# Neighbor’s Bull Trying to Visit (& Fencing Help)



## LMK17 (Jan 15, 2020)

First time we’ve had this problem, although I know it‘s a common one.  

A big bull just showed up on our neighbor’s place.  Usually he borrows a bull from down the street to breed his cows, so I’m hoping the problem is temporary.  I have 1 dairy cow & 2 beef heifers, all open.  The bull is obsessed with them.  Nevermind that our neighbor has far more cows than we do; I guess the bull figures his job there is done. We have good fences.  The fenceline we share with this neighbor is 42” woven wire topped with 2 strands of barbed wire (total height about 4.5’) and lined with hotwire at 12” & 42”.  I figure it’s just a matter of time before the bull tries to come crashing over or through the fence.  Already, I’ve seen him bending down the barbed strands to get his head over, and yesterday I found a place where the top hot strand is creased pretty badly.  I’m guessing that was either his nose or maybe a hoof?  Last night, I moved my girls from the back pasture to the front pasture in case the neighbor had the bull penned in the back half of his place, but this morning I saw the bull up front rubbing on the fence.  Apparently he has run of the entire property next door, so unlesss I let my girls into my backyard, there’s no way of keeping them from sharing a fenceline.  I’ve moved them a few times, and the bull just paces the fenceline until he finds the right gates to get him across that property and just over the fence from my cows.

I’m super annoyed at the thought of having to repair our fence after the bull flattens it.  Plus I really don’t want my girls bred right now.  I plan to breed them in April or May for a spring calving next year.  And darn it, I want to choose the bull; not just settle for whatever beast shows up in my pasture looking for some fun.  I’m afraid he’s too big for my heifers, too.

I’m going to take this opportunity to beef up our fences a bit more, although it’s going to be at least a few days before I can get to that.  I think I’ll add an extra hot strand at the top of the fence.  Maybe if that’s the first thing an animal encounters with his nose instead of a barbed strand, that’ll be a nice deterent.  I just hope the bull doesn’t come through before I get a chance to do that.  I’m going to use something like this to top off the fenceline built with t-posts.  Some of the runs have wooden posts, though.  Does anyone know of a similar post-top insulator that I can use with wood?  I haven’t been able to find one.

Also, who else has dealt with a problem bull from a neighbor’s place?  Any advice?


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## Beekissed (Jan 15, 2020)

More hot wire and LOTS of juice to it.   That's about the only thing that MAY keep him on his side of the fence.   

And maybe AI your girls so as to remove the temptation?


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## JHP Homestead (Jan 15, 2020)

I second hot fence, that’s the only thing that might be able to keep him in his own side. For wood posts, I don’t know if a specific product for attaching electric wire to the top of the post. I would probably just nail a regular wood insulator to the top of the post pointing upwards, or nail the insulator as high on the post as necessary. 

If you know when your heifers and cow will be in heat, it might be a good idea to put them in the barn if you have one, or in a small temporary area as far from the bull’s pen as you can while they’re in heat.


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## thistlebloom (Jan 15, 2020)

Can you talk to the neighbor and tell him you don't want an unwelcome bull in with your cows, and also about the already damaged fence. Does he have pastures that don't share a fenceline?
Seems like there should be some liability on his part if his bull breaks in.


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## B&B Happy goats (Jan 15, 2020)

JHP Homestead said:


> I second hot fence, that’s the only thing that might be able to keep him in his own side. For wood posts, I don’t know if a specific product for attaching electric wire to the top of the post. I would probably just nail a regular wood insulator to the top of the post pointing upwards, or nail the insulator as high on the post as necessary.
> 
> If you know when your heifers and cow will be in heat, it might be a good idea to put them in the barn if you have one, or in a small temporary area as far from the bull’s pen as you can while they’re in heat.



We got our screw in electric fence wire holders for the top.wood posts at TS.....they work great !


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## Baymule (Jan 15, 2020)

There isn't a fence that will hold a romantic bull in or out. Talk to your neighbor ASAP. I had a longhorn bull that jumped fences like a deer. There was no keeping him anywhere.


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## LMK17 (Jan 17, 2020)

We keep the fence plenty hot, and we check it multiple times a day to ensure it hasn’t lost voltage.  Adding more lines is definitely on the table.  I really ought to talk to the neighbor, too.

I do intend to AI our girls, although I really want to avoid a winter calving.  We’re in south central TX, so it isn’t as though it stays super cold for long, but I always aim for springtime babies.  Warmer weather, better nutrition for mama at conception, fresh grass for babies to start nibbling, etc.  I’m hoping to try to AI them in May for a March-ish calving next year.   I honestly don’t understand why so many folks around here calve or kid in wintertime.    We had an accidental goat breeding last year, and I was on pins and needles all kidding season hoping that no one arrived in a freezing rain, as the kids were due in January!

I haven’t had any time to work on the fence, but the good news is Big Guy hasn’t come over yet.  He also seems to be getting *slightly* less interested.  When I see him hanging out, I’ve been calling the girls into the barn for a treat.  They tend to hang around in there for a bit, and by the time they meander back out, the bull seems to have temporarily lost interest and wandered away to the neighbor’s cows.

I’m at a point where I’m thinking about beefing up our fences, not only because of the bull but also to make moving my cattle easier and because we are considering bringing a couple horses on to the property.  We have GREAT cattle fences, but they’re less then stellar for horses.  I’m considering making a lane around the inside perimeter along the bull-neighbor’s fence.  I’ll probably go with the really tall step-in posts for a semi-permanent set-up and clip in 3 hot poly rope strands.  That’ll make cattle moving easier, put some distance between the cows and any future bull across the fence, better protect our field-stored hay, and keep future horses away from the barbed wire topping the east-side fence.  And it shouldn’t be terribly expensive nor take too long.  Seem like a reasonable plan?


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## Baymule (Jan 17, 2020)

I had a cow that walked through a barbed wire fence one time, went 3 miles down the road to find a bull. True love.


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## LMK17 (Jan 17, 2020)

Baymule said:


> I had a cow that walked through a barbed wire fence one time, went 3 miles down the road to find a bull. True love.



Oh, my.  What fun.  😜  I think I’d let her calve and then turn her into hamburger!


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## Baymule (Jan 17, 2020)

I loved that cow! My daughter and I sat on a truck tailgate with a bucket of range cubes, a friend drove the truck. The owner of the bull turned her out (he had let her in the pasture, figuring someone would be along to claim her). We rattled the bucket and she followed the truck at a trot back to the pasture with us feeding range cubes to her.


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## LMK17 (Jan 17, 2020)

Sounds fun if you can keep a good sense of humor about it! I think I'd be a little less jolly in the moment though! 😆

Good on you for handling it so well!


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## farmerjan (Jan 19, 2020)

One thing that you will always have to deal with is bulls that don't want to stay home when you have cattle.  We have it all the time.  The hot wire on top is the best way to go and if it is a plug in fence charger rather than a solar/battery one then that is best.... they will get a good jolt that way.  Sometimes they just don't respect fences.  But for the most part they will get zapped and get the message if it is a good zap.  I would just take a regular electric fence insulator that you nail into a post and run it on the top.  There are also the ones that screw in like was mentioned.  Yes, he needs to get "hit" as soon as he tries to put his nose/neck/face up to reach over the wire. 

I know there are some that would be horrified, but we raised all our various horses in all barbed wire fencing when I was a kid.  3 to 6 strands on most all the pastures/pens.  The expensive no climb wire and all is great but expensive.  Board fencing is useless for cattle unless it is 5 boards minimum, because they will put their heads inbetween to get at grass, but 3 boards is what you see so many use for horses.  All our fencing is woven wire/field fence for the cattle and sheep and would work fine for the horses if they aren't ones to paw at everything. They will try to ride it down though with their feet.  But that is mostly always because they are bored, have no grazing available, and just do it because of the boredom. 

One of the reasons that there is alot of fall/winter calving, especially in your area is flies.  Horn flies can eat up beef cattle and baby calves.  There are also the tick problems.  Plus, feeder cattle are worth more to sell in the spring.  So, if you are going to be raising calves to sell at weaning, it is better to have fall calves, so they will be at the 4-600 lb size in the spring.  There is such a glut of lightweight calves to be sold in Sept-Nov, from cows that calve early in the spring and it depresses the prices.   And, there is the fact that many farmers/ranchers down that way have to make their hay in the spring/early summer and the fall is more of a down time so they have more time to pay attention to things like calving.  Also, it is easier on the cows in the hottest part of the year to not have a calf beside them nursing.  She will have good weight and body condition from the good grass in the spring/summer, then be able to take advantage of the little cooler weather and regrowth of some grasses to make the milk.  It is easier on cattle to travel the many acres that they need in range conditions when it is cooler in the fall. 

One thing that you need to be aware of are your fencing laws there.  If you are in a "free range" county (state) then it is your responsibility to fence unwanted animals out.  If you do "due dilligence" to do so, then you have grounds to go after someone that their animal has roamed and caused you problems.   The best thing is to talk to the neighbor of course... but be aware of your rights too.  You can at least make them pay for fixing/repairing/replacing whatever the bull tears up;  pay for any damage injuries the bull causes to your animals, pay for vet visit or whatever and lutalyse to abort anything that gets bred that you do not want to get bred if she is in your well fenced field.  The land around the outside to keep them off the actual property fence is done here for people that have horses so that they do not have actual contact with other animals and such.  It does help some.  You can graze other species in those lanes too.


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## Beekissed (Jan 19, 2020)

LMK17 said:


> I honestly don’t understand why so many folks around here calve or kid in wintertime.



I feel the same way.  I saw new lambs today in a bitter wind and snow and, as always, wonder why in the world do people do that?   Then you get to hear them complaining about losing calves and lambs due to the cold, having to feed the mothers more due to the cold and the calving/lambing, having to bring them into the barn and put them under heat lamps, etc.    That can't be profitable, can it?   

I know some folks do that so that they can sell offspring for fair club lambs and such, but can't everyone be doing that.   I think it's just how their dad did it and his dad did it, etc.  

You won't see ruminants being born in the winter out in a wild setting, but I guess folks think they know more than God on how things should go.


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## Ron Bequeath (Jan 23, 2020)

Baymule said:


> I had a cow that walked through a barbed wire fence one time, went 3 miles down the road to find a bull. True love.


A little change but the guy who had this place before me had a sow that hd didn't know was in heat. He went to work one day snd three months three weeks and three days later she blessed him with a litter of the cutest looking piglets you ever saw.  What had happened was after he fed her and left, she climbed the pen, walked a mile down the road, climbed in with the boar, when service was complete, she walked home hot back in her pen and was laying in her pen when the fellow got home. Around 120 days later he saw the other farmer who asked him if he had piglets. Of course the answer was yes and at least half looked like dad.


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## LMK17 (Jan 23, 2020)

farmerjan said:


> One thing that you will always have to deal with is bulls that don't want to stay home when you have cattle.  We have it all the time.  The hot wire on top is the best way to go and if it is a plug in fence charger rather than a solar/battery one then that is best....
> 
> I know there are some that would be horrified, but we raised all our various horses in all barbed wire fencing when I was a kid.  3 to 6 strands on most all the pastures/pens.
> 
> ...



Thanks for your thoughts!  I figured it had to do with calf sale prices, although I’m with @Beekissed and figure a more natural seasonal approach has got to be in the better interests of the animals.  Admittedly, we’ve never calved here, but we have been through a few goat kidding seasons, and they’ve always been just fine regarding the flies and hot conditions in the summer.  You are right that summertime can be brutal here, though!

Fortunately, the folks who lived here before us installed a good, strong energizer and a solid fence.  We have a plug in energizer.  The display on the panel reads 7300 volts, and that fault finder tool tends to read about 9000 volts along the fence line. It’s pretty hot, and all the animals we’ve put behind it (cattle, goats, and hogs) have respected it.  Even the big bull next door seems to have gotten the message.  He hasn’t bothered to come over.  We had houseguests over the weekend, so I didn’t get around to messing with the fence, but it’s certainly a good sign that he‘s stayed on his own side for so long!  Still, I’m going to beef it up a bit the first good chance I get.

We are in a fence-in area.


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## farmerjan (Jan 23, 2020)

Ron Bequeath said:


> A little change but the guy who had this place before me had a sow that hd didn't know was in heat. He went to work one day snd three months three weeks and three days later she blessed him with a litter of the cutest looking piglets you ever saw.  What had happened was after he fed her and left, she climbed the pen, walked a mile down the road, climbed in with the boar, when service was complete, she walked home hot back in her pen and was laying in her pen when the fellow got home. Around 120 days later he saw the other farmer who asked him if he had piglets. Of course the answer was yes and at least half looked like dad.


 
A friend in Ct had a holstein that would go through, over, or however,  any fence there was when she came in heat.,... going looking for a bull.  We had to be careful when milking her, because she  would follow you down the lane to the barn and try to ride you if you weren't paying attention..... or else she wouldn't be in the field and you would have to travel the neighborhood to find her.... luckily it was still fairly rural, and most places had fields and such of at least a few acres around their houses, but it was a PITB to go to get her and the pasture was empty...


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## Mini Horses (Jan 23, 2020)

With all that bulk you would not suspect how well cattle can jump.  Or that they'd want to when they could just push thru most fences.


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