Chapter 11
Fencing
A good start to the grazing in spring will require a fence the cow can believe in. If she gets started grazing with the knowledge that her pasture has limits, there will be less trouble later when she has explored it and thinks about going farther afield. You could build a permanent fence with posts and rails or boards. This can be a beautiful fence, but expensive to have built by a professional. If you have plenty of trees and time, you could build one yourself. The old-fashioned stone wall worked fine for centuries and still does, but it may be that people used to have stronger backs. Nor are stone walls as simple to build as they look. Skill is involved. But the raw material is free and close at hand in much of the cow-loving world. A cow can jump higher than you would think to look at her. A fifteen-month-old heifer can easily clear four feet. Later in life she may still think she can do it, and that’s when she tears her udder. Beyond heiferhood, there are a certain few cows that are incorrigible about jumping fences and will require very convincing fencing at all times. The great majority do not try it unless the fence is damaged and they can more or less push through. But if a cow is being pursued by dogs, or is in heat and hears a bull answering her bellow, or is being separated from her calf, all bets are off.
A basic principle of fence building for cattle that applies to all but stone walls is to have the top board or wire level with the cow’s shoulder blade. This is the level at which she carries her nose. Except in the most unusual circumstances, a cow, and other animals as well, is far more likely to breach a fence by going through or under than over it. A cow will scratch her sides on fence posts and stick her head through for choice grass. This is when flabby fencing shows its weakness.
Cows have no aptitude for mounting stone walls. Straight sides three feet high and a broad top will stop them. Yet like every fence on every farm, stone walls too require maintenance. They are such perfect sites for rubbing an itch that a cow may dislodge a capstone. If other stones then tumble, a more nimble cow just might pick her way through to the greener grass she imagines is on the other side.
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Barbed Wire
A barbed-wire fence is effective if properly constructed. The materials are cheap, relative to other fencing. A barbed-wire fence is dangerous if poorly constructed because a cow can injure herself if she attempts to go through or over it. The fence is relatively safe if on sturdy posts and stretched good and tight. Four or five wires are needed, preferably five. It is the casual fence that a cow may try to get over.
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Electric Fencing
Improvements in electric fencing occur with regularity, so if you want to build one, you will want to consult a supply catalog or your local farm supplier. Electricity is supplied either by a battery pack or by plugging into the domestic electric service. There are also excellent solar-powered models.
The design of both posts and wire varies greatly. Here are some basic considerations.
The traditional style of electric fencing uses smooth wire that runs through insulators attached either to movable stakes or to ordinary fence posts. String and tape with embedded metal filament is now more common but does not have the longevity of wire. It is lightweight and much easier to set up, but any rough handling, including a summer of persistent wind, may ruin it. It is usually white and more visible than wire.
The point is to see that the wire or tape does not touch anything except an insulated surface. If it touches posts or bushes the electricity will head to ground right there rather than continuing down the fence line. To you this may seem obvious, but over decades of hiring helpers, I assure you that understanding the habits of electricity is not an inborn trait. Supervise, or expect to do it over.
The wire must slide freely through the insulators so that you can stand a long distance away and pull the end of the wire to tighten it, like a belt through belt loops. This is important, because wire soon sags and you want to be able to tighten it from afar. Grass growing up under the wire is a constant problem. Animals that respect an electric fence will not graze under it. A powerful charge will singe off any high grass during dry weather. A week of rain, though, and the grass will grow up and short out a sagging fence.
When splicing the wire, double it back on itself and give it at least eight wraps. Repairs will be easier if you are able to slacken and tighten the fence at will.
The most important feature of electric fencing is its portability, so don’t allow anybody to wrap wire onto the insulators. Wrapped, crimped wire will end up having to be discarded.
A wire reel makes handling any wire much easier. If you haven’t got one, unneeded wire can be wrapped on a board. Keep children well away from the job and wear protective glasses. Flying ends of wire are dangerous to eyes.
One wire about 30 inches above the ground is normally sufficient to retain a grown animal. If there is a calf you will need a second wire closer to the ground. If you’re using actual wire, tie surveyor’s tape to the wire at frequent intervals so that animals don’t inadvertently walk into it. A grazing animal with its head down may get the shock on the back of its neck. The reaction of an animal is to throw up its head and run forward, not dance back. But either way, the fence will probably come down, with the animal loose on the wrong side and singularly reluctant to return by the same route.
As with any fencing, brace the post against the pull of the wire wherever you turn a corner and try for long, straight runs. Where you need a gate, you can get insulated handles that cover the wire and hook onto a loop of hot wire.
Fence testers are available and are cheap. A tester is just a little hook with fourteen inches of insulated wire ending in an exposed tip. Place the hook over the electric fence and ground the tip; if the fence is hot, a little bulb glows red. Tie a big piece of surveyor’s tape on the tester and make it a federal offense not to put it back on its peg. Or buy two.
Once a week and following any rain or windstorm, walk the fence line to check for grass reaching it or branches fallen on it. It is my belief that some cows know when the fence has quit.
Before turning out an animal to electric fencing, for the first time, train it by setting a few yards of hot wire across the corner of its existing paddock. Tie flagging on the wire. Watch to see that the animal gets educated. A naive cow is not much impressed by that little wire or tape the first time she sees it but learns fast.
When you hear thunder, disconnect the fence and bring the cow and any other animals in if you can. During an electrical storm an electric fence is dangerous to animals and to buildings. Of course, the cow should come in during thunderstorms no matter what kind of fence she has.
Electric fencing is some trouble but is often the best choice for cow pasture. It is cheaper than permanent fencing, and sometimes you don’t even want permanent fencing. Often you can buy an entire electric fencing setup secondhand. Many times somebody will even give miles of it to you. A well-maintained electric fence with two wires will keep out marauding dogs better than any other fence I know of. But see below.
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Tension Wire Fencing
This is sometimes called Australian fence. Sturdy metal or wooden posts are required. Six or more wires (light cable) run through staples on the posts and are tightened with ratcheted turnbuckles placed at long intervals. Slotted wooden spacer bars are set onto the wires at intervals between posts to keep the wires equidistant. Each single wire may run for a mile. Tension wire is superb fencing for just about everything except horses. It will hold buffalo and many other wild animals. The problem for horses is that if they paw at it and get their feet stuck, they are likely to panic and get severe wire cuts.
Another disadvantage is that when a wire does fail, it pulls back like a broken tendon and repair is not easy.
A farmer I know with a fine herd of Angus cattle has successfully combined tension wire and electric fence. He replaced every other strand of tension wire with electric fence wire that is served by a supercharger battery pack. Before doing this, he lost calves to neighboring dogs. Since installing this combination-type fencing he has not lost calves.
As you can see, fencing has a role in both keeping animals in and keeping predators out. In traditionally rural areas it has been generally understood that a dog killing livestock has committed a capital offense. Farmers will shoot such a dog. Often they will know the owner and tell him, “Sorry I had to do it, he was after my stock.” Or the owner will himself shoot the dog upon receiving the bad news. But traditional farming areas are being swallowed up fast as former urban dwellers buy country property. They are often completely intolerant of the presence of a cow mowing their front lawn for them, finding nothing entertaining in the sight. And they often greet the news that their dog has molested livestock with indignant denial, a state of mind that does not desert them even upon seeing their dog on the carcass, let alone after hearing of your cow’s ripped teats. The law in nearly every area is on the side of the cow owner if he or she shoots the dog. But an exurbanite is unlikely to perceive this as justice and tempers are sure to flare. Good fencing before anything happens is wisest.