Continuing The Fence Install

I got most of the u-posts in today and the fence attached to most of them. As you can see, the girls are currently inside it. This area is intended for the boys and should be plenty of space for just the two of them.

You can see pieces of wood on the other side of the area. (Not counting the trees.) I cut an 8ft long 1x4 in half and then pull the wire as tight as I can and sandwich the wire between the post and the 1x4. (My daughter helped me with that part.)

Tomorrow I need to get the rest of the u-posts that I need and some more 1x4s. I also need to build a door (right now I have to detach the fence end from the post, you can see it there to the right) and also build the girls the sides for their half of the sheep shelter.

The final step will be to attach plastic clips to hold a couple strands of electrical wire away from the welded wire fencing. This will keep the boys off of the fence and help the fence last longer. After that the boys should be ready to go into their new area.

But wait, I'm not done yet. Most of the sheep and pig area is fenced just with electrical wire. Serves well for the ewes and pigs. The boys can be a bit more determined when they want to get to the girls and will try to go through just electrical. Hence the need for stronger fencing for them.

But after I get the boys area done, I need to rearrange the electrical fencing for the girls so that it goes around the boys area better. I'm probably going to have to roll up almost all of the electrical wire and then restring everything the way I need it. I should have more wire to work with after I get everything restrung so I might just make the girls area even bigger. But that's going to be a lot of wire to rearrange. Not looking forward to that. That will also require some mowing to clear a path for the wire. Luckily this should be the last time I have to change it until I have the perimeter of our property fenced. (That will probably be done like the boys area.) Then I can just use the electrical for cross fencing for the girls, pigs and their babies.

But I figure I've got at least 4 more days of work. Doing the rest of the posts and 1x4s will take most of the day tomorrow. Not counting time I spend with my family. Then the next day I can build the door. But we're going to be looking at and probably purchasing a boar that day also and that's a 1 1/2 hour drive one way. So the door might be the only thing I manage that day. Stringing the couple of strands of electrical in the boys area won't be hard but it'll take a little while to attach all those plastic clips to the posts.

Or I might leave the electrical wire until after I do the girls half of the sheep shelter. The welded wire will still keep the boys in. The electrical is just an added measure so it can wait until last. Rearranging the girls electrical fence might go before that too. Where it is right now will block their access to the sheep shelter.

So day 1, more posts and 1x4s. Day two, door. Day 3, girls half of the sheep shelter. Day 4, move the electrical wire for the girls area. Day 5, move everybody and their feeders to the respective areas. Yeah, I think that'll work.

Still working on the dishes. Doesn't help that the kids keep putting more dirty dishes in the sink.