This morning was a good reminder that big hole panels cause loss of livestock. We used the big hole panels when we built our buck pen. It covers about 7 acres and we have not wanted to spend the money to redo it. Since we run principally bucks in the pen, we don't have much trouble. The bucks tend to have bigger horns and can't put their heads through the holes.
One of our yearling bucks reminded me about earlier losses. He decided to stick his head thru and got stuck. Good news for us, one of our LGD's decided to stay with him. I heard a dog howling and figured it was a neighbor dog. Our LGD's don't howl much. But I kept hearing a goat from the same direction and decided to investigate to be safe. Sure enough, one of our most promising yearlings was waiting for the coyotes to come for breakfast.
I like the LGD's. They really watch out for the goats and this one was ecstatic when the goat was released. He was clearly unhappy with the goat caught in the fence and apparently howling to tell us about the situation. Moral of the story, don't use the big hole fencing unless you regularly check it to avoid losses.
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