fencing
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rainie
Well-known member
Put down 7 foot posts, 2 strand electric, 60 feet apart. 16 foot braces. And you'll never have to look at it again.You don't want to make extra work for yourself down the road playing around with these small diameter posts as the frost keeps pushing them up, and cows can break them just rubbing on them. Do it right once and save yourself some headache later on.
the_jersey_lilly_2000
Well-known member
Man I wish we could get off that easy....3 wire fence LOL (our stuff would be scattered from hither to yon) here we use 8 ft posts 6 to 8 inch diameter ever 50 ft, with metal T posts ever 10 ft in between 5 and 6 wire fences. Corner H brace posts are usually cut from old telephone poles, or used railroad ties and they are cut to 10 ft lengths and put in a hole that's 4 to 5 feet deep.
2 wire electric fence....our cows just look at and go over, under or strait thru it. We've got one stretch of 3 wire electric fence now....(temperary until we can get normal fence built) and it seems to be doin ok.
2 wire electric fence....our cows just look at and go over, under or strait thru it. We've got one stretch of 3 wire electric fence now....(temperary until we can get normal fence built) and it seems to be doin ok.
rainie
Well-known member
Got to have a good plugin electric fencer, at least 25 joules(horsepower rating). They cost more but are definitely worth it. We've got goats for brush control. They touch this wire once, they won't make the same mistake again. Works for goats will for sure work for cows.
Hanta Yo
Well-known member
rainie said:
Not here they won't. The elk alone trash the fences so bad....with a goat pen like yours the elk would have your wire scattered for miles. The cows will then finish the job. :roll:
rainie
Well-known member
Solar and battery powered fencers just don't have a high enough joule rating. Gallagher has a 25 joule solar powered fencer but it's 3500.00 dollars, kind of pricey. We've got elk here to and so far they've left the electric fence alone. If you touch our electic fence, it feels like a match burn for about an hour or two later. Definitely a mental barrier. The goats are rotated through 10 acre paddocks with just 2 strand electric fence. If the elk hit this fence and broke it, it's a lot easier fixing 2 strand electric than a 4 strand barbwire fence. I know they can make a real mess.
backhoeboogie
Well-known member
Here you don't use wood. There are to many fires in the summers. If you use wood, you will be putting in new fences every few years. I wouldn't even think of 3 strand fences. 5 strands is a bit cheesy IMHO but okay for cross fence. 7 strand perimeter fences will let you sleep at night.
Stretch
Well-known member
Around here 3 strands just won't get the job done and I am not a real big fan of electric fence. Here are some shots of some of our latest fence building.
I have my best luck with the 5 wires and a hedge and two steel for my post arrangement. We generally put the posts about a rod (16.5 ft) apart or so and the wires are started at 48 in and dropped 8 in between each below that. It isn't a perfect fence but overall that seems to work about as good as any for us...
I have my best luck with the 5 wires and a hedge and two steel for my post arrangement. We generally put the posts about a rod (16.5 ft) apart or so and the wires are started at 48 in and dropped 8 in between each below that. It isn't a perfect fence but overall that seems to work about as good as any for us...
Jinglebob
Well-known member
I've got a pretty fair stretch of two wire, barb wire, fence. Steel posts about every 100 feet or so with a couple of twisty metal stays between posts. Wood posts for corners. This fence is an old hay field and is next to a road.
I've found if I don't let them get hungry, they don't try to get out of the fence. That seems to be the biggest secret brhind fencing here. if they have no reason to try and leave, they won't.
I run yearling stockers and my few cows behind these fences.
If anything crawls out, they get sold or trained on. Training consists of roping, tripping and choking or chasing and thumping on them until they don't have enough energy to run any more. Not very far with a fat yearling. :wink:
My father told of Grampa getting an ash tree limb, just big enough that he could carry and swinging it and beating on a critter that crawled fence, until the critter couldn't run anymore. He was horseback of course.
I prefer the pulled down hondo on my rope, but I kind of think the chasing does as much good as the beating.
I also cured a fence crawling cow with the grill guard of Dad's pickup, once, also. She never crawled fence again. And no, I didn't cripple or kill her. Just gentle nudges until she was standing and panting.
This might all sound kind of brutal, but you can't begin to hurt a cow as bad as another cow can, with her head, when she rams and bunts her. I've never hurt one yet, just sort of give them a good spanking.
I really prefer to sell the bad actors, as then I am culling the genetic disposition. And it's less work. But that doesn't really work on the steers I run and the owner doesn't want me to sell them as singles, so they get trained. Not too many any particular year. And come to think of it, they have always crawled out of a 3 or 4 wire fence. I don't remember ever having anything crawl thru' my two wire fences.
And no, it doesn't make them wild. when we pen yearlings in the fall to ship, we hardly ever get out of a walk, nor do the yearlings. Maybe they are too fat, to do more than walk!:wink:
But, it's amazing how well you can train cattle. :wink:
I've found if I don't let them get hungry, they don't try to get out of the fence. That seems to be the biggest secret brhind fencing here. if they have no reason to try and leave, they won't.
I run yearling stockers and my few cows behind these fences.
If anything crawls out, they get sold or trained on. Training consists of roping, tripping and choking or chasing and thumping on them until they don't have enough energy to run any more. Not very far with a fat yearling. :wink:
My father told of Grampa getting an ash tree limb, just big enough that he could carry and swinging it and beating on a critter that crawled fence, until the critter couldn't run anymore. He was horseback of course.
I prefer the pulled down hondo on my rope, but I kind of think the chasing does as much good as the beating.
I also cured a fence crawling cow with the grill guard of Dad's pickup, once, also. She never crawled fence again. And no, I didn't cripple or kill her. Just gentle nudges until she was standing and panting.
This might all sound kind of brutal, but you can't begin to hurt a cow as bad as another cow can, with her head, when she rams and bunts her. I've never hurt one yet, just sort of give them a good spanking.
I really prefer to sell the bad actors, as then I am culling the genetic disposition. And it's less work. But that doesn't really work on the steers I run and the owner doesn't want me to sell them as singles, so they get trained. Not too many any particular year. And come to think of it, they have always crawled out of a 3 or 4 wire fence. I don't remember ever having anything crawl thru' my two wire fences.
And no, it doesn't make them wild. when we pen yearlings in the fall to ship, we hardly ever get out of a walk, nor do the yearlings. Maybe they are too fat, to do more than walk!:wink:
But, it's amazing how well you can train cattle. :wink:
randiliana
Well-known member
Our permanant fence is all barbed wire. Mostly 3 wire, usually wooden posts 18-20 feet apart. The only place we have 4 wire is on the exterior of our pasture that is on the #1 highway. Interior is 3 wire. Some places are only 2 wires. And we use single strand electric with rebar when we fence grain fields for fall grazing. If you can't keep a cow in 3-4 wire barbed wire, then she deserves to hit the road. Or, at least they do here.
Legal fence in our country is 3 wire, with posts about 20 feet apart.
Legal fence in our country is 3 wire, with posts about 20 feet apart.