First "Invisible" Fence for Cattle

First Invisible Fence for Cattle FENCING Fence Systems If you thought underground electronic fencing was just for pets think again     Gerald Siroen Ilderton Ontario is in the midst of an experiment to see if it can be used for cattle     The invisible type fence uses an underground wire that uses radio signals to activate shock collars worn by animals that are fenced in Since cattle can be trained to stay inside a single strand of electrified fence wire Siroen theorized that they should also be able to learn to respect a fence they can t see     His goal was to fence cattle out of a creek that runs through his property to help prevent stream bank erosion     When Siroen learned there might be grant money available for soil and water conservation projects through a group called the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority he approached the group s water quality specialist Craig Merkley     Merkley visited Siroen s farm and decided the underground fence idea had merit The two contacted Richard Martin who owns Hidden Fence London Ontario and sells Pet Safe underground fencing In no time at all the project was underway     It took 6 000 ft of cable to fence the area where Siroen wanted to discourage his 20 or so cows and their calves from going They started with their regular cable but because they needed so much more than usual they had trouble with it breaking and had to start over with heavier cable Siroen says     The regular power supply for the buried fence cable wasn t able to supply an even flow of electricity all the way around so they had to find a larger one     With the fence hooked into the main household power supply the possibility of a lightning strike became a concern and a lightning arrester had to be installed The house is only about 60 ft from the buried cable so if there was a strike in the area we figured the cable would carry it into the house he says     While the cable is buried and the hidden fence can be turned on another problem was collars big enough to fit cattle Pet Safe agreed to provide special collars     The Pet Safe system works with three signals The first is visual which amounts to white plastic flags spaced at intervals around the perimeter in the fenced-in area The second is audible The collar emits a sound when the animal wearing it approaches buried cable And finally there s a shock to drive home the fact that the fence is there     All three of these will be used when the time comes for Siroen to train his cattle While everyone involved sees promise in this fencing system it s still not proven Siroen is confident it will work and has already thought about expanding it to other areas He s also given some thought to gates I like the idea that we ll be able to enter the pasture anywhere we want with a tractor but I have to be able to move the cows out as well We ll have to develop a gate area where the cattle don t receive the audible and shock signals so they ll be easy to move out of the pasture when need to Siroen says He expects to have the system fully functional by next spring     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gerald Siroen Rt 3 Ilderton Ontario Canada N0M 2A0 ph 519 666-0428; E-mail: gsiroen@webgate net

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