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Fencing off feeders from cows, barb vs electric?
12/1/2011 11:52:46 AM
Some folks run cattle on my land, and I have no feeders, because I'm more of a spot and stalk kind of guy, but I want to put some out because of the bad droughts we have had. There just isnt enough protein out naturally, and the cattle eat most all of it. I understand I need to put fencing around the feeders to keep the cattle out. I was going to do a low barb wire fence with about a 25' radius around the feeder. But then I realized how expensive that would be. I am considering a single electric wire about 3 feet off the ground. I'm worried the deer wont cross it once they get zapped. Does anyone have any experience in this?
12/1/2011 2:05:33 PM
No experience with the electric in that application but I wouldn't trust it. Deer have an agravating habit of blowing right through my other electric fences on occasion and I reckon it would be even worse under the feeder scenario. When we used to hunt on a lease with livestock we'd just drive some t-posts supported by guys tied to chopped sections of t-posts driven in the ground. Put three strands of gaucho around that and you should be good to go. If you're trying to keep the hogs out as well TP&W has experimented with welded wire panels of differnt heights that are low enough for deer to easily clear but discourage hogs from getting to the feeder. I don't have access to that study but your couinty biologist may be of help if your interested.
12/1/2011 8:56:35 PM
We used 10, 16' x 36" (34"?) hog panels set in a circle for our protein feeders. It is right at 50' in diameter. I would use 12 panels if I had to do it again. It has kept cows and hogs out up in the panhandle for a couple of years, so far, even this year in the terrible drought. I've heard that cows will sometimes jump these, but just haven't seen it with the game cameras. If so, I'd just put a strand, or two of barbed wire a bit higher.
12/1/2011 9:22:19 PM
Use either hog panels, cattle panels with a few slots cut open here and there or a three strand barb wire fence. Yes it can be expsensive but pays off in the long run.
12/1/2011 9:40:25 PM
Originally Posted By microsuck1:
Some folks run cattle on my land, and I have no feeders, because I'm more of a spot and stalk kind of guy, but I want to put some out because of the bad droughts we have had. There just isnt enough protein out naturally, and the cattle eat most all of it. I understand I need to put fencing around the feeders to keep the cattle out. I was going to do a low barb wire fence with about a 25' radius around the feeder. But then I realized how expensive that would be. I am considering a single electric wire about 3 feet off the ground. I'm worried the deer wont cross it once they get zapped. Does anyone have any experience in this?
Some folks run cattle on my land, and I have no feeders, because I'm more of a spot and stalk kind of guy, but I want to put some out because of the bad droughts we have had. There just isnt enough protein out naturally, and the cattle eat most all of it. I understand I need to put fencing around the feeders to keep the cattle out. I was going to do a low barb wire fence with about a 25' radius around the feeder. But then I realized how expensive that would be. I am considering a single electric wire about 3 feet off the ground. I'm worried the deer wont cross it once they get zapped. Does anyone have any experience in this?
How expensive will it be? You can get 1300 feet of barbed wire for under $100. Put in a 4 strand fence and you can circumscribe two feeders per roll. Sink some cedar posts or T posts - both are cheap. When the season is over you can take down the wire and re-use it next season or on other projects.
12/2/2011 5:28:45 PM
We have a few cattle on our lease, too, but the big problem is the sheep. We use T-posts and goat wire, with one strand of barbed wire (usually Gaucho) about 4-6" above the goat wire. The "pens" are 50-75 feet to a side, so the deer don't feel too confined when they hop in.
We hae some older fence wire the rancher has replaced that we used in a few places, so that keeps the cost down some, too.
We hae some older fence wire the rancher has replaced that we used in a few places, so that keeps the cost down some, too.
12/3/2011 4:03:54 AM
Depending on how breachy the cows are, it doesn't even have to be barbed wire. Just about anything will work. I've used panels, panels with 1 or 2 strands of wire above, 3 strand, 4 strand, new & used barbed wire and slick wire. The "quality" of the fencing job required depends on the critters you're trying to keep out.
12/4/2011 10:17:12 PM
Buddy of mine uses chicken wire that is around 2 feet tall with T-posts that are set inside of PVC then uses a solar fence charger to electrify the chicken wire. It keeps out about everything but the deer as they go right over. Of all of the pictures he has not one coon has been caught on the inside.....this is in an area that I get a ton of pics of coons and opossums on my mineral lickswith no corn.
12/6/2011 2:24:16 PM
I ended up going with 3 strands of barb wire, 4 feet high, 30 foot radius from the feeder.
What do you think?
video
What do you think?
video
12/6/2011 2:39:15 PM
That looks pretty good. It just depends on how aggresive the cattle are. It would be a good idea to stake the feeder legs down with some rebar and wire too.
12/6/2011 9:19:37 PM
Yep , hog panels and T-posts.
ETA. Should've read the whole thread.
And those towers are ugly in the background.
ETA. Should've read the whole thread.
And those towers are ugly in the background.
12/7/2011 11:02:33 AM
I want the hogs to be able to get in tho. More meat for the freezer.
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