Luckily I have some wonderful neighbors to the west of my yard and another sweet woman across the road.
Both of these neighbors have given me permission to let my cows graze in their yards... I used to tie them to graze which was OK but they would get tangled up in their leads.
So last year I invested in a portable electric fence,
It's wonderful! I am able to both set the fence up and take it down by myself and easily control how much time they spend in one spot, which is important because I don't want to over graze my neighbors' properties.
OK so here's what I have, it's a nifty little fence called the "Smart Fence". It has 4 wires that can be unwound and wound back up together.
I decide where I want to put them for a few hours, and pull the wires out....
Then I push in the stakes as I unroll the wires and "build" my fence
After I get my fence set up I pound my grounding rod in the ground, ( I just use a piece of rebarb)
Next I set out my energizer by the fence and connect the grounding stake wire to energizer, ( the energizer
is important because it controls the power flow so
when the animal touches the wire the shock is just a pulse)
and of course I need a power source, I use a small battery from a lawn mower.... I use wooden clothes pens to connect the terminals
Finally I connect the electricity to the fence itself.
and it's ready to go!
The cows love it, they see me get the fence out and follow me to watch me set it up... then they run over to their little "room"...
Any questions?