Farm Fencing: Horse High, Chicken Tight and Bull Strong

Enlarge Image Image Gallery You’ll likely need to combine several fencing types to corral different animals. ILLUSTRATION: ELAYNE SEARS

Good farm fencing surely makes good neighbors, and with the right livestock fences, you and your critters will experience the joys of low-stress livestock management. A one-size-fits-all solution to livestock fencing doesn’t exist — you’ll need different kinds of fences for different purposes.

Fences work in two basic ways: physical and psychological. A 12-foot-tall stone wall in good repair will keep most animals in or out no matter how much they rub, scratch or try to climb it. Conversely, a fence created with a single strand of lightweight polywire conductor offers little in the way of a physical barrier, but it will serve as a psychological barrier after your animals have been shocked by it. The best fences integrate both physical and psychological components.

Wire Fencing Basics

Steel wire continues to be among the most economical materials from which to construct fences. Smooth steel wire is most often used to manufacture barbed wire or woven wire fence.

Wire fences rely on braced end posts and line posts installed between them to support the wire. Posts can be made of wood, steel, plastic or fiberglass. Typical installations include braced 7- to 8-inch-diameter wood end posts with steel T-posts in between. Steel posts are easy to drive by hand, while wood posts generally require you to dig post holes and tamp soil around each post.

Low-tensile (conventional) steel wire with a low carbon content is still used to construct most wire fences. This material bends and stretches easily, but is relatively inelastic — so if it stretches, it doesn’t contract back to its original state. These characteristics mean that it’s easy to work with, but also subject to sagging and breakage. Conventional wire requires more line posts spaced closer together for support than high-tensile wire.

High-tensile wire is more difficult to work with, but fences made of it stay tighter longer because the wire is stronger and more elastic. Working with high-tensile wire also requires greater care with setting end posts and braces due to the additional tension they must bear. While the high-tensile wire itself may cost more than its conventional counterpart, you can choose a lighter gauge high-tensile wire and get the same or greater strength than you would with conventional. High-tensile wire fences require fewer line posts, which saves money and labor overall. 

Smooth Wire Fence

Choose smooth wire for your farm fencing project if you want to control livestock with minimal chance of injury. Because you must design this fence to serve as a physical barrier, you should only use high-tensile wire, which is relatively easier to install than barbed wire. Most experts recommend electrifying one or more strands to make smooth wire fence more effective.

Non-electric, high-tensile smooth wire fencing relies on a series of tightly stretched wires with relatively small spacing intervals from about 6 to at least 52 inches off the ground (depending on animal type) to be effective. High-tensile, smooth wire fences can work for horses and quiet cattle — the strands will need to be tighter and more closely spaced to contain sheep or goats.
Barbed Wire Fence