or msds. You will then be prompted to choose which label--the top one under "labels" is usually the specimen label and full instructions.

I have used both Remedy Ultra, 2,4,d, and Glycophosate for years with no problems but I strictly follow manufacturers instructions as well as federal and state guidelines.
I sprayed over 2000 gals of herbicide and 50+ gals of insecticide last year.

I've long been meaning to write up a tutorial on herbicide use here, but just haven't gotten around to doing it.

BTW, depending on which active ingredient is on the label of the herbicide, bleach may actually do more harm than good. Chlorine bleach breaks down some herbicides (makes them ineffective).
And never mix chlorine bleach with any ammonia or ammonia based product. This mixture produces chlorine gas (WW1 nerve gas) --it is both deadly and can be very flammable.

 

[goatboy1973]

I don't know what the main ingredient is but it is the the generic brand of weed and brush killer that Tractor Supply sells. I don't remember a lot in detail from my college Ag classes, but I am sure it's main ingredient is glyco. I sometimes will use an oil based weed killer and mix diesel with it. This works wonderful also. I use as little herbicide as it takes to do the job and along with mechanical means (mower set on as low as possible) I manage to keep ahead of the weeds.

 

[greybeard]

Probably a generic clone of Roundup. Either their own brand -FarmWorks RM 43, which has 2 active ingredients. or Gordon's Pronto Big N Tuff which is just 41% glycosphate. Works well as a foliar application but does little to actually kill the root system of woody brush. It will "appear" to kill it, because all the leaves change to fall-like color, then turn black and die/fall off, but for brush, you really want to use either a basal application or a different herbicide. Otherwise, you are just spraying the same plant year after year. To kill woody brush, basal applications work best.
The Farmworks RM43 has glycosphate and imazapyr as the 2 active ingredients. Imazapyr is a restricted herbicide in my area, mean one has to have an applicator's lic to purchase it.

Glycosphate works well as a fence line maintenance tool because it is non-selective--that is, it should kill or knock back EVERYTHING on the fenceline. Nothing growing on the fenceline means livestock are much less likely to venture near the fence. Add 1 qt of 2,4d to your glycosphate per 100 gals total mixture, and your application rate can be decreased and kill rate will improve.