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Cattle fencing tips for small farms


While I like to use electric fencing for quick temporary fences, I do think its important to have a strong permanent fence for the boundary, around the house yard and, on a larger property, other fences to divide the property into paddocks.

This ensures that your cattle stay on your property even if your internal electric fence fails (for example, it the battery runs flat). For cattle, barbed wire is essential, at least four strands, if not five. Animal mesh can also be used, especially if you also keep goats or sheep, but be aware that cattle can climb over mesh by stepping on each section and gradually pulling it down (it sounds ridiculous, but I have seen this happen a couple of times), so a barbed wire top strand is needed to prevent fence climbing.
To read the rest, see my article on Farm Style.



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  1. Sunnybrook FarmJanuary 29, 2014 at 12:49 PM

    Looks good, animals will go through about any fence when they really want to but most of the time a good fence will hold them. I like to put one electric in with barbed wire, you have to be careful to keep the wires apart but that one wire will give further respect to the fence.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownFebruary 18, 2014 at 8:38 PM

      That is very true. Good tip with the electric wire.

      Delete
  2. Kev AlvitiJanuary 31, 2014 at 8:05 AM

    I was brought up on a farm where we said never to have animals bigger than yourself!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMarch 25, 2014 at 6:38 AM

    It's going to take a lot of hard work to set this fence up on our East side of the farm, but it will be worth it! This is perfect land, with a small pond and a few hills to give the cattle some variety. Do you know of a video where we can see how to tie up the wiring properly where fences connect?
    Celine | http://www.southwestfenceanddecks.com/index.php/fences

    ReplyDelete

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