Rotational Grazing on 2 Acres?

[Baymule]

@Margali has some good stock. She bamboozled her sweet husband into a trip to the far side of Oklahoma for some lovely ewes to add to her flock.
You will learn there is practically no limit to where we will go for SHEEP! LOL

Go to the sheep forums, start with the first topic and start reading. There is lots of good information in the posts.

 

[Margali]

@KodeshAcres I get the 2 acres is where you pasturage is. A farther zoomed out picture with topo lines with water and power marked will help us give you suggestions. If you PM me your address in FB messenger, I can get the top map view for you. Then we can brainstorm like everyone helped me do on my property. https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/margalis-griffin-wood-ranch.42528/page-2#post-686994

 

[Margali]

You sheep do okay with the electric net as long as it is very hot and tight. They will also stay in 48" sheep and goat fence loosely run with minimal t-posts. I still need to get my corner posts in and tighten my fence up.

 

[Ridgetop]

Make sure that the charger is strong enough.

 

[Baymule]

@farmerjan keeps cattle in using hot wire. She says do not pay attention to how many miles, but count the joules. The higher the joules, the better.

 

[farmerjan]

Nothing short of 2 Joules should be used for sheep or goats. The electric netting needs more joules than a single strand due to the number of tiny wires and the resistance of the plastic that makes up the netting.
The whole "will charge 20 miles" thing is perfectly clean, perfectly stretched, wide open stretches with no errant blades of grass touching it, perfectly grounded....
NOT going to happen in 90% of the fences.

Even Premiere booklet has a chart on different fences, different animals, what is recommended.... 2 joules is minimum.

Better yet... if it is close enough, get a plug in charger... it will set them on their butt with the first touch... it will power through all sorts of weeds and grass touching it.

 

[Margali]

Sorry, writing an epic. I have a better idea of layout from what @KodeshAcres shared. Her house is east of paddock with garden fence in picture shared. First priority is shelter and water. Then you can subdivide paddock before spring grass surge.

Shed
The cattle panel with widest holes, tarp, and t-posts. I would put it centered along the fence between paddocks just off the gate. Here is a link to Baymule's.

Baymule’s Journal

Cooper has had ladies with him since first of April. NOW he’s breeding them. There goes my October/November plans for lambs. He bred ewes last year in July. They threw themselves against the cow panel divider, so I opened the gate and shoved them in with him. He partied until his tongue was...

www.backyardherds.com

Water
--One roll of irrigation hose will reach from house and make two runs almost to back fence. Use tees and valves to let you send water to shed and out to pastures. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Rain-Bi...Tubing-for-Drip-Irrigation-T70-500S/204751462
--This float valve on a 1/3 of blue barrel makes a great water trough. You need the all metal one. The sheep will break the plastic one stepping on it. https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/little-giant-trough-o-matic-metal-float-valve
--55gal blue food containing barrel. Noxious chemicals are also shipped in this so make sure it has original contents label. I have a source local to me if you want me to grab a couple.

Fence
Since paddock is ~ 200ft long x ~400ft tall, I would pound t-post in about every 36ft (3x e-fence post spacing) along planned center fence line. That will let you tie e-fence post with twine to be able to keep fence light. A section of PVC slipped over any t-post along path will keep fence from shorting or snagging.
--PrimaShock8 from Premier1 with a pair of 100ft roll of e-fence to start. Note charger must be kept under cover to extend life. T

PrimaShock® 8 Fence Energizers & Kits

8 joule output dual-power (AC/DC) fence energizer. Provides ample power for your ranch or large grazing operation.

www.premier1supplies.com

ElectroStop® 10/42/12 (w/ drivable posts)

42" tall electrified netting with sturdy posts designed to be driven into hard soils with a mallet. Useful for folks in dry or rocky areas.

www.premier1supplies.com

-- A second pair of e-fence panels can be purchased for isolating smaller segments of each 1 acre paddock later. Or you can make the main west-east fence permanent and use the first e-fence for subdividing.

Power

https://www.homedepot.com/b/200-ft/Heavy-Duty/N-5yc1vZ1z1v9bqZ1z1xn0f/Ntk-elasticplus/Ntt-extension+cord?Ntx=mode+matchpartialmax&NCNI-5&visNavSearch=extension%20cord

OR if you have someone with moderate electrical skills you can buy direct burial romex and have a power post at sheep shed to plug in power transformer.

Southwire 250 ft. 12/3 Gray Solid CU UF-B W/G Wire 13058355 - The Home Depot

Visit the Home Depot to buy Southwire Company 250 ft. 12/3 UF W/G Cable 13058355

www.homedepot.com

 

[blessedfarmgirl]

There has been a ton of good advice on here, but I thought I'd share our system as well. We use temporary electric fencing designed to be moved easily. We move them frequently, anywhere from every other day in the spring to about a week in the summer. In winter we feed hay on pasture and move them about every two to three weeks so they spread their manure around. For shelter we use portable tarp shelters on wheels. We tried cattle panel shelters, which do work great for a lot of people, but my sheep decided that their greatest delight was knocking those things down, and they blew away every time there was a big storm. I got tired of it. I designed a portable shelter based on a chicken tractor plan we use. It works great and can be pulled around on pasture by hand or with a tractor or mower. It's very light to carry but it has yet to blow away in the wind.
We trained the sheep to electric using the netting then switched to 3 strands of poly braid on reels with step in posts. They stay inside of it great, including the lambs. The netting works best if you have a lot of flat, open pasture, but we have tons of hills and brush so the reels and poly wire work better for us. Here are some pictures of our fence setup and our shelter.

Since you have smaller acreage, the netting might be more efficient and economical, but either could work well. I definitely agree with the folks that said get a strong charger! Preferably not a solar one either. We switched from solar to plugin and have not looked back. The shock is so much stronger and more consistent.

I hope your sheep venture goes well!! They are a joy to raise, even when they're being spoiled brats.

 

[Ridgetop]

Get the largest solar charger you can. Then you can add more fencing to it without haing to buy another charger. Listen to @farmerjan about charger size - the fence people will tell you the smaller chargers will work for the length of fence BUT THEY WON'T. Listen to Jan.

 

[Farmercharliesblog]

1.Test the ledging.
2.Test the soil content
3.Rotation must be even
4.Don’t let grass get to tall or to short.

This is everything I have learned in the last 10 months of sheep farming. But it has only need 10 months about grazing.