You're ready for spring. Your animals are ready for spring. Your pastures are ready for spring. But are your fences ready for spring? Before you set your flock or herd loose onto pastures that haven't seen use for a few months, make sure the fences are ready to keep livestock in and everything else out.
Walk the fence line(s). Check for branches or trees that may have toppled during a winter windstorm. If needed, clear branches and trees off of your fence and assess its condition. Most HT fences can bounce back after heavy branches have been removed. Other fences may need some more involved care. If the fence is in a flood prone area, remove any downed trees/limbs that could be washed into the fence.
Make sure all conductors are intact. If needed, mend with repair kits, ropelinks, twistlinks or gripples.
Check plug-in and battery energizers before use—the fence must be adequately electrified. For battery energizers, make sure the batteries are fully charged before bringing them to the field.
If using a PRS, this video details how to bring it out of winter storage and get it ready for spring fencing.
For more informational posts, click on the links below:
Before you buy or build a fence
Troubleshooting electric fences
Tips for setting up netting successfully
Netting: Struts or Strings
Netting: single spike or double spike posts?
Netting Tips
