Cattle - Raising Small Animals - page 457

• Wood rail: Wood rail fences are a highly visible barrier for cattle. These fences are ex-
pensive and require a lot of maintenance, as you have to keep the wood treated and
painted.
• Woven wire: This type ofwire ismesh fencing that ishighstrength andlowmaintenance.
It is the most expensive fencing type. Many farmers also add a top strand of barbed or
electric wire to prevent cattle from rubbing against the fence.
You can purchase wire fences in rolls of a couple hundred to a couple thousand feet. Check
with your local building officials to ensure you install a legal fence. There may be height or
post spacing requirements, restrictions near roadways, or other rules you must follow. Be sure
to install fences on your side of the property line and not your neighbor's.
Generally, permanent cattle fences are 48 to 54 inches tall. Fencing systems also need end
posts, line posts, brace posts, and gates.
• End posts are the cornerstones of your fence line. They usually are made of sturdy wood
or steel. They must be buried deeply, about one-third to half of their total height below
the ground, to withstand the pressure of being pulled by taut fencing. You also can pour
cement in the hole around them for more support.
• Brace posts provide support for end posts. They usually are placed 6 to 8 feet away
from the post being braced. An H-brace is two parallel posts with a horizontal post
placedinbetween.Useabracewirefromthetopofthebraceposttothebottomofthe
post being braced. You could also use a diagonal brace, which is wedged between the
ground and the end post and requires a brace wire. Another option for lower-tension
fences is a bed log brace, which is a log buried on the tension side of the post that
prevents the post from being pulled over. The University of Wisconsin-Riverside has
a good guide to bracing posts at www.uwrf.edu/grazing/bracing.pdf .
• Line posts are needed to support fencing during long, straight stretches. You can buy
line posts made out of wood, steel, fiberglass, or plastic.
• Gates need to be as wide as the animals or the machinery you plan to move through
them. You can get gates as small as 4 feet, which are good for people, or as wide as
16 feet for large machines. One that is 12 to 14 feet wide will work for most tractors.
Gates come in light, medium, and heavy weights. The heaviest gates are called bull
gates. You would need a heavy bull gate in the sorting and handling areas near your