We have a high tunnel on its way in approximately three or four weeks. Our next project is to enclose the field where the tunnel will reside and our general living area. We have a little over 2 acres but will start with about an acre. We considered a variety of fence possibilities but settled on electric. Electric fences are easier to erect and can be readily reconfigured down the road to enclose all our property.
After some research, we settled on fiberglass posts and high-tensile wire. We are looking to use fiberglass for the majority of the fence with wood posts on the corners. Kencove are super nice folks that helped us throw together and price out an order for 1,000 feet of fence. We are going to use a 4-strand fence. We already have a Solar Intellishock 60 energizer. Kencove claims the fiberglass posts are stronger than steel as evidenced by their image below.
The following quote was for everything except the wood corner posts.
Here is a simple formula to figure out the length of fencing you will need for a given amount of acres. Let’s use our example of 2.1 acres. We ordered a little less than the total fence number below because we are going to sidestep some of our heavily wooded areas.
- x = total acres (2.1 in this example) multiplied by 43560
- x = 91476
- Take the square root of x which equals 302.44
- Finally multiply this value by 4 which gives us 1,210 feet of fence needed for 2.1 acres.
We are planning on using the same freight forwarder that we used for the high tunnel. They specialize in Alaska freight which can be picked up in Fife, WA. The $122 freight in the above quote is to get the goods from PA to WA. We are estimating another $200 or so for American Fast Freight.
We will probably compare this quote with Premier1 who had free continental US shipping a few months ago. The poultry nets we recently purchased from them were excellent quality and we couldn’t be happier with them
Chicken Talk
If you suspect that a chick has wry neck please check this earlier post. We had a bird with this nasty disease and were able to cure her. The post tells you exactly what we did. We are happy to say the chick has rejoined her flock and has totally recovered. She is one of our best foragers.
We also have had almost a month using the Justin Rhodes ChickShaw. An amazing 40 bird mobile coop that serves as a permanent safety zone for the chicks regardless of where we put it.
Black Australorps vs. Buff Orpingtons
We researched a number of breeds and landed on these two entirely based on their reputations for foraging and cold weather capability. Additionally both are supposed to be friendly and docile. After observing them for a bit, we would easily rank the Australorps as the best foragers and the most friendly. These birds are the first to race out of the coop and the last to go back. They spend the entire day endlessly looking for food. They are also more approachable. We keep food in the coop which is accessible at any time. The Buffs spend a lot of time in there compared to the Australorps. We like them both but will likely stick with the Australorps going forward.
Be well & green dreams!
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